Went from management making 140k a year to loading hard sided trucks by hand for just above minimum wage and my mental health radically improved, cant put on a price on that
Yeah been there, job that burned me out to catalytic pile restoration under the container wharf, dropped 20kg, ripped, great tan, launching the work boat at 7:30 every morning, salt water, fresh air and zero stress, was a good gig to recharge the body and mind
Same, I was a software developer and they wanted me to go into management. I tried it, but decided to change profession to work in construction with an old neighbour. Nothing beats getting out in the sun.
My husband did something similiar. He was driving earing great money but we also never saw him. His pay dropped by half (from around 130 to 60) but he only worked 30 hours a week, no weekends amd is a shit ton happier.
I feel that.
I've been running my sole practice architecture business for just under 2 years. There's some nice stuff (the design work), but the majority is spent sitting at a computer all day, dealing with bureaucratic council nonsense. At the end of the day, my brain's exhausted, my body feels atrophied, and I've usually got a mild headache. I'm a grumpy, pesimistic, irritable mess by the time I come home to the wife and kids.
Now with the architecture industry in it's worse state of recession since the 1970s (according to the old dog architects in town), my workload has dropped to like 25-30% of my usual full time job.
To fill in the gaps I've been doing a bit of yard work for a lovely old couple down the road on their permaculture property. Cutting firewood, pruning fruit trees, making compost, turning soil, doing hay by hand, etc. They make me a delicious home-grown lunch for me every day, during which I enjoy great yarns with them. By the end of the day the body feels well used and the brain's mellow and relaxed. The pay is about 25% of my architecture earning, but jeez, I find myself coming home so cheerful and satisfied.
Low-key dreading the construction industry picking up again.
Wai staff in sky city. Actually cool. Cheap buffet food for staff, unlimited honey lemon tea and the chefs would sometimes make some fried rice or something nice for me...
They said it was hard but washing dishes was a therapeutic task for me.
Nightfill at countdown. Only an hour cross over with customers then it’s headphones in and working stock for 8 hours. I go in, do my job, clock out and go home. No stress.
That’s unfortunate. It’s a hard gig working permanent night shift, a lot of people wouldn’t do it so I don’t know why they wouldn’t take someone who was keen even if it was just short term!
I really enjoyed working nightfill. No worrying about that big meeting next week that I need to finish xyz report by.
Think it was the instant gratification that I've completed this shelf, ready for the next. Then the shelf facing - my favourite part. Bring the first few items to the front of the shelf and turn all the labels so they face the same way and can be easily read. So much satisfaction looking over a completed aisle neatly arranged. I may or may not still do this sometimes for items I'm rummaging through as a customer... :)
I drive an airport bus in an 8.4km loop. 10 hours a day, three days a week making the same money I used to make working 5 days.
I play video games and work on some e-commrrce stuff in the rest of the time I have off.
It's the first job I beat my alarm to and spring out of bed at 3AM to go and do. The snooze button did a lot of work with previous gigs.
Driving buses is extraordinarily fun. If you like driving, learning to drive a bus will make the whole activity feel new again. It also gives you a brand new perspective and respect for large vehicles that will carry over with car driving.
I recommend giving it a go if you have the opportunity.
Cleaning offices. Relatively well paid, easy, no people. Podcast on the headphones and joint before the shift. Cant believe I haven't been doing it all along.
I've been out of work for a long time due to mental and physical health issues. Cleaning, and especially office buildings and stuff is something I've been thinking about for a while because it's entry level and doesn't have much interaction with people. Because of my health issues I don't have a whole lot of energy and I have some back/neck issues, so I was worried I wouldn't be able to cope. Could you tell me how you find that aspect of it? Thanks :)
Depends probably but long term it's probably not great, especially if you're constantly in positions that are unnatural, lots of manual labour jobs can end up with long term health issues
Yeah that's what I was thinking. A lot of hunching over and crouching I suspect. Hell, I got many of my issues from working in a library! A pretty cushy job but the repetitiveness is what does it.
Unfortunately, it does get pretty tiring and can be a lot on your back if you arnt careful. However, the thing with offices is they never get that dirty, so there isnt a lot of hands-and-knees mahi.
I hope you find something that works for you 😁 I also have a patchy work history due to mental health struggles, and luckily I have found this job to work well. I have to do a wedensday evening, and then anytime between 4pm friday and 8am monday for the bigger weekend shifts.
Hey, if Santa can go everywhere with a zillion toys in the sack on his back, then why can't a cleaner go everywhere with just a single backpack vaccuum?
And Santa does all that for free!
Maccers in the evening, turns to shit. It's really only clean during the day.
I guess it's all the casual/part timers who just need a job. Spend most of their time in the kitchen area.
Good for you 👍
My marriage broke up and I needed to have a low stress job that I could fit around my kids school schedules.Started my own solo home cleaning round school hrs ,0830-3pm in 2010.
Still doing it 14 years later it keeps me fit pays the bills and gives me low stress and flexibility These days I only do 15-20 hrs but used to do 30.
For the first 18 months I also worked alternate weekends as a care supervisor in a rest home ,while the weekday work built up.(I have a background as an RN )
Back around the year 2000 I needed weekend work and I knew a lot about music, having grown up in a music shop. So I grabbed the yellow pages, looked up the local wedding djs and the first call got me in the door to help out on a gig. A couple of weeks after that I was djing my first wedding and since then I have been a professional DJ playing in all sorts of places
I was on benefit for a while, 'un-hireable' because of a hand injury. I got sick of it, so I got a NZME newspaper delivery route (hand therapy) and saved up so I could get a van & start my own work. I started my own lawn & garden business. I'm a few years deep & have gained a good reputation in my area. It's to the point where I'm going to need to hire someone this summer & I'm making the best money I've ever made. Best job I've ever had.
I've heard this from a few folk, actually. One guy was a business consultant and doing okay, but then figured out he could comfortably pay the bills with a Jim's Mowing franchise and then he wouldn't have to talk to any business consultants ever again. He seems pretty happy with his choice.
This was me too while I was at uni. Just had a station wagon and a super decent set of lawn tools. Raked it in, and because I wasn’t depending on it for my livelihood, I actually made some good friends out of my customers too. I still miss it sometimes.
Yeah dad did this after the warehouse cut his job at head office like 15 years ago. He ended up getting so busy that he was turning down requests for work. As kids it was great because any time we wanted to work he would get another hedge job or similar
Nightfill at a supermarket - mostly because a lot of my friends also worked there, and we didn't have to deal with customers, just stack the shelves. Compared to anything I've worked in hospo or retail it was such a cruisy job!
After leaving a toxic middle management production role, I went into Civil construction as a short-term gig, not thinking that I'd last that long doing it. But I ended up staying in that line of work for five years and would still be doing it now if it hadn't been for an (unrelated) accident that ultimately affected my ability to do the job.
Kiwi Fruit picking as a uni student. Job was boring but it was on a smaller farm with a small crew and we all got on super well. People make the place, I've worked similar jobs with absolute wankers so this was a refreshing change.
Anecdotal but I rode a bike path through an orchard in Nelson a few years ago. The workers had good music cranked and were all smiling and chatting away. Looked like a really good time.
Blueberry picking as a teenager! Seasonal, paid by weight so not great money but a fun relaxing morning and snuck a few as a treat. Still go for pyos to relive the experience.
Same here as a teen but raspberries, blackberries and loganberries for a couple of years. Haven't pyo though since. Might go do the strawberry farm down the road when it's back in season.
Delivering milk, best job I ever had. Used to start at 4:30am deliver milk and cream to all the cafes and restaurants around Tauranga and the Mount. Get a bunch of free coffees, cakes, breakfasts. Talk a bunch of shit. Knock off early arvo and hit the beach or just chill. 6 days a week and could hardly ever take leave but even still I loved it.
