What was your least favorite job, and why? Did you take any learning lessons away from the experience?

I started my career in insurance sales for a startup brokerage. It was a horrible culture with moving targets and leadership that was only focused on revenue. I spent three long years there. Fortunately I came away with some powerful examples of how not to lead a team. I'm a better leader because I experienced bad senior leadership. I care about my team members, their struggles at work and home - something I didn't always experience from the executive leadership at that least favorite job of mine.

My least favorite job was working in the Debt Collection department of a bank. I did not like having to call customers and pursue them for payment, as most people were very angry with me by the end of the conversation. Working with Debt Collection was an extremely unpleasant experience. Even though it was a challenging task and I learned how to be patient and effective when confronting difficult customers, I would have preferred a less demanding role that didn't require so much empathy from me. Although this job taught me how to handle difficult situations professionally, I am glad to be doing something else now!

My least favorite job was working as a purchaser in the aluminum foil industry. My boss was great and I started to find my work family, but the reason this job did not resonate with me is because i struggled to find the deeper purpose behind what I was doing each day. As I sent out requests for proposals and made sure our inventory arrived on time, I realized that I wasn't connecting with what I was doing on a deeper level. This left me discouraged and demotivated to show up fully each day and ultimately led me to the nonprofit space which felt like "home".

I once worked as a hotel receptionist for a couple of years and I would have to say it was my least favorite job I ever had. I found it incredibly tedious, as I didn't feel like I was doing anything meaningful from day to day. I was constantly answering the same kinds of questions over and over or dealing with customer complaints. On top of that the pay was middling at best. While I may not have enjoyed that experience, I did learn how to remain patient when faced with difficult tasks, as well as to have an appreciation for hospitality workers who do that every day. It’s definitely something I never take for granted now when I enter a hotel or other similar establishment.

Many years ago, in my 20s, I briefly temped for a medical billing company. I thought I would enjoy the job because I liked typing, and it sounded easy. Instead, I had the hardest time not falling asleep. It's important to like what you do, but the next step is to dig deeper into why you like certain tasks, and what it is about them that helps you stay engaged. This job taught me that typing wasn't enough for me. I actually like talking to people, and that keeps me engaged a lot longer. I eventually found my way to receptionist work, and was able to easily stay awake all day long!

Working as a grocery staff was my least favourite job. Despite the fast-paced environment, I found it incredibly mundane and mindless. Stocking shelves with pre-packaged goods and interacting with customers limited my potential to innovate and create. Unfortunately, there were no learning lessons to be taken away from this experience; while it was an important lesson in character building, I felt like I didn't gain any transferable skills or additional knowledge - other than how to make small talk while working with the auto pack machine.

I worked as a server for a small, locally owned dinner when I was 18. It was the only job I was ever fired from. I've always worked quickly. As a server, this led to a lot of standing around. The owner wasn't a fan of that. I would burn through my tasks and then stand around, waiting for something to do. Eventually, he got tired of it and told me to leave. I learned that people build a perception of you based on what they see, not what you do. You can be the most efficient team member, but if they only see you standing around, they'll think you're lazy. It won't matter that you're more efficient. If you want to succeed, you have to regularly communicate the work you do and the wins you help your team achieve. Whether you work with clients or on a team, go out of your way to clearly communicate your value and your wins. Each one is a drop in the bucket that helps people view you as an essential asset.

I worked at a bank for a few months, and the most excruciating part of it were the morning meetings. These meetings were held every day at 10 am and included the branch manager, all regional managers, and the supervisor of the tellers. It was a very long, boring meeting where we were told about the bank’s policies and procedures, but the worst part was that we had to stay quiet and listen. There was no room for questions and no solution for how we could make the meetings go by faster. It was mind-numbing for me, and I knew I had to get out of there. After I left, I realized how important it is to find a job that you enjoy and that allows you to do what you love. I’ve learned to always follow my passion.

My favourite job is as a freelancer. This is a profession with a high degree of freedom and can be flexible in work, with creative inclination rather than boring clerical work. I have had many personal experiences with this job and the biggest lesson that I have learned is the need to constantly grow and develop my skills.

My least favorite job was working as a legal assistant. I worked in an office with three attorneys and another legal assistant. At work, we would sit at our desks until an attorney would bring us work. If they did not have any work for us, we would just sit around all day. This job made me realize that I needed a job where I would be busy and not sit around waiting for work to be brought to me.

My least favorite job, was not the job itself, but working with my father. Working with family can be difficult and isn't recommended, but when I was 16, this felt like a really good deal. It was alright at first, but that quickly changed. I stopped getting paid, because we were family and I 'owed' him the help. Then, I wasn't treated seriously, and things were always taken personally. This took a toll on our relationship, and I learned the importance of boundaries and professionalism in the workplace. You have to learn not to take things personally, and that helped me keep a cool head.

My least favorite job was determining who gets the chance to access credit and who doesn’t. The job entailed categorizing people according to their ability to pay back loans and their professions. It felt like a discrimination process that segregated the less fortunate from financial services. I found it absurd that someone’s credit score could be used to segregate them from life-uplifting financial services. The background checks needed to be done since the business had to progress, but that job was my least favorite.