Sarah Hadland: 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

Magician’s assistant on a cruise ship for two weeks when I was 19. When I was meant to be being levitated, I was silently crying while pretending to be unconscious as I hung limply off a metal pole. It was bleak.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 December 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

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Ann Dowd American actress

Trying to sell frozen food over the phone for a company called American Frozen Foods. It lasted about half an hour. I found myself telling people not to buy too much of it because it could go bad, and my supervisor said, “This job is probably not for you.”

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 January 2022 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 ↗

Dominic Cooper English actor

I used to clean the ovens in a bakery. Brillo pad and poison.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 August 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 ↗