Your shortest job EVER ?

jibbajabba

I'll start with 3hrs

I was working in Ireland for a while and applied for a Job in Dell Server Support. (that was like 10 years ago mind).

They insisted on an MCSE 2000 which I was one exam short of.

Because they said they wanted me the agency managed to convince them that I can get the remaining exam during my probation.

First day arrives and I start immediately shadowing a guy after a chat with HR.

1. Call
Customer:"Server does bla bla"
Me Thinking:"It's XYZ - 2 seconds, done"
Colleague:"Sorry, I need to ask you a few questions"
Me Thinking:"???"

Anyway .. to make a long story / phone call short. You weren't allowed to "think" or troubleshoot for that matter, but you had to follow a troubleshooting / decision tree.

Only managed one call before lunch and then I asked why you need an MCSE for following some piece of paper and no one knew but knew that this is how you do your job ...

Well, I paid for my lunch and left ... started at 10am, left at 1pm ....

Asif Dasl

I worked in a deli counter at a supermarket, I got a days health & safety training. Turned up for work after school to be told to clean up to whole deli counter, but nobody told me what to do. I burned my hands several times during the tortuous few hours that I withstood - I said I am not doing this for the rest of my life and didn't show up the next day. I didn't know my arse from my elbow - but I got paid for 3 days. That's as much as I remember of it.

puertorico1985

I worked as a IT "Service Manager" (for a company about an hour away from my home) and was really just a JOAT who had to fix all the problems that the guy before me had messed up pretty badly (terrible configurations, no documentation whatsoever, no passwords for logins, etc...). Stress levels were through the roof and received peanuts as pay. I left after three months, and am surprised I lasted that long.

kohr-ah

IT was 3 months. They were going good through a merger and told me no worries it would be at least 2 to 3 years. 2 months later we merged and we're told we are relocating to Florida and HR told me to start looking for work. So I did and found a new position a month later.

Non IT was 4 hours. Worked at Menards and someone needed help in the lumber yard and the entire people were on lunch from out there. I went out and helped and was yelled at for not being in my department by my supervisor when I got back. Took off my vest, said screw this I quit, and walked out

jvrlopez

Sears for 1.5 days. Made about $2 an hour plus commision (1% on TVs sold). I hated it because the workers were lazy, the customers were rude and felt entitled, and it had nothing to do with anything that interested me. Half way into my second day, I got a call for an IT help desk job. I clocked out and went home to begin the process for the new gig.

thenjduke

puertorico1985 wrote: »

I worked as a IT "Service Manager" (for a company about an hour away from my home) and was really just a JOAT who had to fix all the problems that the guy before me had messed up pretty badly (terrible configurations, no documentation whatsoever, no passwords for logins, etc...). Stress levels were through the roof and received peanuts as pay. I left after three months, and am surprised I lasted that long.

This sounds like the crappy place I took a job for as a Senior Network Engineer and turn into being Directory of IT and I lasted three months because the woman above me had to put me down everyday. She had a complex.

Kai123

One day contract at Microsoft's data centre in Dublin. “Deployment of infrastructure” is a sexy way of saying manual labour.

mokaiba

I lasted 20 minutes at a fast food place. Burnt my hand on the grill and quit.

jibbajabba

Kai123 wrote: »

One day contract at Microsoft's data centre in Dublin. “Deployment of infrastructure” is a sexy way of saying manual labour.

Ah funny that - almost worked there too in Ireland .. Worked there for Xerox, Symantec, HP and of course this 3hrs in Dell (mainly over in Dublin 15 though).

JoJoCal19

4 hours for me. It was a job in a clothes distribution warehouse and on my first day they asked me to just tape boxes. That's it. After 4 hours of taping boxes and being bored to death, I clocked out for lunch and went home, for good. Even as an 18 year old, I only wanted jobs that would challenge me.

Iristheangel

Oooo. This is a fun thread.

Non-IT:
Lasted one day at Boston Market when I was 18.

