Hardest job you've had?

Burkie7

I've had a few awful jobs mainly all while working in Australia doing regional work for the second year visa.

The worst is definitely the Banana Humping someone mentioned earlier. I done it in Tully some absolute ****ehole in Queensland. The wettest part of Australia it rained the whole time I was there. I had just arrived there after over a month of partying in Australia and Thailand and I felt wrote off.
I checked into the Hostel and was told it would take 2 weeks to find work which I was delighted to hear as I really needed to let my body recover from pushing it to the limits in Thailand just 1 day prior too arriving there. After checking in I went into bed for a sleep and got a knock on the door from the Owner that a new job comes in and that I have to start tomorrow. You can't say no as then they kick you out so I accepted it. 

Was up at 5 in the morning along with other people in the hostel that had to do this job, everyone walking around like zombies all walking to a work bus for a hour journey to hell. When I got the job I was told I would be in the Shed which was fine by me as it meant I would just be cutting the bananas from the bunches. Instead when I got there I was told that was a mistake and that I would be banana humping. 

So off I went half asleep and still dying from the past few weeks, getting into the back of a run down 4x4 to drive into the forest into the pissings of rain. When we all got out a Asian gentleman called me over and when I got there started hacking away at a tree with a machete and a bunch of bananas fell to the ground nearly knocking me clean out! After the owner seen it, some 80 odd year old Outback Aussie he came over and called me every name under the sun. I told him that I was never taught what to do as I was suppose to do a different job so he had someone show me. Basically one guy cuts a tree with a machete and you are to wait there and as the tree branch is falling down you have to catch the whole bunch of bananas on you're shoulder. These weighed about 60kg at least easily. Then after that you had to balance them on your shoulder and walk over to a moving truck and throw them onto it so someone else could tie them to it, only thing is that because it had rained pretty much non stop for the few weeks I had being there and was raining at the time I was working, the ground was just all muck and very slippy and after catching them bananas successfully I would then slip and fall and then get called a useless **** by the old man owner. 

After 2 hours of this hell we get brought back to the factory shed for a 10 minute break so the trucks can empty the bananas so they could fill them up again. It was here where I looked across at the guy who had got the job with me the day before from the hostel and he just gave me a defeated look to which I said **** this. He agreed and we went up to the girl on the desk in the factory and was told thanks very much but this isn't for us. She just laughed as I'm sure this happens a lot. Then while we we're there the owner's son came in and called us every name under the sun that we had quit. I could take that on the chin as I was quitting after 2 hours so it was poor out of me but at this stage I wasn't even sure if I wanted to stay in Australia much longer never mind a second year as I was feeling very homesick. 

After all that we asked the girl how do we get back to the hostel to which she said that we can't get back until the shift ends which was 5pm, it was only 8am at this time. We told her we can't wait here that long (I didn't want the shame of them coming back each time on there breaks and see us 2 idiots sitting there waiting) There was no bus service that ran as it was in the middle of nowhere so we ordered a taxi, but they didn't know where it was as it wouldn't come up on there GPS system. We waited outside for about 2 and a half hours hoping a car would drive by to bring us back but not one car drove by. Eventually the taxi did show up and brought us back for the cheap fare of $150.

When we got back the Hostel owner abused us something terrible and then kicked us out, giving us just a day to leave. I was broke at this stage so I had to ring my Ma and asked her to book me a flight home to Dublin as I couldn't do it anymore. She told me she would book me a flight to Sydney and to give it another go for a few more weeks and that she would get me a flight home then if I wasn't enjoying it.
So yes only 2 hours but my god I don't know how anyone could stick that out for 3 months. Fair play to them in anyway. In the end I got a great job in Sydney a week after I got back there and ended up going to do my farm work a few months later, this time I done 12 hour night shifts in a winery cellar and then worked in a Rice factory. 

Both jobs we're easy after this one. I'm now on my second year visa and I met my girlfriend when I went to a different place to do my farm work so it all worked out in the end.

Sorry for the long story I didn't think it would be this long when I start writing it!

job seeker

frozenfrozen wrote: »

I've never had a hard job.

The other day at work there were a bunch of young people standing around waiting for an event to start where they'd be collecting glasses and bringing drinks to private rooms etc. I walked past them a few times on the course of doing my job and overheard one of them say "I'd love that job, just walking around all day" I thought that was brilliant. The thought process involved assuming my job was to walk up and down and seemingly do nothing at both locations

Can I ask what you work as?

