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A coworker and I were discussing our past jobs over morning coffee today, and I realized that almost every job in my past has been a conversation piece of sorts. My very very first job only lasted a day, cleaning out the cages in a judge's ring at a cat show, back when my mom raised and showed Tonkinese cats. I enjoyed it, it was a great way to get to see all the kitties and their (odd) owners.
The parents didn't want me to work in high school, so I didn't have my first real job until the summer before my first year of college, when I signed up with a temp agency. Though I had no office skills, they sent me to a mortgage office where I spent one day trying to figure out how to use a fax machine. Needless to say, my tenure there was short. The agency then sent me to a warehouse, where I was to package herbal tea. The procedure was simple. A huge bag of teabags was poured onto a table, then I and a bunch of other women would gather them and put them into boxes. That lasted all of one day for me.
During the school year in college, I worked at the library reserve desk, which allowed for lots of study time, and shelving books down in the stacks, which was enjoyable for the chance to look through the stacks for obscure books to read. My last year in college, I worked in the alumni office as a caller, contacting alumni for donations, then as a supervisor in the call center. During the summers, I found myself in Hershey, PA, where my father was working at the time, and spent one summer as a ride operator at HersheyPark, a fun, fun job.
Being a ride operator, I had the chance to "drive" (well, sit in and monitor) the monorail and work in the control booths of many rides. Amongst other fun memories, there was the time I had to clean out an "accident" in one of the cars of a big spinning wheel, which started horizontal, then went vertical, spinning the occupants upside-down. I covered the ride in a cat litter-like substance, then hosed it down, and decided to help the drying along by running the ride empty. What I didn't think of was that the water would splash out, hitting the line of people waiting for the ride to reopen. Let's just say that those in line didn't think it was water hitting them and scattered to the winds...
Graduating into the recession in 1995, with a degree in Anthropology and no desire for grad school, I found myself working at the Fresno State Bookstore, then at See's Candy, as I feverishly applied for jobs, any job, that would allow me to move to San Francisco, a dream of mine since childhood. See's was another fun place to work, despite the white dressed with big black bows at the neck that we all had to wear. Blueberry truffles were freely available to munch on at breaks (or any other chocolate you desired).
I found a job in 1996 on Alcatraz Island, working with tourists with tremendous excitement (my commute was by ferry!) I faced each day. A year after starting there, I was selected as one of eight people to plan and work on the Evening Tours, a now very-successful program on the Island. Hands-down, this was the greatest job I have had. Not only was there the commute by ferry from the city, but I was paid to research interpretive programs, interview former prisoners and families of guards who had been on the Island and entertain visitors to the Island each night with the programs I developed. And added perk were the chances to sleep over on the Island--I've slept in the Birdman's cell and more scarily, in the prison hospital. However, this position paid very little, so I began to look for something new.
Something new was the art and antique auction business, with Butterfields, a small, San Francisco based auction house. My roles throughout my time there included customer service, being an executive administrator, working with speciality departments from wine, to ethnographic arts, to contemporary art, and even clerking and auctioneering a few times. The work was interesting and enjoyable, the cast of characters in the office and as clients engaging and infuriating, depending on the day and the property I worked around gorgeous. My experience with auctions lead me to a chance to work in an even smaller auction house specializing in antique arms and armor, then to the more laid back world of business auctions.
The places I work have become a bit less "odd" in the past three years, as I have been temping in places ranging from editorial work at a legal search site and my current position in an investment bank. At the moment, I am concentrating on my science courses to get me to my goal of forensic scientist...then I will be up and running with more colorful resume entries.
Now it is your turn--what are some of your odder jobs? Or your first job? Your most enjoyable job? Or, for you young'uns here, what is your goal or "dream job?"
