How We Learn From Shit Jobs

Surprised? If you know me, you probably are. I normally eschew American-style shoutiness, let alone ‘gurus’, in all their super-slick forms.

But there’s something very real and likeable about Shaun T, which is why I’ve sweated through his fitness programs, bookmarked his podcast, and read his fantastic and uplifting book, T is for Transformation.

In it, Shaun waxes lyrical about his humble beginnings. In particular, he mentions an early role as the US children’s character Chuck E. Cheese, dressing up in a clammy mouse costume to entertain screaming kids, night after night.

This is what he said about it:

If you cast your mind back through your career, you’ll probably hit upon at least one shit job.

A supremely rubbish one you hated, a demanding one that had nothing to do with your ‘dream’ career, or a boring one you only kept doing for the money.

But if you think about it, you probably learned something from that shit job. It might even have been silently instrumental in moving you on to something better.

The best personal example I can use comes from the time I was employed as a freelance CV writer, earning less than minimum wage to meet and write CVs for high-level people who were paying the company over £500 a pop.

At the same time, I was working as a part-time HR Manager in a location that involved a two and a half-hour commute each way.

(HR was a career I knew I no longer wanted. But it was all I could shout about on my CV, and the best I thought I could do to pay the bills, particularly as I was also going through a divorce).

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