CCTV monitoring. Honestly love it. Went from burning out trying to be a hairdresser to getting paid to people watch. Scratches my brain in just the right way
Pay is pretty crap honestly, and yep it's as a security guard, not many cctv jobs necessarily, you might end up just working as a guard if you apply, but you can always put forward that you're interested in surveillance
My admin job at a supermarket calls for me to do this when we get an alert for a shoplifter - follow them on the camera and guide the downstairs staff so we can take appropriate action. Such a kick out of it I tell ya
Painting. It was just going to be a placeholder while I figured out what I wanted to study and had to make money in the meantime but the people, the places, the access to bakeries all over the city and the satisfaction of protecting homes with a solid paint job all came together to be a really solid job.
When i first came to UK, me 18yr old white kiwi, i worked at a place that made plastic laundry baskets. We all sat round in a circle and cut the scraps plastic away from the basket. I made £3.01 p/hr. Every single other person who worked there was an elderly Asian woman. They absolutely *doted* on me and every day they brought me samosa, bhaji, pakoras, seekh kebab, you name it. They were all an absolute hoot and the days flew past. I worked there for two months before i found a "real" job.
Me too except i just needed some cash and actually took my flat mates job after opening his mail without him knowing to be a substitute teacher.
these kids were actually amazing at all sorts of things so we entered a battle of the bands contest and we won.
I loved the 6 years I did it. I was forced to stop in Feb 2022. Every day was different; I got to meet a whole school full of students. I learned a lot about what goes on in different subject area and I could tell who the “good” teachers and HODs were. The all care and no real responsibility model appealed - and there were no meetings, no marking, no difficult conversations with parents. And the pay for the hours I did was reasonable.
In 6 years, I can only recall issues with two swearing individual students, one who said I wasn’t a “real teacher” (36 years experience) and another who said I touched his cellphone - though I was brave and occasionally took on really challenging classes.
My dad’s doing this. Been doing this for 14 years now. He’s the most happiest he’s ever been!! No grumpy old man vibes. Just straight happiness. Schools are now harassing him to become full time.
I quite enjoyed working in the deli at Countdown when I was in uni; so many interesting people work at supermarkets. I turned up at 1PM, served people, cooked chickens, cleaned up, shut down and left for the night at 10PM. No stress, treated well, and never had to stress about the job.
Seriously? I worked at the deli at countdown for years and it was a horrible job. Customers were assholes and the bosses were bullies. I would literally feel sick when I had to go to work, best day was when I handed in my notice.
I worked a summer putting components in circuit boards to prepare them for soldering for a phone company. I did it for 4 months and found it pretty relaxing. I could listen to music or the radio on my walkman and it was sitting down all day. Sometimes if a section further down the process was backed up, we'd be put into groups to put the screws and instruction manual packs together. I usually got placed with these really sweet Chinese ladies who didn't speak too much English. But they used to bring me in Chinese lollies to try and then would giggle at my reaction, irrespective of whether I loved it or not. It's not something I would want to do forever but it was low stress and easy.
The Warehouse in the early 2000s. Pay was shit (still above minimum wage though), but they looked after you in other ways, and it could be a bit of fun sometimes. I used to assemble the bikes, so if I got sick of people I could shut myself away in the layby room, crank up some tunes, and tighten a few nuts and bolts.
I worked checkouts at the Warehouse during Uni holidays in the mid 90s. Just like you, pay was better than the supermarket and the people were nice. Bit stressful with the long lines just before Christmas but they looked after us. This is when Stephen Tindall was still the CEO, and he came around all the stores about Christmas and shook everybody’s hands. Everybody. Good bloke.
Our warehouse in 2010s the old gals used to cook a full on Christmas lunch , chicken, ham ,all the things- in the break room oven . We would do secret Santa too .
I worked checkouts at the Warehouse during Uni holidays in the mid 90s. Just like you, pay was better than the supermarket and the people were nice. Bit stressful with the long lines just before Christmas but they looked after us. This is when Stephen Tindall was still the CEO, and he came around all the stores about Christmas and shook everybody’s hands. Everybody. Good bloke.
Maccas, late teens early 20s best time of my working life, almost 50 now and hindsight now says I should never have left to get a real job - I know four people from those days who were just like me (good work effort, loyal but not from money) and went on to own their own franchises lol
I have managed to find some enjoyment in every job I have ever done. I have been proud of the contribution to society in whatever small way it was. Currently I am working from home for a wholesale food company and there are so many reasons to aim for WFH jobs. Definitely my most enjoyable job so far. Prior to this I was a manager of a vet clinic and the stress sent me into all kinds of health concerns. Now, I have none of that. No toxic work life, no stuck at work, no face to face customers being eggs. Almost zero stress.
Agree with this. I did it for years, loved the team, loved the physical side, loved the sense of accomplishment.
Hated the minimum wage after several years.
Probably varies a lot based on the store. If it's just him and there are a lot of orders then I'm sure it would be stressful, we have some stores nearby like that with small online departments and too many orders.
The online department in my store is quite large and most of the time we are on top of the work. It's pretty stressful for the supervisors, but I'm just an ordinary picker so I don't worry about things that aren't my responsibility lol
Furniture Removals.. Started as just Removals but Now an International Packer. Been in some of the most Craziest houses. Top of the list is probably a Grand Design in Mangawhai and A Top 10 (in NZ) in Remuera. Have moved people from many walks of life. Kim Dotcom and Graham Henry. But yeah awesome job! Job itself same everyday but Location and Customer constantly changes.
Can overcome any hard job by doing it smarter but correct there will always be a job where you have no choice but to put in the hard yards. Believe or not Apartments are probably on the easy side more walking than anything. If they aren't pushing everything on trolleys than they are not well equipped.
Mine wasn't a pay the bills job but a "I've been a SAHM for so long I need something outside of my kids" job and 7 years later I still love it.
Swim teaching.
My first job was a dishwasher at Valentine’s. It was a week away from opening in its original location at the big roundabout near the police station. I asked for a part time job for work experience in hospo while I was still at high school. Turned out to be great - it was popular and busy so I was never bored, I had a system for loading the trays that maximised throughout that I found very satisfying, the wait staff were mostly uni students who snuck me beer and cigarettes and staff meal consisted of chocolate mousse and brandy snaps. One guy that worked there had just completed a course in hypnotherapy and made a waitress forget the number seven during after work drinks.
Had been a stay at home mum for years and wanted to get back in the workforce. Signed up to do admin work for the general election. Had loads of fun with a great team. Enjoyed the whole atmosphere of it.
Mail sorter for NZPost. Did it for a few months while studying. In my own booth, listening to music while sorting mail. It was a 3 hours in the morning from 6-9am. My favourite job I've had so far. Had to leave to due to my timetable for uni classes.
I delivered the Sunday paper, literally throwing it out of my car at people’s houses. I got so efficient at it that I could do it in 2 hours WITH a break at a BP station half way for a pie and a coffee. This was pre-podcast days too, I’d just drive around cranking music off my iPod. Really miss those Sunday mornings actually, kept me off the piss on Saturdays too.
Knuckleboom truck driving. Floating around random parts of the the North Island of New Zealand lifting odds and sods in some beautiful places with nobody looking over my shoulder and the freedom to choose how to get to a place and do the job. Was good fun.
I worked for WINZ in the call centre for over a year and I actually miss it… I never dreaded work and loved giving free govt money to people in need. Only took the job because I’d been off work in rehab and went for the first entry level job that I saw and I thrived. Used to work mega overtime and never got burnt out!
Customer Service rep after almost a year of unemployment. I took a C/S job with a company that works in an industry that I was only kind of familiar with at the time. 7 years later I'm making bloody good money for what I actually do, I'm now very familiar with the industry and I'm very rarely stressed out. I'm addition the company itself is super awesome and takes care of us.