FanadMan

G_R wrote: »

I’ve just given you access to the Ranting and Raving forum. Go read a thread called Cries of Retail and come back to us

Can't wait to see if their view has changed after reading CoR

bradolf pittler

Bar work had its ups and downs for me in my early 20's.The locals were great craic,good company and would look out for you but the blow ins were awful.
Once a guy ordered a round,brought them to his table but forgot to pay for them.I went over with the receipt to remind him and he went ballistic!!!
Thought he was gonna deck me there and then.I had enough after that.
I'm now working shifts in a factory and honestly its like looking after a creche full of babys.

the_syco

mikemac2 wrote: »

Kitchen porter. Your back will be broken standing over a sink for hours, cleaning floors, washing bins, having chefs roar at you and the waiting staff moaning about low tips while you are dripping sweat :rolleyes: I got no tips

This. All for £1.50 an hour, for 12 hours on Saturday and Sunday :mad:

But I did like the free dinner!

ChikiChiki

My current job in Oz. Start work at 2am in the morning cupping up 1800 cows for milking on a rotary platform. Anyone who has done it before will know how degrading it is as I am covered in crap and piss at the end of the 12 hr shift where I am paid minimum wage. The flies can be ferocious in the heat aswell.

This was really tough for me as I was working on the 28th floor of a big company prior looking out on the harbour in Sydney. Such a fall from grace but i will be stronger for it.

Burkie7

The joys of regional work ha

al87987

fatbhoy wrote: »

What was the pay like?

What encounters did you have with spiders, snakes and other things that want to eat you?

What were the storms like?

Pay was 22 Aussie dollars an hour which wasn't bad at all. Living on rice and the likes, everybody is on full-on saving mode for other parts of their holiday.

Big spiders were a daily occurence, once or twice a week you'd see a big snake but mostly it would just be tree snakes hanging around the banana bunches and a few rats on the bunches too sometimes if the bags weren't tied tigbhtly around them to stop entry.

We had a category 5 storm bigger than Germany coming for us at one stage, practised drills and going to the shelter but in the end it took out a few villages close to us and had burned itself out by the time it got to us. Just felt like a jet engine outside the window but minimal damage done, lots of flooding though, had a couple of days of working with water up to your nips.

Great experience.

al87987

Burkie7 wrote: »

I've had a few awful jobs mainly all while working in Australia doing regional work for the second year visa.

The worst is definitely the Banana Humping someone mentioned earlier. I done it in Tully some absolute ****ehole in Queensland. The wettest part of Australia it rained the whole time I was there. I had just arrived there after over a month of partying in Australia and Thailand and I felt wrote off.
I checked into the Hostel and was told it would take 2 weeks to find work which I was delighted to hear as I really needed to let my body recover from pushing it to the limits in Thailand just 1 day prior too arriving there. After checking in I went into bed for a sleep and got a knock on the door from the Owner that a new job comes in and that I have to start tomorrow. You can't say no as then they kick you out so I accepted it. 

Was up at 5 in the morning along with other people in the hostel that had to do this job, everyone walking around like zombies all walking to a work bus for a hour journey to hell. When I got the job I was told I would be in the Shed which was fine by me as it meant I would just be cutting the bananas from the bunches. Instead when I got there I was told that was a mistake and that I would be banana humping. 

So off I went half asleep and still dying from the past few weeks, getting into the back of a run down 4x4 to drive into the forest into the pissings of rain. When we all got out a Asian gentleman called me over and when I got there started hacking away at a tree with a machete and a bunch of bananas fell to the ground nearly knocking me clean out! After the owner seen it, some 80 odd year old Outback Aussie he came over and called me every name under the sun. I told him that I was never taught what to do as I was suppose to do a different job so he had someone show me. Basically one guy cuts a tree with a machete and you are to wait there and as the tree branch is falling down you have to catch the whole bunch of bananas on you're shoulder. These weighed about 60kg at least easily. Then after that you had to balance them on your shoulder and walk over to a moving truck and throw them onto it so someone else could tie them to it, only thing is that because it had rained pretty much non stop for the few weeks I had being there and was raining at the time I was working, the ground was just all muck and very slippy and after catching them bananas successfully I would then slip and fall and then get called a useless **** by the old man owner. 

After 2 hours of this hell we get brought back to the factory shed for a 10 minute break so the trucks can empty the bananas so they could fill them up again. It was here where I looked across at the guy who had got the job with me the day before from the hostel and he just gave me a defeated look to which I said **** this. He agreed and we went up to the girl on the desk in the factory and was told thanks very much but this isn't for us. She just laughed as I'm sure this happens a lot. Then while we we're there the owner's son came in and called us every name under the sun that we had quit. I could take that on the chin as I was quitting after 2 hours so it was poor out of me but at this stage I wasn't even sure if I wanted to stay in Australia much longer never mind a second year as I was feeling very homesick. 

