Juliet Stevenson: 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.

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I worked in a supermarket on the Kings Road when I was 17, standing by the beers, wines and spirits to make sure people didn’t shoplift. They were such horrible employers that I didn’t care whether people shoplifted or not.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 May 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

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Arlene Phillips

In a Dagenham factory at 6am, picking soldiers’ greatcoats from wars around the world to sell at the market in Chelsea. I smelled like mothballs, and no one would come near me.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 June 2025 source ↗

Rachel Whiteread English artist

Serving tea in an insurance office to people who seemed to despise me at the age of 16 was pretty unpleasant.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 December 2017 source ↗

Krishnan Guru-Murthy British journalist

I did a terrible job of fixing the downstairs loo once.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 January 2021 source ↗

Liam Gallagher English singer-songwriter

Digging holes in Manchester in January.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 October 2017 source ↗