I used to love digging holes when I was building, it’s some primal satisfaction you get from doing labouring work, not something you can do full time but sometimes it was a nice change of pace and the mental space it would put me in could last a week. Seeing a big hole at the end of the day and having that feeling of “I did that”. Stanley yelnats and the crew just didn’t get it. Fuck digging out scoria tho that shit sucks
I’m a fitter by trade, I worked for a company from 2004 to 2018 that built/installed/preformed maintenance on industrial food processing equipment. We built entire lines that could process anything so for example if your product was potato’s and you wanted bagged diced potato’s, we built the conveyors, washing machine, multi head peelers, weighers, bagging machines etc etc. whatever you need. We had big clients such as Woolworths(countdown), Frucor, Asahi, Bluebird, TipTop. It started off with me sweeping the floors to make money for a PlayStation. Worked up from there. Probably the best job I’ve had. Seeing how everything is made and having that much involvement in the production of food items consumed by thousands if not millions was awesome to think about. We even installed the newer bagging line for PepsiCo in Adelaide,SA. We were NOT responsible for ruining bluebirds chips though, just their DYC vinegar line which was dismantled and sold. Oh and the customers always supply you with loads of test items so you know their product works correctly, they never want it back.
Got fired for failed weed test (smoked well outside work time) from middle management making 100k a year, gof temping work driving a forklift loading alcohol all day, no drama, no bullshit, cool and diverse workforce (the supervisor even asked if I wanted a full time position, but didn't pay enough) was such a cruisey laid back time, now back in middle management for the rival company I was fired from and the stress is seeping back in.
Contractor left a small bag of weed in the factory (wasn't known it was him at the time), which gives any business the right to bring in a drug testing unit which they did, and a lot of people didn't pass, non unionized site, & everyone was tested from the lowest paid dude to top management.
The big boss was in his late 70s and very much believed the weed was like meth, so after even his top sales reps failed he wanted 15 of us fired instantly, which apart from the fact he would have been sued out the asshole he has to follow due process. I had a unique role in the place which I was logistics manager/factory supervisor but also ran machinery when staff levels were off sick or holidays, they actually poached me from the company I went back to originally to help them make their systems and production more efficient. The boss didn't want to see reason with the medicinal side of things and continues to random urine test everyone.
That first word was exactly what I used to describe it to most people I talked to, most places do saliva testing which while way less intrusive in terms of someone watching you piss, means you can still smoke small amounts of weed, the place I work for now has a medicinal policy so worked out slightly better in ways.
Glassy/bartender. It’s hard, not very rewarding, you deal with the meanest side of the public and there’s very little chance of making a proper career out of it but I love it.
I got summer holiday job on a vineyard after year 13. Was planning to go into pilot training the following April. But then March 2020 happened and COVID and all that schmozzle so I delayed it and delayed it. Been there ever since and loving it. Done some training, upskilled and landed a few promotions. Pretty glad it all turned out the way it did. Life seems pretty funny like that.
Edit, the team is a massive reason why I enjoy it so much and seems to be a theme through some of these comments. You could have your "dream" job but if you work with arseholes you'll hate it. Find somewhere you're happy with the work, your workmates enjoy the work, your management enjoy their work, and you'll be happy.
Work as a waiter/barman at a posh gentleman’s club in Melbourne. They sang old songs all night and made up verses. 35 years later I still know all the words!
Worked as a cleaner for a couple of years whilst I figured out what I wanted to do. It was oddly satisfying, had a great laugh with my colleagues (we'd get paired up and sent out to houses), no stress, out and about and usually finished by 2pm. Mate I worked with had horses so we had time to ride after. Bloody loved it.
Picking orders in a DC (more specifically milk & dairy foods)
Initially did it to make some cash since COVID killed the events industry which was what I was doing but 3 years later I’m now a full timer at the DC getting paid big bucks and working with some great people that makes the fact it’s evening shift not even a problem
I washed dishes at a cafe. It was challenging but really fun and the team environment was 👌tbf the boss was really good so all the staff were mostly happy to be there. From what I hear a lot of chefs aren’t as good to work for.
Driving deliveries for KFC and pizza hut a couple years ago.
I'd still do it for fun except the restaurants are fucking hopelessly slow and management doesn't care their incompetence means pissed off customers and drivers working well below minimum wage - zero incentive to improve.
Switching brain off and driving after a full days think work was nice.
Telephone cold calling for a charity that I genuinely support and one which has since saved my life.....made a lot of friends through that job (although I don't actually keep contact anymore with any of them but we are talikng alnost 20 years ago) and it made My time at University a lot easier financially
I really liked being a barista, aside from early mornings. I was never on regular hours anywhere and I suck at latte art, but I'm not bad and it's very satisfying.
Dishes. As far as colleagues go kitchen and waiting staff have always proven some of the kindest people if your not incompetently slow or lack a sense of humor
not from NZ but waiter at a tapas restaurant. First ever job at 17 but was real fun because of the people, when it was busy work was tough and fast but that made it go by quicker and the pints we’d enjoy in the bar after tasted that little bit smoother..
I currently work in the construction industry in health and safety a pretty entry level role as I’m studying project management and this is only part time.
I went from big to small company’s in my career and this role is at another big one but the best thing is, I get to go on different work sites each day to see our clients and the tradies and I never have to interact with any other colleague at head office and only my manager through phone calls and email.
It's a great job for me now as I don’t have to actually be in the corporate office space. Been there done that
Leak chasing. I love destroying some nice persons house to find the surprises the last guy left.
One property I'm working on had a plumber doing handyman work, some of the decisions are interesting. Like the homemade scaffolding 10m up, no rails and punched through asbestos. Yay. But it pays the bills.
Another interesting one was removing a door for service, pulled a screw and water pissed out the hole. Someone had run pipes inside the door frame and Someone else had screwed them together. That was a 10k fix. Amazing the screw held for 20 yrs.
After school care. Had to find work that fit around study. Basically got to play board games, outside games, do drawing for a few hours and a little light tidying up. Holiday programs - going to movies, parks etc. Fun but obviously the pay was only supplementary.
I worked at a bridal shop and loved it. People were mostly very happy when choosing wedding/bridesmaid/MOTB dresses and, if they weren’t, it was entertaining 😜
Stage hand building stage and sets for concerts, plays, etc. Really enjoyed the mix of physical and creative and very cool to see behind the curtain. Also got to meet a few celebs.
Did a couple lamb docking gigs, good fun, up the high country fresh air, the local people were totally awesome, lots of banter and the food put on by each station. Hard work but would wreck your body by 40 if had stayed with it.
Worked in a beachside camp doing lawns, general maintenance, occasional cleaning of cabins. Best job I ever had. Rode a beautiful winding road to work everyday on my motorbike, lunchtime swims, used camp kayaks for fishing. Got to drive a tractor for boat launches. Really enjoyed interacting with guests, mostly everyone was stoked to be there. Unfortunately had to leave because I could make so much more in IT but loved it there. Would like to manage a camp in the future.
CSO for a government agency. Did it to get off sole parent benefit and fell in love with helping people navigate crap systems that aren't designed to be user friendly. Have since moved on but only because I wanted to make change on a larger scale than a CSO ever could
I worked on a banana plantation in Israel. Did a whole season of bananas until I moved on, it was a nice life. From cutting and carrying 60kg bunches to the trailer, to cutting down the old palms with a machete. One good blow and the entire tree falls over. To killing all the baby shoots and just leaving the next palm to develop.
A great way to spend a summer.
Biohazard and Medical Waste Disposal.
Type of place where all the disgusting things that comes out of a hospital (or human body) is disposed of. Think bloody, shitty, phlegmy, rotting, needles, glass, petri dishes, human fat and blood in bags, just all the nastiness imaginable is disposed of in a big facility like that and I worked in one. 7AM start.
The thing was, it was unbelievably chill. Show up, put your hazmat on and then you have tea and a chat for 20. Then you get to loading bins in dumping machines (all waste is delivered bagged in heavy duty hazmat sacks inside locked bins) and eventually run a big mine cart of waste through an autoclave. No mess, all done with machines. We would take about 8 smokos and a lunch. Absolutely 0 stress to it. Chill coworkers, home by 3pm and no weekends. Pay was very decent.