IT:
Years ago, I took that trial run at the MSP for 3 months. I basically dealt with old aged equipment, software, and other crap while the owner continuously bragged about how there was no limit to how far I could go and how much he could pay me if I just stuck with him. Well... when it came time to negotiate for a salary, they low-balled me at a rate under $60K and less than 5 days of vacation a year. I got pissed, collected my books, and walked out without saying another word. Within a week of job hunting, I got my first network engineer gig and getting paid VERY well.

E Double U

2 -3 months as a contractor doing a pc/printer refresh. Offered a permanent position w/ benefits at a telco and that was it. Went on my vacation to Rio then started the new gig as soon as I returned

Non-IT: teller for BofA. Went to the 1st team meeting and showed up another day for training. Realized they wouldn't be flexible with my college schedule so I never returned.

Vask3n

3 months here, which was when I learned not to show interest in companies that use staffing agencies. It was some IT consulting gig where I had to show up at a a chemical plant and help them with horrible software like quickbooks and other shady network setups like using TeamViewer for non-personal use, and I think I will leave it at that.

Needless to say it's not even on my resume since I had a second job while doing it.

geekgirl74

I was not too long out of high school. I already had a full-time job but I took a second job at Hardees to just fill in some spare time. One day during week 2 it was really slow, and because I was the newbie, the manager on shift gave me a toothbrush and told me to scrub the baseboards. I gave him back the toothbrush and told him where he could scrub and walked out. Never took another job like that!

Trifidw

One day - Paper round. My hands were covered in blisters and the pay was rubbish for the amount of work involved.

PsychoData91

I worked at Dollar General for two hours. I was taking training videos on a VCR when they pulled me out and instructed me that I was to go clean the bathrooms (I think someone's anus had exploded in them moments before) I asked for gloves and they said they didn't have any, go grab some off the shelf and they would store use them. So, there I am, cleaning a bathroom I'm scared to breathe in because it's got fecal matter everywhere (you think I'm exaggerating but I'm not. It was even on the ceiling) when I got a job offer phone call from a pizza place (while I was on the clock) and I took a 15 minute break to take the call. They offered me a job delivering pizza. I was talking to them about compensation and school schedules when the dollar store manager came over and said "Why'd you stop it's not clean yet" - I put the phone back up to my ear while I looked at the dollar store manager and said "I'll take it. call you back in a minute I have to finish quitting my current job" Hung up and told him where he could send my check while I clocked off.

Edit: they never paid me for the 15 minute paid break, but I didn't push for it. I made sure I got the rest of it though.

Heero

3 months. We had agreed that I would work for them temporarily while finding work in another location (which would require relocation). I could have worked for up to 6 months but I found another job first.

I guess technically it was longer than 3 months though because I still did part time work in my off-time for them and I was officially a W2 employee even though I was only clocking a couple hours a weeks.

Paul6

I'm planning to quit my first IT job after 4 months. I'm doing help desk for a local chain of medical practices. The pay is OK ($14/hr) but I'm not learning anything anymore. The most exposure I've gotten is very basic Windows Server and Active Directory stuff - adding users, resetting passwords, rebooting servers, etc. Most of the phones calls I get are related to glitches in their EMR software, which I'm not even trained on and can't fix. In most cases the advice simply is "reboot the computer." This isn't real IT to me. I'd rather be unemployed, and bury my head in books/certs, until I can market myself for a mid-level position.

PsychoData91

Paul6 wrote: »

This isn't real IT to me.

This is almost exactly how I feel. Except that all they bring me is things like "Can you install this RAM" because they aren't comfortable opening the computer. The Desktop support person almost had a heart attack when I had a dissassembled laptop in front of me. "We just wanted you to change the hard drive! not Take it apart!" and she took each of the pieces and put them in a static bag and stormed back to her desk.


She came back a few hours later after she borked the motherboard with her screwdriver and wanted me to finish putting it back together. She was upset when I said it might not work and blamed it on me >.>

aderon

Shortest job was three months. I don't have any cool quitting stories like you all though . It was a summer job working in a toll booth for the parking garages at Universal Studios (AKA lets see how long you can stand in the florida heat before passing out)

markulous

4 hours.

