Malcolm Gladwell: What is the worst job you have done?

The question

What is the worst job you have done?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

The Guardian's long-running Q&A repeatedly asks this standing question, with minor tense variation.

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Malcolm Gladwell

Staff writer at The New Yorker; author of The Tipping Point and Outliers

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I was a reporter for many years at the Washington Post. Although I loved every minute, I don’t think I was a very good reporter.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 April 2021 source ↗

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Greg James British author, broadcaster, comedian, and presenter

When I was at school, I had a summer job where I had to buff blocks of plastic for a display unit. The factory only remembered to give us masks on day three.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 March 2019 source ↗

Natalie Imbruglia

I’ve enjoyed every single job, including working at my dad’s chicken shop selling potato gems (fried potato circles) to the surfer dudes.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 July 2026 source ↗

Omid Djalili British stand-up comedian and actor

Selling low-grade cookery books in west London office buildings.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 August 2010 source ↗

Paula Wilcox

I don’t think I’ve ever done a job that I hate. I worked as a temp briefly when I was out of work and it was fun.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 June 2026 source ↗

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Question What did you want to be when you were growing up? Identity & self

I didn’t want to be anything because I don’t look ahead. Even as a kid I thought it was pointless.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 April 2021 source ↗

Question What would you like to be remembered for? Death & what remains

As a writer who took cheering up his listeners seriously.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 April 2021 source ↗

Question What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months? Money & investment

Probably a piece of music. I think it was probably an album by Brian Eno called Another Green World, which is one of his early ‘70s, it’s ambient music, but not the kind of really weird ambient music. There’s an adage that says the music you discover when you are 18, I think it’s 18 is the magic year, is the music that stays with you for the rest of your life. ... Well, I discovered that when I was 18. And I sing the songs of that album in my head all of the time. And I worship Brian Eno.

Recorded Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, 1 June 2018 source ↗

Question What song would you like played at your funeral? Death & what remains

Kiss And Say Goodbye by the Manhattans.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 April 2021 source ↗

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