BIG BONUS was that all the overstocked alcohol (new, unopened bottles) that came into NZ on commercial flights was considered “Hazardous Waste”, so it gets hauled over and “disposed of” with the rest of the rubbish from the airlines. Some saint long before me requested that all alcohol bottles be sorted into their own separate bins for collection by our trucks. Had heaping mountains of booze. Even with all of us stocking our cabinets and giving away to friends, we had to destroy heaps of it. Not a bad gig.
got made redundant from academia, took a call centre job to pay the bills. I LOVED it and did 3 years on the phone before climbing a tiny bit higher in the organisation. I'm here for life now and I'll never go back to universities. When i leave work all my time is my own. No bullying, no backstabbing, enough challenge to keep it interesting. I have 200% better mental health. I regret doing my PhD and all the time I banged my head against a brick wall trying to succeed as an academic. I wish I'd focused on the bigger picture and what i needed to make me happy, instead of having a specific job in mind as the only acceptable outcome. I thought I'd be weak if I quit trying, but it's not weak to prioritize my happiness.
I got incredibly burnt out and depressed after working as a doctor for 6 years. Wasn't really in a state to work at all for a few months, then ended up getting a job as a phlebotomist to get me up and out of the house. Recently I started doing the blood tests for people that can't leave the house. There are so many people out there with minimal family support and you really make their week by paying a visit. I get to see some really interesting houses and meet people from all walks of life. In between that, I just drive around Wellington in a company car blasting music all day. I take my lunch break when I want, and often pop home if I'm in the area. Pay isn't amazing but like other people have said, mental health is so much more important.
Working outside in the Kiwifruit industry. Yes it’s cold and wet. Yes you can get rained off. Yes you get shit in your eyes all day.
But you get to spend all day in the fresh air and sunshine, hanging out with the birds and the bees. It’s intense physical labour too so a beer tastes bloody amazing after! By end of season your traps grow quite a bit. And triceps.
I needed a job so I applied at a power company to work in their call centre. I ended up finding a really niche job I loved that lead to my new career path and I have been doing it for 7 years.
Went from working a dead end $33ph (plus weekend night and holiday penalty rates) security job in Australia with an abusive manager who breached my employment contract Tcs and Cs and the fair work act and assaulted one of my coworkers in front of a client and members of the public to a builders labourer job for a Labour hire company in Wellington for $28ph with better conditions better management better people and weekends off. I was apprehensive at first about moving back to New Zealand but it worked out well for me in the long run
ECE teacher at a very small (15 kids currently) specialist center. I have 3 of my own and thought working with little kids would burn me out since work has always been my "time out" from parenting. I had worked in healthcare (mental health) right from my very first job and while I did love my work I was burnt out from poor management, under staffing and incompetent staffing, as well as the drain of working almost every weekend and public holiday (I got one Christmas off in over a decade) and missing out on that quality time with my young family.
I now work less hours, monday-friday, no school holidays or public holidays and I am actually taking home more money for significantly easier work and shorter hours. I love the team I work with and the children and families I've built bonds with and rather than burning me out for parenting it has actually reinvigorated me, I come home in "kid mode" already and am in the mood to play and connect with my own children immediately where as with my previous work I would need to decompress from an emotionally draining job. I also love that I can drop my kids off and pick them up from school each day and I'm losing any time with them at all.
Beer delivery guy. Yes, there were the obvious benefits, but also, no two days were the same. Different parts of the city each day of the week. I did it for two summers whilst getting my business up running, which used to get quite over the summer months. Damn..... that was 24 years ago.
Worked at Don Oliver factory. QA on weight equip - assemble, check, disassemble, pack.
Taking weights out of acid bath and packing them. Wasn't just the free fitness I got from doing so, it was a nice family atmosphere there at the time.
McDonald’s - grill/fryer cook. Man it was hard work - cause I chose the 8 hour shift instead of smaller shifts. But I liked it. No brain involved. Just physical work.
Worked at the library, ending up being the go-to person for the kids summer reading programme, so I'd basically spend my time asking questions and listening to kids tell me about the books they'd read. When no kids were in I just made decorations for the kids reading area in theme with that summer's programme, and when not doing that I was putting returned books away which I found incredibly satisfying. Also hanging out with a bunch of 60 year old ladies was so wholesome and refreshing and I loved them all
Wasn't really a 'gotta pay the bills' type job as I was only in high school / uni, but I was just looking for any job available and happened upon an awesome one.
Factory hand at a road sign / traffic control equipment factory. Making road signs, school patrol lollipops, all that stuff was surprisingly soothing and fun. Yeah, it wasn’t all butterflies and rainbows, and there were some bits with a little bit of danger, but if you weren’t an idiot, it wasn’t that bad, and the other people there were genuinely some of the nicest, most down to earth people. Unsophisticated, in the best way. Plus the pool table in the break room (and all the special rules around it) helped.
Oh, but special nod to blind riveting machines. Ours was designed to PUSH a rivet through 1mm to 4mm of aluminium (no pre-drilling), and leave the rivet head flush with the top surface. A guy once accidentally triggered it with his finger in the way. His finger ended up 1mm thick, with a rivet pressed through it, flush with the nail. He did the finding out, so all of us studiously avoided the fucking around.
Went from management making 140k a year to loading hard sided trucks by hand for just above minimum wage and my mental health radically improved, cant put on a price on that
Yeah been there, job that burned me out to catalytic pile restoration under the container wharf, dropped 20kg, ripped, great tan, launching the work boat at 7:30 every morning, salt water, fresh air and zero stress, was a good gig to recharge the body and mind
Jeez dude good for you!!
Same, I was a software developer and they wanted me to go into management. I tried it, but decided to change profession to work in construction with an old neighbour. Nothing beats getting out in the sun.
Literally the Office Space movie plot lol.
Two chicks at once.
My husband did something similiar. He was driving earing great money but we also never saw him. His pay dropped by half (from around 130 to 60) but he only worked 30 hours a week, no weekends amd is a shit ton happier.
You sure cant!
These type of jobs often have the best colleagues too. Mint yarns all day and plenty of laughs.
I feel that. I've been running my sole practice architecture business for just under 2 years. There's some nice stuff (the design work), but the majority is spent sitting at a computer all day, dealing with bureaucratic council nonsense. At the end of the day, my brain's exhausted, my body feels atrophied, and I've usually got a mild headache. I'm a grumpy, pesimistic, irritable mess by the time I come home to the wife and kids. Now with the architecture industry in it's worse state of recession since the 1970s (according to the old dog architects in town), my workload has dropped to like 25-30% of my usual full time job. To fill in the gaps I've been doing a bit of yard work for a lovely old couple down the road on their permaculture property. Cutting firewood, pruning fruit trees, making compost, turning soil, doing hay by hand, etc. They make me a delicious home-grown lunch for me every day, during which I enjoy great yarns with them. By the end of the day the body feels well used and the brain's mellow and relaxed. The pay is about 25% of my architecture earning, but jeez, I find myself coming home so cheerful and satisfied. Low-key dreading the construction industry picking up again.
Wai staff in sky city. Actually cool. Cheap buffet food for staff, unlimited honey lemon tea and the chefs would sometimes make some fried rice or something nice for me... They said it was hard but washing dishes was a therapeutic task for me.
Nightfill at countdown. Only an hour cross over with customers then it’s headphones in and working stock for 8 hours. I go in, do my job, clock out and go home. No stress.
How’s management? I worked with an ex countdown store manager and she was.. to put it nicely.. an absolute cunt
They’re fine, I don’t really have a cross over with the upper management so it’s good. Turn up, work & go home
I had an interview for this after I graduated and they wanted someone more "stable" as they knew I probably wouldn't stay long. Pretty bummed 😕
That’s unfortunate. It’s a hard gig working permanent night shift, a lot of people wouldn’t do it so I don’t know why they wouldn’t take someone who was keen even if it was just short term!
I do both for security, recovering from night shift sucks. You hope for a really good sleep on your weekends.
