Craft & work

What is the worst job you have done?

244 answers answered between 1999 and 2026 one of 25 in The Q&A

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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Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

Read by field Everyone Arts and letters 215 Politics and public life 10 Business and finance 6 Technology 3 Sport 10
Read by age Any age Before thirty 3 In their thirties 48 In their forties 49 In their fifties 54 In their sixties 47 Seventy and beyond 27
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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 ↗
Melanie Chisholm British pop singer
Working in a chip shop when I was 16. I gave my friends massive portions, but the smell was gross.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 October 2016 source ↗
Tess Daly English television presenter
Serving bar snacks in a pub in my teens. Once I spilled an entire family’s Sunday lunch into the dad’s lap.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 December 2016 source ↗
Shappi Khorsandi Iranian-born British comedian
Life modelling for a woman who made me recite Shakespeare as I posed. I had a hangover, and it was all a bit much.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 February 2017 source ↗
Aidan Gillen Irish actor
Cleaning around the feet of John Malkovich with industrial carpet cleaner while he was trying to learn lines in the foyer of a theatre.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 May 2017 source ↗
Lucy Worsley English historian
In my teens, peeling garlic to make pie filling in a butcher’s shop.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 May 2017 source ↗
Robbie Williams English singer
I sold double glazing in Stoke when I was 16. That was for two weeks. Other than that, I’ve never really had a “job”.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 May 2017 source ↗
Archie Panjabi British actress
Redeeming mortgages. I did it for a few weeks, and it sealed the deal that I wanted a career in entertainment.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 February 2018 source ↗
Julie Hesmondhalgh English actress and narrator
I cleaned for a very posh lady in Knightsbridge who made me handwash her knickers. I’d advertised myself in The Lady as a dog walker, so I’m not sure how I ended up there.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 February 2018 source ↗
Stephen Graham English actor
I worked in a TGI Fridays when I was 19 and came to London for the first time. It was absolutely horrible and I got fired after two weeks.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 April 2018 source ↗
Sue Perkins British actress, singer, writer and comedian
Cleaning toilets in a hotel in Croydon when I was 16. A guest once gave me a half-eaten bag of pistachios as a tip, so there were perks.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 October 2018 source ↗
Rose McGowan American actress and activist
When I was 15, I conned my way into an office job at a company that represented makers of breast implants. The manager had a wart on the end of her tongue that she’d push against her teeth, making a very specific sound.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 December 2018 source ↗
Martin Freeman English actor
The Wimpy in Kingston when I was 16. I’d recently become vegetarian, and there weren’t many veggie burgers in 1988.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 January 2019 source ↗
Melissa McCarthy American actress
I shucked oysters for a day without the proper knife or gloves. I had to go to hospital as I’d ripped my hands up. I can’t recommend it as a career option.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 January 2019 source ↗
Ralf Little English actor, writer, former semi-professional footballer
For two weeks I worked behind the players’ bar at Bolton Wanderers football club – footballers don’t tip.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 February 2020 source ↗
Russell Howard British comedian and presenter
Once, I was MC at a Christmas gig in Romford and a woman threw a dildo at my face.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 February 2020 source ↗

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