Johannes Radebe: What is the worst job you have ever had?

The question

What is the worst job you have ever had?

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.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Johannes Radebe

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

In South Africa I washed cars, I danced in parking lots and shopping malls, and was a children’s entertainer.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 March 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

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Erin Doherty

I was the PE technician at my old secondary school, so I had to pump up all the balls, wash all the kits and get the form notes in before morning registration every day.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 March 2025 source ↗

Hayley Squires English actress and playwright

I worked in a call centre. I would go clubbing on a Saturday with my brother and my mates, get home for five or six in the morning, and then have to be at work at 8am.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 April 2020 source ↗

David Hasselhoff American actor, singer, and television personality

Selling fire alarms at 18 or 19.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 April 2009 source ↗

Frank Cottrell-Boyce British screenwriter, novelist and actor

I spent an advent in my late teens throttling turkeys.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 July 2023 source ↗

More from Johannes Radebe

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Question When did you last change your mind about something important? Change of mind

I almost pulled out of my first solo tour because of impostor syndrome.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 March 2026 source ↗

Question What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy? Time & hindsight

When my UK citizenship was approved. It’s taken me eight years and lots and lots of money. I was at home in South Africa when I received the news and my mum said, “I am so happy for you because this is your glitterball.”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 March 2026 source ↗