I asked my friend if he had any work (I was unemployed at the time) and he said that he could get me roofing with him and is uncle. It's under the table so I could start right away. He says we get paid by the job and not by the hour.

It's central California in late July and the high for that day was about 110 and it can be humid. On a roof it is even hotter. I worked my butt off tearing off the old roof and bringing up new materials. We break for lunch and I'm already just so worn out and dehydrated. I ask my friend how much we have earned so far, he says about $15. Needless to say, I didn't go back and I'm not busting my behind that hard for less than $4 an hour.

N2IT

3 month contract.

devils_haircut

I made it through an 8-hour day at a plastics plant. It was the summer after my freshman year of college and I was staying at my mom's house for the summer in a very small town in Indiana. I was talking to my friend's dad about job hunting, and he called up a buddy on his cell phone and got me an interview the next day. Interviewed, got the job, started the following Monday.

The job? Working in a dusty gravel lot in ~95°F weather, with no access to water, busting up plastic storage bins to be melted down and re-used. I grew up in the country, so I was no stranger to outdoor work in the heat. But the kicker was this: my co-worker (and technically my "boss") was the owner's 13 year-old son. I was 19. He somehow was allowed to operate a forklift, which is funny because it's illegal. And I decided the next morning that I wasn't going back.

Two days later I got called back about another job I applied to making another $1.00 per hour, so all in all it wasn't a bad move.

Kinet1c

Kai123 wrote: »

One day contract at Microsoft's data centre in Dublin. “Deployment of infrastructure” is a sexyway of saying manual labour.

It appears that I dodged a bullet after interviewing there earlier in the year!

UnixGuy

One week, my first IT internship. I was still at Uni. The supervisor promised that we will be doing "network" work, then used us for PC installation/support. As a uni student I had troubles waking up early (7:00 am) anyway, so I stopped showing up

VikingWarlord

Aside from the one-week contract I did for Xerox and one-off days I did weeding cornfields and **** during high school, 3 total months washing dishes at Red Lobster. 2 and a half months over the summer before leaving for college, two weeks at Christmas break. I hated every second of it and it remains my worst job to date. It's the job that pushed me to do well in school so I'd never have to do anything like that again.

Talonize

Shortest job so far was about 4 months. Working at a women's clothing store as a seasonal employee. I tend to stay at a job until I'm at my breaking point for a change. Only had three so far, and 22 years old.

Hatch1921

5 hours.

Subway when I was 19 as a second job while in the Air Force. My first task was to cut bread... I impressed the manager with my knife skills and how fast I caught on. Task #2 was to prep the meat for the following day. I went in the back with another worker and started to separate the meats... he was smashing flies on the same table as the meat I was setting out. This job wasn't for me. LOL After my shift I said thanks to everyone and said I would not be coming back.

The shirt and pants I had to buy at the time to meet the dress code for Subway was around $20 for the outfit.... for my 5 hours I think I got a check for $18 after taxes LOL Lost $2 and 5 hours of my life.

Good stories all.
Hatch

Params7

A month. At a pretty good company that has been doing great actually. I was part of tech support. What I didn't like was it had nothing to do with networking, but SQL/Sharepoint and mostly proprietory tech. Something about spending years learning all that when I really want to specialize in networking and servers just didn't sit right with me and I couldn't work, so I left.

Expect

1 month.
but if you count the amount of shifts then it was maybe 3 or 4 after a basic fundamentals course.
Tech support for a large ISP, I swore to god I will never work in technical support again

JustFred

A few years ago. Lasted less than an hour. I was going to spend my time reading manuals to help with printer support and after meeting the team i was going to work with and how frustrated they were at their jobs. I took the fastest exit out. No regrets at all. A week later i found support engineer job and lasted almost 5 years. It was and still is one of the best places i ever worked at. I'm still friends with my then boss.