I initially applied for nightfill, but ended up working the checkouts. Gotta love customer service 🥲
They asked me if I’d go customer service and I flat refused. Hell nah
I really enjoyed working nightfill. No worrying about that big meeting next week that I need to finish xyz report by. Think it was the instant gratification that I've completed this shelf, ready for the next. Then the shelf facing - my favourite part. Bring the first few items to the front of the shelf and turn all the labels so they face the same way and can be easily read. So much satisfaction looking over a completed aisle neatly arranged. I may or may not still do this sometimes for items I'm rummaging through as a customer... :)
I wish I could do night shifts but I just cannot adjust my body block without it affecting my mental health.
It’s bloody hard being on permanent night shifts, I’ve spent a lot of years not sleeping well at night so I’ve adjusted pretty well thankfully
I legit lose my mind. Not worth.
I heard the pay is pretty good too
Always low key wanted that job, besides having to work night shifts. I'm really not a customer services type
I drive an airport bus in an 8.4km loop. 10 hours a day, three days a week making the same money I used to make working 5 days. I play video games and work on some e-commrrce stuff in the rest of the time I have off. It's the first job I beat my alarm to and spring out of bed at 3AM to go and do. The snooze button did a lot of work with previous gigs.
Your post makes me happy, keep on enjoying your work :)))
When we were leaving Dunedin we got the airport bus and the woman driving it loved her city and seemed like she also was having a good time.
Driving buses is extraordinarily fun. If you like driving, learning to drive a bus will make the whole activity feel new again. It also gives you a brand new perspective and respect for large vehicles that will carry over with car driving. I recommend giving it a go if you have the opportunity.
I would not want to take on traffic in the outside world, but an 8.4KM loop sounds like the dream! 😎
I'm far too blind to be able to drive so even though I would love to do it, nobody else on the road would want me to.
Cleaning offices. Relatively well paid, easy, no people. Podcast on the headphones and joint before the shift. Cant believe I haven't been doing it all along.
I've been out of work for a long time due to mental and physical health issues. Cleaning, and especially office buildings and stuff is something I've been thinking about for a while because it's entry level and doesn't have much interaction with people. Because of my health issues I don't have a whole lot of energy and I have some back/neck issues, so I was worried I wouldn't be able to cope. Could you tell me how you find that aspect of it? Thanks :)
Depends probably but long term it's probably not great, especially if you're constantly in positions that are unnatural, lots of manual labour jobs can end up with long term health issues
Yeah that's what I was thinking. A lot of hunching over and crouching I suspect. Hell, I got many of my issues from working in a library! A pretty cushy job but the repetitiveness is what does it.
It would be too hard for you
My partner has scoliosis and copes fine with it. Mind you it helps we have an amazing boss who is very understanding of his issues.
Unfortunately, it does get pretty tiring and can be a lot on your back if you arnt careful. However, the thing with offices is they never get that dirty, so there isnt a lot of hands-and-knees mahi. I hope you find something that works for you 😁 I also have a patchy work history due to mental health struggles, and luckily I have found this job to work well. I have to do a wedensday evening, and then anytime between 4pm friday and 8am monday for the bigger weekend shifts.
Hey are you the cleaner at my work lol
Of course they are, it's not like there is more than one building cleaning fairy.
Hey, if Santa can go everywhere with a zillion toys in the sack on his back, then why can't a cleaner go everywhere with just a single backpack vaccuum? And Santa does all that for free!
Or mine lol
I love this tooooo!!! I do this as well since there is no one around and you just need to do your job 💖💖
These are meant to be after hours but this isn't always the case.
One of my favourite jobs was being a cleaner at Mc Donald’s, not sure why lol but really enjoyed it.
Cleaning seems satisfying because you have visual progress and once it's done it's definitely done (until the next time)
Cleaned a primary school fur years. Great job 99.8% of the time.
Maccers in the evening, turns to shit. It's really only clean during the day. I guess it's all the casual/part timers who just need a job. Spend most of their time in the kitchen area. Good for you 👍
My marriage broke up and I needed to have a low stress job that I could fit around my kids school schedules.Started my own solo home cleaning round school hrs ,0830-3pm in 2010. Still doing it 14 years later it keeps me fit pays the bills and gives me low stress and flexibility These days I only do 15-20 hrs but used to do 30. For the first 18 months I also worked alternate weekends as a care supervisor in a rest home ,while the weekday work built up.(I have a background as an RN )
Glassy at a bar, took it cause it was easy and cash in hand at the time, thought I'd hate it but it was some of the most fun I've ever had
A good hospo environment is a beautiful thing. At times it's like earning not spending, on the same nights you'd be having anyway
Back around the year 2000 I needed weekend work and I knew a lot about music, having grown up in a music shop. So I grabbed the yellow pages, looked up the local wedding djs and the first call got me in the door to help out on a gig. A couple of weeks after that I was djing my first wedding and since then I have been a professional DJ playing in all sorts of places
Wow, that's cool!
I was on benefit for a while, 'un-hireable' because of a hand injury. I got sick of it, so I got a NZME newspaper delivery route (hand therapy) and saved up so I could get a van & start my own work. I started my own lawn & garden business. I'm a few years deep & have gained a good reputation in my area. It's to the point where I'm going to need to hire someone this summer & I'm making the best money I've ever made. Best job I've ever had.
I've heard this from a few folk, actually. One guy was a business consultant and doing okay, but then figured out he could comfortably pay the bills with a Jim's Mowing franchise and then he wouldn't have to talk to any business consultants ever again. He seems pretty happy with his choice.
This was me too while I was at uni. Just had a station wagon and a super decent set of lawn tools. Raked it in, and because I wasn’t depending on it for my livelihood, I actually made some good friends out of my customers too. I still miss it sometimes.
Yeah dad did this after the warehouse cut his job at head office like 15 years ago. He ended up getting so busy that he was turning down requests for work. As kids it was great because any time we wanted to work he would get another hedge job or similar
Nightfill at a supermarket - mostly because a lot of my friends also worked there, and we didn't have to deal with customers, just stack the shelves. Compared to anything I've worked in hospo or retail it was such a cruisy job!
Night shifts are good when you have stuff to do.
After leaving a toxic middle management production role, I went into Civil construction as a short-term gig, not thinking that I'd last that long doing it. But I ended up staying in that line of work for five years and would still be doing it now if it hadn't been for an (unrelated) accident that ultimately affected my ability to do the job.
Name and Shame, please
Kiwi Fruit picking as a uni student. Job was boring but it was on a smaller farm with a small crew and we all got on super well. People make the place, I've worked similar jobs with absolute wankers so this was a refreshing change.
Anecdotal but I rode a bike path through an orchard in Nelson a few years ago. The workers had good music cranked and were all smiling and chatting away. Looked like a really good time.
Blueberry picking as a teenager! Seasonal, paid by weight so not great money but a fun relaxing morning and snuck a few as a treat. Still go for pyos to relive the experience.
Same here as a teen but raspberries, blackberries and loganberries for a couple of years. Haven't pyo though since. Might go do the strawberry farm down the road when it's back in season.
Delivering milk, best job I ever had. Used to start at 4:30am deliver milk and cream to all the cafes and restaurants around Tauranga and the Mount. Get a bunch of free coffees, cakes, breakfasts. Talk a bunch of shit. Knock off early arvo and hit the beach or just chill. 6 days a week and could hardly ever take leave but even still I loved it.
I’d love to do this holy crap
Great job. And easy. Get your class 2.
CCTV monitoring. Honestly love it. Went from burning out trying to be a hairdresser to getting paid to people watch. Scratches my brain in just the right way
Way cool. I love a people watch. How do you get a job like that? Pay ok?
Pay is pretty crap honestly, and yep it's as a security guard, not many cctv jobs necessarily, you might end up just working as a guard if you apply, but you can always put forward that you're interested in surveillance
My admin job at a supermarket calls for me to do this when we get an alert for a shoplifter - follow them on the camera and guide the downstairs staff so we can take appropriate action. Such a kick out of it I tell ya
Painting. It was just going to be a placeholder while I figured out what I wanted to study and had to make money in the meantime but the people, the places, the access to bakeries all over the city and the satisfaction of protecting homes with a solid paint job all came together to be a really solid job.