After all that we asked the girl how do we get back to the hostel to which she said that we can't get back until the shift ends which was 5pm, it was only 8am at this time. We told her we can't wait here that long (I didn't want the shame of them coming back each time on there breaks and see us 2 idiots sitting there waiting) There was no bus service that ran as it was in the middle of nowhere so we ordered a taxi, but they didn't know where it was as it wouldn't come up on there GPS system. We waited outside for about 2 and a half hours hoping a car would drive by to bring us back but not one car drove by. Eventually the taxi did show up and brought us back for the cheap fare of $150.

When we got back the Hostel owner abused us something terrible and then kicked us out, giving us just a day to leave. I was broke at this stage so I had to ring my Ma and asked her to book me a flight home to Dublin as I couldn't do it anymore. She told me she would book me a flight to Sydney and to give it another go for a few more weeks and that she would get me a flight home then if I wasn't enjoying it.
So yes only 2 hours but my god I don't know how anyone could stick that out for 3 months. Fair play to them in anyway. In the end I got a great job in Sydney a week after I got back there and ended up going to do my farm work a few months later, this time I done 12 hour night shifts in a winery cellar and then worked in a Rice factory. 

Both jobs we're easy after this one. I'm now on my second year visa and I met my girlfriend when I went to a different place to do my farm work so it all worked out in the end.

Sorry for the long story I didn't think it would be this long when I start writing it!

I can sympathize with this but I loved Tully. 2nd wettest place in the world after the Amazon.

The above was typical of most people's experience with banana humping but I couldn't recommend it enough.

I ended up in an 8 man dorm with 7 women for over 5 months. That was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

somefeen

PandaPoo wrote: »

A woman wanted a refund because she bought a hair straightener and apparently it's faulty...it makes her hair too straight. Honestly she screamed the shop down, called me useless along with other names. People are crazy.

This why I won't work in retail. I'm a sensitive kinda guy so I'd probably have someone's jaw broken by the end of a week.
Hats off to ye, your self esteem must be bullet proof.

razorblunt

ChikiChiki wrote: »

My current job in Oz. Start work at 2am in the morning cupping up 1800 cows for milking on a rotary platform. Anyone who has done it before will know how degrading it is as I am covered in crap and piss at the end of the 12 hr shift where I am paid minimum wage. The flies can be ferocious in the heat aswell.

This was really tough for me as I was working on the 28th floor of a big company prior looking out on the harbour in Sydney. Such a fall from grace but i will be stronger for it.

How in the name of jesus did you go from one of those to the other?
Even rogue traders land on their feet.

Greentopia

jimbobaloobob wrote: »

But as someone said earlier, worst is self employed. Everyone thinks your making a fortune, your always waiting payments and looking for the next penny to pay a bill. No thanks from anyone including government. Cant wait to find a way out of it.

Depends what you do I guess. Self employed crafts person (textiles) and love it. Pay is not great so far but I get by and get to set my own hours and crucially have control over my work and no bosses. Am lucky in that I get paid as soon as I sell something. Waiting for payments and chasing people down for money is horrible, my ex had to do that all the time in his line of work.

You know Govt. supports are improving this year for self employed people? long term sick pay is available since the start of this month after paying PRSI contributions, and access to the treatment benefit scheme -free eye tests, dental exams since earlier in the year.

Sorry you're having it tough, hope things turn around for you.

ChikiChiki

razorblunt wrote: »

How in the name of jesus did you go from one of those to the other?
Even rogue traders land on their feet.

We finished the project I was working on as a contractor and as I am on a WHV need to do the 88 days for the second year visa. Its fairly surreal but I'll be back in the corporate world after Christmas. I'm viewing it as a nice little reality check and motivator.

frosty123

door to door salesman selling frozen fish, every second house slammed the door in my face soul destroying

only lasted a day

beerbaron

al87987 wrote: »

I ended up in an 8 man dorm with 7 women for over 5 months. That was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

Tell us how hard ?

DaeryssaOne

frosty123 wrote: »

door to door salesman selling frozen fish, every second house slammed the door in my face sole destroying

only lasted a day

FYP

The Backwards Man

Anyone who says retail or hospitality work are the worse jobs they've ever had don't know how lucky they have it.


