In order to become successful in the business world, a dirty job or two must take place first.
Students and professors shared some of the worst jobs they’ve had and tricks to make the best of a bad work situation.
Jordan Bracken, a junior English major from Perry, grew up on a ranch.
“Growing up on a ranch, you have to do all sorts of jobs, from one end of the spectrum to the other,” he said. “One day you might be shoveling horse crap all day. The next you might be delivering a calf.”
Other jobs Bracken had to do on the ranch include cutting a tumor out of a horse, herding and vaccinating cows, and cutting hay.
“I’ve had my nose broken,” he said. “We were vaccinating cows, and I was getting them in a pen, and this cow reached up and kicked me in the nose and broke my nose.”
Tanner Laub, a sophomore undeclared major from Beryl, also has a lick of the farm life. Laub said farming can amount to 20-hour days at times. One of his jobs on the farm is hauling hay.
“I’m allergic to hay, and I’m around it all the time,” he said.
Lauren Garrett, a sophomore general education major from St. George, said her worst job was working as a concessions cashier at Westates Theaters. Her tasks included taking and preparing orders, such as popcorn, candy and soda. Garrett said there were several employees trying to work together, but no one employee had a designated job.
“Everybody’s running around, running into each other,” she said.
Though she said the job experience was one of her worst, Garrett said she would consider going back to work now that Megaplex has taken over.
Taylor Squires, a cashier at the Dixie State College Bookstore, also worked at Westates Theaters sweeping popcorn off the floor. Luckily, he was offered a job elsewhere and only worked at the theater for three short months.
Josh Smith, a sophomore criminal justice major from St. George, sold door-to-door pest control in Las Vegas. Smith said he worked twice as hard as other employees and was out on the road for twice as long, but he only totaled four sales in a month when the others were almost tripling that. The job was supposed to last a full summer, but Smith left shortly after a month.
Finance professor Kyle Wells said his worst job turned out to be his best experience.
“The worst job I had was working as a quality control manager in the nuclear waste center of Energy Solutions,” he said. “I was telling a grumpy contractor what he was doing wrong.”
Wells only had to spend one summer at this job before deciding to continue school and earn his master’s degree.
Wells said in order to get to the top, oftentimes there’s no choice but to start at the bottom.
