I used to hate the fact that I had so many jobs in my life, but I learned to look at it differently. While such a sporadic employment history doesn’t necessarily look good on a resume, all those jobs do add up to some nice life experience, and that’s worth something. Or not. Who cares.
1. Target: 1996-1997
Position: Pull Team Member
What I Did: Stocked shelves
Why I Quit: I just wanted to earn my Target “bulls eye” pin. Yeah, back in the day you had to earn that pin, now they just give it to everyone. Plus I just wanted to do something else.
2. City of Scottsdale, Prosecutor’s Office: 1998
What I Did: Clerk
Why I Quit: This job was through some bullshit elective class I took my senior year. It was only meant to last a semester. But I did implement the first ever catalog system for photo radar tickets. Photo radar was still new at the time, and they used to just pile all the ticket jackets in an empty cubicle. Yours truly was heavily involved in building a system for them.
3. Blockbuster: 1998-1999
What I Did: Mostly argue with customers about why they had late fees.
Why I Quit: Enlisted in the Navy
4. United States Navy: 1999-2003
What I Did: Photography, Videography, Broadcast Television, Media Composer Editor, and all kinds of other cool shit
Why I Quit: Got my honorable discharge in September 2003. I never intended to do more than one enlistment.
5. Carpenter Apprentice: 2003-2004
What I Did: Mostly I got yelled at.
Why I Quit: I actually got sort of fired (though the guy I worked for was and still is a good friend, and is still my contractor). I had no idea what I was doing anyway.
6. Delivery Driver: 2004
What I Did: Deliver office supplies for a couple hours first thing in the morning.
Why I Quit: I think that’s pretty self-explanatory
7. Private Investigation Company: 2004
What I Did: Background checks, skip traces (find people) and corporate espionage
Why I Quit: Though everything we did was completely legal (we were licensed by the Arizona Department of Public Safety), that’s a shady industry, and I had some serious ethical issues with that job.
8. Freelance Videography and Photography: 2004-2005
What I Did: Shot videos of live concerts, band photos
Why I Quit: Wasn’t making enough money, and I really hated working with snot nosed band kids.
9. Hewlett Packard: 2005-2006
What I Did: Hardware & Network Technician
Why I Quit: The HP partner I worked for was based out of San Diego, and they lost their foothold in Arizona. Wasn’t enough work for me.
10. Style Door & Trim: 2007-2008
What I Did: Office Manager/Bookkeeper
Why I Quit: Had to quit to take care of my old man during his final years.
11. Private Aviation Company: 2010
What I Did: Social Media Manager & Front Office Coordinator
Why I Quit: The owner kept telling me how to answer the phone.
Side note: Over 1,000 people applied for this position, and I went through a 4 phase hiring process. In my first week, I had brought in over $1,000 in discovery flight sales. The owner of the company was a micro-managing dillweed who was way too interested in appearances.
12. Social Media Company: 2010
What I Did: Facebook page designs, some print work, photography
Why I Quit: Two reasons – 1) The partner who was the so called “social media guru” knew about as much about social media as I know about being a Chinese space pilot. And 2) the partners were very, very, very religious, so the tone of the office was “Praise the Lord” and “….because their good Christians.” For the record, I have no problem with that, but when it becomes the day to day mantra of the office, it gets to be a little too much.
13. Freelance Web Design/Development, SEO: 2006-2011
What I Did: Web design, front-end development, CMS, SEO, etc.
Why I Quit: Despite the day jobs, I never stopped doing freelance web work (my true calling). I don’t do freelance anymore, because I have a kick ass agency job now.