For all the stones I've gathered, spuds I've walled, turf I've footed, boxes of salmon I've carried, I'd agree that self-employment is the worst. At least I only have a month of it left.

dinorebel

frosty123 wrote: »

door to door salesman selling frozen fish, every second house slammed the door in my face soul destroying

only lasted a day

Were you in a tough Plaice?

ilovesmybrick

valoren wrote: »

I worked in a call center for a chain of hotels just out of college. I looked at it as a means to an end until something else relevant to college came up. The working day was between 3.30pm and midnight and was primarily for US and Canada market fielding calls from a toll free number. It was non-stop. Call after call after call.

To keep sane I started to keep note of my average daily calls and it came out as 120. It was mind numbing. You were effectively a human Trivago working with a shoddy application a 4th year IT student could have created using Visual Basic. You were at times silently monitored by supervisors on random calls who would mark you on 1. Greeting the customer 2. Establishing a rapport 3. Pretending to give a sh1t.....

The worst part and the straw that broke the camels back was while I was constantly on calls, one evening I took to watching one of the french lads who was fielding the language calls as he was sitting opposite me. His English was rudimentary so he wasn't on the US/Canada slog. At one point he even put his feet up on another chair while reading his book. He must have taken between 10 and 15 calls that day. About 2 calls per hour. And he was getting paid more because it was for a language. While it was one thing to be constantly on the phone, that it was soul destroying, and was a temporary thing but to see that the same job was such a cushy number for someone else was the hard part.

Starwoods (I think)! I was on the North America/Canada calls there briefly. If so that place was the utter pits, treated like a child at the training and the work was utter crap. I lasted a few weeks before just walking out and getting a job in a coffee shop-Same pay, far better job.

Greentopia

dinorebel wrote: »

Were you in a tough Plaice?

Bit of Codology going on here now.

jimbobaloobob

Greentopia wrote: »

Depends what you do I guess. Self employed crafts person (textiles) and love it. Pay is not great so far but I get by and get to set my own hours and crucially have control over my work and no bosses. Am lucky in that I get paid as soon as I sell something. Waiting for payments and chasing people down for money is horrible, my ex had to do that all the time in his line of work.

You know Govt. supports are improving this year for self employed people? long term sick pay is available since the start of this month after paying PRSI contributions, and access to the treatment benefit scheme -free eye tests, dental exams since earlier in the year.

Sorry you're having it tough, hope things turn around for you.

Thanks for your comment. Unfortunate thing about self employment is no matter how bad it is you cant afford to go out of business as you arent entitled to any state benefit. Sickening to watch lazy louts cream the system. I think self employment does teach you alot though. Charity starts at home.

somefeen

jimbobaloobob wrote: »

Thanks for your comment. Unfortunate thing about self employment is no matter how bad it is you cant afford to go out of business as you arent entitled to any state benefit. Sickening to watch lazy louts cream the system. I think self employment does teach you alot though. Charity starts at home.

I hear people say that all the time but its not true. If you go out of business you can claim jobseekers allowance.

Capt'n Midnight

Greentopia wrote: »

Bit of Codology going on here now.

Don't worry 'eel be OK.

greysheep

dinorebel wrote:

Were you in a tough Plaice?

Salmon had to do it

Mister Vain

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Anyone who says retail or hospitality work are the worse jobs they've ever had don't know how lucky they have it.

Aye, a hard days grafting on the bog and they would be screaming to go back to Tesco.

Purple Mountain

The Backwards Man wrote: »

At least I only have a month of it left.

Emigrating to sunnier parts?

Tom Mann Centuria

Working in food factories isn't great. I've worked in a chicken factory, pie factory and ready meal factory, the smell and general horribleness, I used to dread going to work. The chicken factory the worst (I was vegetarian at the time too) . So they were hardest for me, though I've had much harder jobs both physically and/or mentally.

prinzeugen

Making wooden pallets in Scotland. 12 hour shifts sticking bits of wood in a machine.

The wood came precut from Scandinavia and in the winter it was frozen solid in the middle.

Put one bit in the wrong way and they would shatter into a million bits.

Nail guns that would fire randomly in cold weather (still have the hole in my knee), high pressure air lines that leaked and would fire air as cold as liquid nitrogen in all directions.

When the health & safety came round I was more than happy to talk. Left a few weeks later.

FanadMan

prinzeugen wrote: »

Making wooden pallets in Scotland. 12 hour shifts sticking bits of wood in a machine.

The wood came precut from Scandinavia and in the winter it was frozen solid in the middle.

Put one bit in the wrong way and they would shatter into a million bits.

Nail guns that would fire randomly in cold weather (still have the hole in my knee), high pressure air lines that leaked and would fire air as cold as liquid nitrogen in all directions.

When the health & safety came round I was more than happy to talk. Left a few weeks later.

So that's why some pallets I've handled looked like they were put together by a drunken chimp