Marcus Mumford: 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.

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

Recorded Marcus Mumford said elsewhere, not written here

Working in farming in Somerset at 18, there were elements that were awful, and they were all really edifying. I mean, feeding chickens in sleet was hard work but I am so glad I did it.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 February 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 229 →

Sheena Easton Scottish singer

A cafeteria in Glasgow where the manager was horrible. I walked out and got a great job in a betting shop.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 April 2017 source ↗

Mariella Frostrup

I worked in a chicken factory in the Netherlands when I was 16.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 November 2023 source ↗

Craig Charles English actor

Filming a TV show in a field in the snow in February in the Dublin hills for 14 hours; the director said, “We’re not going to get that shot today.”

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 July 2024 source ↗

Adam Kay British comedy writer, author, youtuber, comedian and former physician

A comedy gig at an army barracks for thousands of angry, horny squaddies just back from six months in the desert. I was on straight after the stripper.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 June 2023 source ↗