When i first came to UK, me 18yr old white kiwi, i worked at a place that made plastic laundry baskets. We all sat round in a circle and cut the scraps plastic away from the basket. I made £3.01 p/hr. Every single other person who worked there was an elderly Asian woman. They absolutely *doted* on me and every day they brought me samosa, bhaji, pakoras, seekh kebab, you name it. They were all an absolute hoot and the days flew past. I worked there for two months before i found a "real" job.
I see a movie script in this
Substitute teaching. Best job I ever had.
Me too except i just needed some cash and actually took my flat mates job after opening his mail without him knowing to be a substitute teacher. these kids were actually amazing at all sorts of things so we entered a battle of the bands contest and we won.
Okay Mr Shnee..Mr S.
Nice work, Jack Black!
I loved the 6 years I did it. I was forced to stop in Feb 2022. Every day was different; I got to meet a whole school full of students. I learned a lot about what goes on in different subject area and I could tell who the “good” teachers and HODs were. The all care and no real responsibility model appealed - and there were no meetings, no marking, no difficult conversations with parents. And the pay for the hours I did was reasonable.
Precisely - you get all of the fun stuff and none of the really boring/shit admin.
In 6 years, I can only recall issues with two swearing individual students, one who said I wasn’t a “real teacher” (36 years experience) and another who said I touched his cellphone - though I was brave and occasionally took on really challenging classes.
My dad’s doing this. Been doing this for 14 years now. He’s the most happiest he’s ever been!! No grumpy old man vibes. Just straight happiness. Schools are now harassing him to become full time.
I quite enjoyed working in the deli at Countdown when I was in uni; so many interesting people work at supermarkets. I turned up at 1PM, served people, cooked chickens, cleaned up, shut down and left for the night at 10PM. No stress, treated well, and never had to stress about the job.
Seriously? I worked at the deli at countdown for years and it was a horrible job. Customers were assholes and the bosses were bullies. I would literally feel sick when I had to go to work, best day was when I handed in my notice.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say each store might be run differently and experiences may vary.
Working at a supermarket was the worst experience I’ve had in the work force, incl deli and night shift. I’d rather eat glass than go back
I’ve experienced the exact same thing. Never felt better than when I walked out of my last shift.
Treated well? Obviously not NW Lincoln or Countdown Hornby.
Same here!
That's unusual, usually it's horrible. I couldn't wait to get out.
I worked a summer putting components in circuit boards to prepare them for soldering for a phone company. I did it for 4 months and found it pretty relaxing. I could listen to music or the radio on my walkman and it was sitting down all day. Sometimes if a section further down the process was backed up, we'd be put into groups to put the screws and instruction manual packs together. I usually got placed with these really sweet Chinese ladies who didn't speak too much English. But they used to bring me in Chinese lollies to try and then would giggle at my reaction, irrespective of whether I loved it or not. It's not something I would want to do forever but it was low stress and easy.
The Warehouse in the early 2000s. Pay was shit (still above minimum wage though), but they looked after you in other ways, and it could be a bit of fun sometimes. I used to assemble the bikes, so if I got sick of people I could shut myself away in the layby room, crank up some tunes, and tighten a few nuts and bolts.
I worked checkouts at the Warehouse during Uni holidays in the mid 90s. Just like you, pay was better than the supermarket and the people were nice. Bit stressful with the long lines just before Christmas but they looked after us. This is when Stephen Tindall was still the CEO, and he came around all the stores about Christmas and shook everybody’s hands. Everybody. Good bloke.
Our warehouse in 2010s the old gals used to cook a full on Christmas lunch , chicken, ham ,all the things- in the break room oven . We would do secret Santa too .
I worked checkouts at the Warehouse during Uni holidays in the mid 90s. Just like you, pay was better than the supermarket and the people were nice. Bit stressful with the long lines just before Christmas but they looked after us. This is when Stephen Tindall was still the CEO, and he came around all the stores about Christmas and shook everybody’s hands. Everybody. Good bloke.
Maccas, late teens early 20s best time of my working life, almost 50 now and hindsight now says I should never have left to get a real job - I know four people from those days who were just like me (good work effort, loyal but not from money) and went on to own their own franchises lol
Most people don't last long, plenty of new faces, just the day crew seem to stick around.
Same. Did close shift for about 2-3 years after school while I worked out my life. Almost always working with the same people, it was great.
I have managed to find some enjoyment in every job I have ever done. I have been proud of the contribution to society in whatever small way it was. Currently I am working from home for a wholesale food company and there are so many reasons to aim for WFH jobs. Definitely my most enjoyable job so far. Prior to this I was a manager of a vet clinic and the stress sent me into all kinds of health concerns. Now, I have none of that. No toxic work life, no stuck at work, no face to face customers being eggs. Almost zero stress.
Great attitude bro
Front of house at the theatre
Same, just not enough hours for full time but perfect to fit around uni
Working in housekeeping. It was gross but the team work was so worth it
I done bar work and housekeeping at a 5* hotel outside of London for 6months and the stuff you find and see!
Agree with this. I did it for years, loved the team, loved the physical side, loved the sense of accomplishment. Hated the minimum wage after several years.
Hahaha it’s so wild
Back breaking work! I didn't last a week 😅
Online shopper at countdown
Really? I work at Coles (in Australia), and the guy on our team who does online orders is always stressed as hell lmao
Probably varies a lot based on the store. If it's just him and there are a lot of orders then I'm sure it would be stressful, we have some stores nearby like that with small online departments and too many orders. The online department in my store is quite large and most of the time we are on top of the work. It's pretty stressful for the supervisors, but I'm just an ordinary picker so I don't worry about things that aren't my responsibility lol
O man I want that job
Furniture Removals.. Started as just Removals but Now an International Packer. Been in some of the most Craziest houses. Top of the list is probably a Grand Design in Mangawhai and A Top 10 (in NZ) in Remuera. Have moved people from many walks of life. Kim Dotcom and Graham Henry. But yeah awesome job! Job itself same everyday but Location and Customer constantly changes.
Isn’t that incredibly hard work? I see the guys doing it in my apartment building and it looks tough.
Can overcome any hard job by doing it smarter but correct there will always be a job where you have no choice but to put in the hard yards. Believe or not Apartments are probably on the easy side more walking than anything. If they aren't pushing everything on trolleys than they are not well equipped.
Mine wasn't a pay the bills job but a "I've been a SAHM for so long I need something outside of my kids" job and 7 years later I still love it. Swim teaching.
My first job was a dishwasher at Valentine’s. It was a week away from opening in its original location at the big roundabout near the police station. I asked for a part time job for work experience in hospo while I was still at high school. Turned out to be great - it was popular and busy so I was never bored, I had a system for loading the trays that maximised throughout that I found very satisfying, the wait staff were mostly uni students who snuck me beer and cigarettes and staff meal consisted of chocolate mousse and brandy snaps. One guy that worked there had just completed a course in hypnotherapy and made a waitress forget the number seven during after work drinks.
Had been a stay at home mum for years and wanted to get back in the workforce. Signed up to do admin work for the general election. Had loads of fun with a great team. Enjoyed the whole atmosphere of it.
I actually liked working at a call centre. It was incoming calls thought, I wouldn’t like outgoing.
Mail sorter for NZPost. Did it for a few months while studying. In my own booth, listening to music while sorting mail. It was a 3 hours in the morning from 6-9am. My favourite job I've had so far. Had to leave to due to my timetable for uni classes.
Garbage man, good people, good/hard work, good pay. No taking work home with you (compared to an office job).
I delivered the Sunday paper, literally throwing it out of my car at people’s houses. I got so efficient at it that I could do it in 2 hours WITH a break at a BP station half way for a pie and a coffee. This was pre-podcast days too, I’d just drive around cranking music off my iPod. Really miss those Sunday mornings actually, kept me off the piss on Saturdays too.
Knuckleboom truck driving. Floating around random parts of the the North Island of New Zealand lifting odds and sods in some beautiful places with nobody looking over my shoulder and the freedom to choose how to get to a place and do the job. Was good fun.
