Dervla Kirwan: What is the worst job you have ever had?

The question

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 said elsewhere, not written here

About five years ago, I was in a play that was an unmitigated disaster. I had to rally the troops and go out every night.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 October 2023 source ↗

Others on this question

Standing outside a pub in Acton on a freezing February day in a threadbare overcoat doing market research.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 March 2025 source ↗

Clearing up someone’s sick – it was on police duty.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 September 2025 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 ↗

Jo Nesbø Norwegian writer and musician

I worked on a trawler and I was seasick the whole time.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 April 2026 source ↗