Thinking back I have worked at a wide variety of jobs in my life, many of which I was totally unqualified for but managed to talk my way into. Just for fun I´ve decided to make a list of them to see how many there actually were. Let me see...
School secretary - the school was my mother´s, I don´t know what she was thinking as I was still at the school myself and knew nothing about office work
Teacher - see above, I was seventeen then.
Book shop assistant
Student nurse/nurse
Washer-upper in a Wimpy bar
Agency house cleaner - one of my clients was Denhom Elliot, the actor, another was Governor of the Bank of England
Trainee dental technician
Kitchen assistant
Cashier - Derry and Toms
Student psychiatric nurse
English language teacher - being able to speak English was the only requirement
Sales promoter for Oxfam cards
Secretary to the CEO of a multinational - I had no shorthand or proper typing skills, very stressful. I have no idea how I managed to get this job
Technical translator at multinational car manufacturer, again English only requirement, had my own secretary by then!
Advertising copywriter at same manufacturer
Radio car taxi driver
Portuguese teacher at Berlitz
Student dispensing technician
Undergraduate
Pottery teacher
Doctor´s receptionist
Office assistant in various places
Clerk in Careers Service
English teacher again
Cashier in visa department at Consulate
Looking back at that list it is difficult to believe I did all those things, some for just a few weeks, some for months and some for years, in two countries. I moved around a lot which is one of the reasons I suppose, but in case anyone is wondering, I never got fired or dismissed from any of my jobs.
That is quite a list of variable jobs. I could do a list of mine which would be extremely long too because I have always done a lot of temping and went freelance for a while although my jobs were almost all administrative in nature. I also worked throughout my student life which in the 1970s was unusual because students were all on maintenance grants at the time and the need for work was not so pressing and not seen as the norm. I never got fired or dismissed either.
ReplyDeleteI´d love to see a list of your jobs Rachel, it sounds as if in this aspect we are quite similar.
DeleteVery impressive list
ReplyDeleteWendy (Wales)
Jack of all trades!
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