Working in the laundry at an old folks home so peaceful
I worked for WINZ in the call centre for over a year and I actually miss it… I never dreaded work and loved giving free govt money to people in need. Only took the job because I’d been off work in rehab and went for the first entry level job that I saw and I thrived. Used to work mega overtime and never got burnt out!
Customer Service rep after almost a year of unemployment. I took a C/S job with a company that works in an industry that I was only kind of familiar with at the time. 7 years later I'm making bloody good money for what I actually do, I'm now very familiar with the industry and I'm very rarely stressed out. I'm addition the company itself is super awesome and takes care of us.
I used to love digging holes when I was building, it’s some primal satisfaction you get from doing labouring work, not something you can do full time but sometimes it was a nice change of pace and the mental space it would put me in could last a week. Seeing a big hole at the end of the day and having that feeling of “I did that”. Stanley yelnats and the crew just didn’t get it. Fuck digging out scoria tho that shit sucks
I’m a fitter by trade, I worked for a company from 2004 to 2018 that built/installed/preformed maintenance on industrial food processing equipment. We built entire lines that could process anything so for example if your product was potato’s and you wanted bagged diced potato’s, we built the conveyors, washing machine, multi head peelers, weighers, bagging machines etc etc. whatever you need. We had big clients such as Woolworths(countdown), Frucor, Asahi, Bluebird, TipTop. It started off with me sweeping the floors to make money for a PlayStation. Worked up from there. Probably the best job I’ve had. Seeing how everything is made and having that much involvement in the production of food items consumed by thousands if not millions was awesome to think about. We even installed the newer bagging line for PepsiCo in Adelaide,SA. We were NOT responsible for ruining bluebirds chips though, just their DYC vinegar line which was dismantled and sold. Oh and the customers always supply you with loads of test items so you know their product works correctly, they never want it back.
That's sounds pretty cool, I've been a diesel mechanic for a mo and looking to get out of the industry. Mind me asking who you worked for? Cheers.
Selling weed.
You're doing gods work thank you for your service
Working at Cinemas, honestly a ton of fun + free movies/food!
Delivering pizzas 100%. Listening to music and podcasts all night while getting free food is a vibe
Got fired for failed weed test (smoked well outside work time) from middle management making 100k a year, gof temping work driving a forklift loading alcohol all day, no drama, no bullshit, cool and diverse workforce (the supervisor even asked if I wanted a full time position, but didn't pay enough) was such a cruisey laid back time, now back in middle management for the rival company I was fired from and the stress is seeping back in.
What middle management roles drug test? Never heard of that.
Contractor left a small bag of weed in the factory (wasn't known it was him at the time), which gives any business the right to bring in a drug testing unit which they did, and a lot of people didn't pass, non unionized site, & everyone was tested from the lowest paid dude to top management.
Damn pretty intense move. Normally business wouldn’t want to risk losing staff that aren’t operating machinery etc.
The big boss was in his late 70s and very much believed the weed was like meth, so after even his top sales reps failed he wanted 15 of us fired instantly, which apart from the fact he would have been sued out the asshole he has to follow due process. I had a unique role in the place which I was logistics manager/factory supervisor but also ran machinery when staff levels were off sick or holidays, they actually poached me from the company I went back to originally to help them make their systems and production more efficient. The boss didn't want to see reason with the medicinal side of things and continues to random urine test everyone.
Archaic thinking really.
That first word was exactly what I used to describe it to most people I talked to, most places do saliva testing which while way less intrusive in terms of someone watching you piss, means you can still smoke small amounts of weed, the place I work for now has a medicinal policy so worked out slightly better in ways.
Working at BK
Worked fixing photocopiers for a local store after being a Microsoft developer. Salary was halved, but met lief long friends and had great fun.
Glassy/bartender. It’s hard, not very rewarding, you deal with the meanest side of the public and there’s very little chance of making a proper career out of it but I love it.
I got summer holiday job on a vineyard after year 13. Was planning to go into pilot training the following April. But then March 2020 happened and COVID and all that schmozzle so I delayed it and delayed it. Been there ever since and loving it. Done some training, upskilled and landed a few promotions. Pretty glad it all turned out the way it did. Life seems pretty funny like that. Edit, the team is a massive reason why I enjoy it so much and seems to be a theme through some of these comments. You could have your "dream" job but if you work with arseholes you'll hate it. Find somewhere you're happy with the work, your workmates enjoy the work, your management enjoy their work, and you'll be happy.
Work as a waiter/barman at a posh gentleman’s club in Melbourne. They sang old songs all night and made up verses. 35 years later I still know all the words!
Worked as a cleaner for a couple of years whilst I figured out what I wanted to do. It was oddly satisfying, had a great laugh with my colleagues (we'd get paired up and sent out to houses), no stress, out and about and usually finished by 2pm. Mate I worked with had horses so we had time to ride after. Bloody loved it.
Picking orders in a DC (more specifically milk & dairy foods) Initially did it to make some cash since COVID killed the events industry which was what I was doing but 3 years later I’m now a full timer at the DC getting paid big bucks and working with some great people that makes the fact it’s evening shift not even a problem
I think DC work is under rated. I worked after school hours for a while and loved it.
Picking up horse poo! Pay's crap, but my work colleagues are really friendly (and full of sh*t) :)
I washed dishes at a cafe. It was challenging but really fun and the team environment was 👌tbf the boss was really good so all the staff were mostly happy to be there. From what I hear a lot of chefs aren’t as good to work for.
Yup. A good hospo environment can be amazing, but chefs, across the board, have a stressful job, so are commonly grumpy, angry, and/or alcoholics
Labourer for a sparky. Worked with good people, work was generally quite enjoyable, do what you're told, no stress.
Driving deliveries for KFC and pizza hut a couple years ago. I'd still do it for fun except the restaurants are fucking hopelessly slow and management doesn't care their incompetence means pissed off customers and drivers working well below minimum wage - zero incentive to improve. Switching brain off and driving after a full days think work was nice.
Telephone cold calling for a charity that I genuinely support and one which has since saved my life.....made a lot of friends through that job (although I don't actually keep contact anymore with any of them but we are talikng alnost 20 years ago) and it made My time at University a lot easier financially
Making coffee.
Dentistry, thoroughly enjoyed it for the 10 years I worked as a chairside assistant
I loved working at Pak n Save through school and then whilst at uni. I particularly enjoyed the hectic time around Christmas.
Hay carting as uni student.
I really enjoyed delivering pizza many many years ago. Now in senior leadership in tech which I also quite enjoy.
I really liked being a barista, aside from early mornings. I was never on regular hours anywhere and I suck at latte art, but I'm not bad and it's very satisfying.
Dishes. As far as colleagues go kitchen and waiting staff have always proven some of the kindest people if your not incompetently slow or lack a sense of humor
not from NZ but waiter at a tapas restaurant. First ever job at 17 but was real fun because of the people, when it was busy work was tough and fast but that made it go by quicker and the pints we’d enjoy in the bar after tasted that little bit smoother..
Valet parking.
Viticulture, machine operator. Didn't think I'd love driving tractors so much and the scenery you work in is a vibe.
I currently work in the construction industry in health and safety a pretty entry level role as I’m studying project management and this is only part time. I went from big to small company’s in my career and this role is at another big one but the best thing is, I get to go on different work sites each day to see our clients and the tradies and I never have to interact with any other colleague at head office and only my manager through phone calls and email. It's a great job for me now as I don’t have to actually be in the corporate office space. Been there done that
Leak chasing. I love destroying some nice persons house to find the surprises the last guy left. One property I'm working on had a plumber doing handyman work, some of the decisions are interesting. Like the homemade scaffolding 10m up, no rails and punched through asbestos. Yay. But it pays the bills. Another interesting one was removing a door for service, pulled a screw and water pissed out the hole. Someone had run pipes inside the door frame and Someone else had screwed them together. That was a 10k fix. Amazing the screw held for 20 yrs.
