My First, Last, Best, and Worst Jobs

What would you answer if you were asked what your first, last, best, and worst jobs were?

I listened to an episode of My First Million titled “How to Grow an Audience if You Have 0 Followers.”

Shaan Puri gave an exercise to help think of content ideas called first, last, best, and worst.

He took this exercise from Matthew Dicks, author of Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling.

Shaan added the weirdest.

You take any subject in your life and answer the first, last, best, worst, and weirdest for each.

That gives you unique content to write about. You can do this with jobs, relationships, places you’ve visited, businesses you’ve started, and much more.

Hearing him use jobs as an example made me think about what I’d answer. I thought it’d be fun for myself to answer.

If you're willing to share yours, leave your answers in the comment. I would love to read it.

You can also publish a Substack post with your answers. If so, please link back to this post and leave a link in the comments so we can all read it.

I’m going to have two first jobs because one wasn’t paid and one was.

My parents opened a Chinese restaurant like many immigrants. After school, my brother, sister, and I would hang out there since they both worked all day.

From what my parents said, when I was in elementary school I’d wash dishes. Not full-time, but I would help out. At that age, I thought it was fun.

When I got a little bit older, I would work the cash register. Customers thought it was cute this little guy was taking their money. The three of us would do whatever help was needed except cook.

My first paying job was in high school as a youth soccer referee for the YMCA.

My last job was working for an NFT company on the community team as a Discord moderator.

It was the job I got laid off from last October.

For about 10 years I was my own boss making money online in different ways. Working for myself was great and it’s something I'm aiming to do again.

However, that’s not the best job I’ve ever had.

The best job was when I was in college and worked for the University of Florida women’s soccer team as an equipment manager.

My job duties included lots of laundry, setting up the locker room for game days, packing travel bags for each player, preparing the field for games, filming during away games, and much more.

I loved doing it.

During the games, I was a spectator standing on the sidelines cheering on the team.

I grew up playing soccer all through high school.

What I enjoyed was being a part of a team even if it was as an equipment manager.

Sometimes I’d be used in drills or scrimmages during practice. I got to play with some of the best collegiate women’s soccer players at that time.

If players needed any new equipment they’d see me. I was like Santa Claus. I got so much free apparel during that time.

I got to travel to all the road games and as someone who loves to travel to this day, I loved it.

I did this for two seasons. It had to end cause the person in that position needed to be in school. should have stayed in school longer like getting another degree so I could have continued. Instead, I thought I should be a responsible adult and decided to follow the checklist in life and get a real job.

For doing this I did get a partial scholarship. I would have done this for free.

That’s when you know you’re doing something you love.

This wasn’t officially a job but it could have been if I wanted it.

I lasted a day of training even though I wanted to leave before lunch.

I was working in my mom’s restaurant for a few years after graduating but already becoming unhappy with it. I always knew working in the restaurant was temporary. I wanted to do something else but didn’t know what (a common theme throughout my life).

I browsed open job listings to see if anything caught my attention.

There was one that mentioned marketing and being your boss. It was enough for me to apply. I got an email back and asked if I could come in for an interview soon.

I wore a shirt and tie to make a good impression. I arrived at the office and after some small talk, the person in charge told me that I’d be following a couple of salespeople for the day. They were about my age.

I don’t remember if I knew what they were selling yet. Regardless I said okay and the three of us piled into a car.

We drove to a neighborhood about 15 minutes away. We parked at a fast food restaurant and started walking towards the neighborhood.

As they approached each house, I would stand towards the back listening.

They were selling people on upgrading their cable plan. They’d say a bunch of things to make it sound like they were offering a great deal. If they made a sale, they’d make a commission.

After a couple of houses, I felt uncomfortable about the whole thing. It didn’t feel like something I’d want to be doing. I didn’t like the idea of selling something I didn’t care about.

It wasn’t lunch yet and I did not want to be doing this the rest of the day.

I couldn’t leave though cause I drove with them. If I had my car, I would have made some emergency excuse as to why I needed to leave, but I couldn’t.

After we had lunch at the fast food restaurant, we continued going to houses until about 5 pm.

We got back to the office and I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

I went straight to the restaurant to work the rest of the evening. Though I had been unhappy at the restaurant, I was so happy to be there that night.

The next day I got a call from the person in charge who said the two salespeople had great things to say about me and if I was interested in joining.

I politely declined.

I was unhappy working at the restaurant but no doubt I would have been miserable selling door-to-door.

That neighborhood isn’t too far from where live now and whenever I drive by, it brings back memories of that day.

I’ve been going through my memory to think of a weird job. I can’t think of anything I’d consider weird. I’ve had other small jobs, but they were normal.

If you had a weird job, I’d love to hear what it was.

I would love to learn more about you and your previous jobs.

Leave your answers about your first, last, best, worst, and weird jobs in the comments.

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