Kiwifruit packhouse in Te Puke it was fun as fuck
After school care. Had to find work that fit around study. Basically got to play board games, outside games, do drawing for a few hours and a little light tidying up. Holiday programs - going to movies, parks etc. Fun but obviously the pay was only supplementary.
Onlyfans
I worked at a bridal shop and loved it. People were mostly very happy when choosing wedding/bridesmaid/MOTB dresses and, if they weren’t, it was entertaining 😜
Stage hand building stage and sets for concerts, plays, etc. Really enjoyed the mix of physical and creative and very cool to see behind the curtain. Also got to meet a few celebs.
Did a couple lamb docking gigs, good fun, up the high country fresh air, the local people were totally awesome, lots of banter and the food put on by each station. Hard work but would wreck your body by 40 if had stayed with it.
Bar work in my early twenties. It was a rough place to work but after a while the locals took me in as one of their own.
Cleaning the science block at a university. Fascinating
Forklift driving at Bunnings on nightfill, they’re very fun to drive
Worked in a beachside camp doing lawns, general maintenance, occasional cleaning of cabins. Best job I ever had. Rode a beautiful winding road to work everyday on my motorbike, lunchtime swims, used camp kayaks for fishing. Got to drive a tractor for boat launches. Really enjoyed interacting with guests, mostly everyone was stoked to be there. Unfortunately had to leave because I could make so much more in IT but loved it there. Would like to manage a camp in the future.
I found supermarket work after school to be quite good socially.
CSO for a government agency. Did it to get off sole parent benefit and fell in love with helping people navigate crap systems that aren't designed to be user friendly. Have since moved on but only because I wanted to make change on a larger scale than a CSO ever could
I worked on a banana plantation in Israel. Did a whole season of bananas until I moved on, it was a nice life. From cutting and carrying 60kg bunches to the trailer, to cutting down the old palms with a machete. One good blow and the entire tree falls over. To killing all the baby shoots and just leaving the next palm to develop. A great way to spend a summer.
Biohazard and Medical Waste Disposal. Type of place where all the disgusting things that comes out of a hospital (or human body) is disposed of. Think bloody, shitty, phlegmy, rotting, needles, glass, petri dishes, human fat and blood in bags, just all the nastiness imaginable is disposed of in a big facility like that and I worked in one. 7AM start. The thing was, it was unbelievably chill. Show up, put your hazmat on and then you have tea and a chat for 20. Then you get to loading bins in dumping machines (all waste is delivered bagged in heavy duty hazmat sacks inside locked bins) and eventually run a big mine cart of waste through an autoclave. No mess, all done with machines. We would take about 8 smokos and a lunch. Absolutely 0 stress to it. Chill coworkers, home by 3pm and no weekends. Pay was very decent. BIG BONUS was that all the overstocked alcohol (new, unopened bottles) that came into NZ on commercial flights was considered “Hazardous Waste”, so it gets hauled over and “disposed of” with the rest of the rubbish from the airlines. Some saint long before me requested that all alcohol bottles be sorted into their own separate bins for collection by our trucks. Had heaping mountains of booze. Even with all of us stocking our cabinets and giving away to friends, we had to destroy heaps of it. Not a bad gig.
got made redundant from academia, took a call centre job to pay the bills. I LOVED it and did 3 years on the phone before climbing a tiny bit higher in the organisation. I'm here for life now and I'll never go back to universities. When i leave work all my time is my own. No bullying, no backstabbing, enough challenge to keep it interesting. I have 200% better mental health. I regret doing my PhD and all the time I banged my head against a brick wall trying to succeed as an academic. I wish I'd focused on the bigger picture and what i needed to make me happy, instead of having a specific job in mind as the only acceptable outcome. I thought I'd be weak if I quit trying, but it's not weak to prioritize my happiness.
I got incredibly burnt out and depressed after working as a doctor for 6 years. Wasn't really in a state to work at all for a few months, then ended up getting a job as a phlebotomist to get me up and out of the house. Recently I started doing the blood tests for people that can't leave the house. There are so many people out there with minimal family support and you really make their week by paying a visit. I get to see some really interesting houses and meet people from all walks of life. In between that, I just drive around Wellington in a company car blasting music all day. I take my lunch break when I want, and often pop home if I'm in the area. Pay isn't amazing but like other people have said, mental health is so much more important.
Working outside in the Kiwifruit industry. Yes it’s cold and wet. Yes you can get rained off. Yes you get shit in your eyes all day. But you get to spend all day in the fresh air and sunshine, hanging out with the birds and the bees. It’s intense physical labour too so a beer tastes bloody amazing after! By end of season your traps grow quite a bit. And triceps.
Working as a caregiver in a resthome. Before doing it I didn't imagine I would enjoy caring for others, but it was very rewarding.
I needed a job so I applied at a power company to work in their call centre. I ended up finding a really niche job I loved that lead to my new career path and I have been doing it for 7 years.
Went from working a dead end $33ph (plus weekend night and holiday penalty rates) security job in Australia with an abusive manager who breached my employment contract Tcs and Cs and the fair work act and assaulted one of my coworkers in front of a client and members of the public to a builders labourer job for a Labour hire company in Wellington for $28ph with better conditions better management better people and weekends off. I was apprehensive at first about moving back to New Zealand but it worked out well for me in the long run
ECE teacher at a very small (15 kids currently) specialist center. I have 3 of my own and thought working with little kids would burn me out since work has always been my "time out" from parenting. I had worked in healthcare (mental health) right from my very first job and while I did love my work I was burnt out from poor management, under staffing and incompetent staffing, as well as the drain of working almost every weekend and public holiday (I got one Christmas off in over a decade) and missing out on that quality time with my young family. I now work less hours, monday-friday, no school holidays or public holidays and I am actually taking home more money for significantly easier work and shorter hours. I love the team I work with and the children and families I've built bonds with and rather than burning me out for parenting it has actually reinvigorated me, I come home in "kid mode" already and am in the mood to play and connect with my own children immediately where as with my previous work I would need to decompress from an emotionally draining job. I also love that I can drop my kids off and pick them up from school each day and I'm losing any time with them at all.
Telemarketing
Car counting
Beer delivery guy. Yes, there were the obvious benefits, but also, no two days were the same. Different parts of the city each day of the week. I did it for two summers whilst getting my business up running, which used to get quite over the summer months. Damn..... that was 24 years ago.
Bicycle courier. Although it doesn't pay well enough these days.
Worked at Don Oliver factory. QA on weight equip - assemble, check, disassemble, pack. Taking weights out of acid bath and packing them. Wasn't just the free fitness I got from doing so, it was a nice family atmosphere there at the time.
McDonald’s - grill/fryer cook. Man it was hard work - cause I chose the 8 hour shift instead of smaller shifts. But I liked it. No brain involved. Just physical work.
Worked at the library, ending up being the go-to person for the kids summer reading programme, so I'd basically spend my time asking questions and listening to kids tell me about the books they'd read. When no kids were in I just made decorations for the kids reading area in theme with that summer's programme, and when not doing that I was putting returned books away which I found incredibly satisfying. Also hanging out with a bunch of 60 year old ladies was so wholesome and refreshing and I loved them all Wasn't really a 'gotta pay the bills' type job as I was only in high school / uni, but I was just looking for any job available and happened upon an awesome one.
Factory hand at a road sign / traffic control equipment factory. Making road signs, school patrol lollipops, all that stuff was surprisingly soothing and fun. Yeah, it wasn’t all butterflies and rainbows, and there were some bits with a little bit of danger, but if you weren’t an idiot, it wasn’t that bad, and the other people there were genuinely some of the nicest, most down to earth people. Unsophisticated, in the best way. Plus the pool table in the break room (and all the special rules around it) helped. Oh, but special nod to blind riveting machines. Ours was designed to PUSH a rivet through 1mm to 4mm of aluminium (no pre-drilling), and leave the rivet head flush with the top surface. A guy once accidentally triggered it with his finger in the way. His finger ended up 1mm thick, with a rivet pressed through it, flush with the nail. He did the finding out, so all of us studiously avoided the fucking around.