The Surprising Advantage of Unrelated Jobs

I’ve worked a lot of jobs since leaving my parent's home at 18. 

While my resume might seem all over the place to some people, each job I’ve worked has taught me valuable life skills and lessons that have made me who I am today. 

In any job, especially an entry-level job, you can learn the value of hard work and showing up whether you want to or not. You can take something away from every experience in your life.

If you haven’t done this before, I recommend going back through your work experience and thinking about what you took away from that job whether it was your dream job or what you had to do to pay the bills. You’ll find you learned more than you know about what you can do, what you are capable of, and who you are. This exercise might help you in your personal branding journey.

Dog Kennel

When I worked at a dog kennel I learned the value of hard work and determination. I had to do a lot of things that most people don’t want to do. Such as cleaning up after dogs and waking up at 5 AM on Christmas morning to take care of the dogs. But if I didn’t do it, who would? I learned how to show up at a job and do what I was supposed to do and more. They had me doing odd jobs like painting fences and building crates and even setting up booths at festivals. I learned how to have fun through it all. In exchange for my hard work and determination, I got to play with puppies all day. Who doesn’t love that?

Retail

At my next job, in college, I learned how to manage my time. I was taking classes and working at the same time. I had to take a bus to work every day as I didn’t have a car and the bus ride was an hour-long ride. This was your average retail job but I got to do some sales. I learned that while I didn’t like feeling like a greasy car salesman I loved helping people. This was at Bath and Body Works where I was on the floor and I could help people find gifts for their friends and family. I got to pick out just the right thing for each type of person. I loved that knowing that while it was small, I was making a difference in someone’s life.

Customer Service

I worked at Planet Fitness for a few years and it was one of my favorite jobs that I worked. It was a lot of the usual going to work because I had to and cleaning because I had to but again, I loved the people aspect of it. People entering the gym, often for the first time in their life walked in nervous and even afraid, and while I gave them tours, I learned how to make them feel comfortable and at home. I learned how to quickly and thoroughly explain how things work and how beneficial our business was to them. I also learned how to upsell people from the lower tier membership to the higher tier, which may have been my specialty.

Administrative Assistant

I also worked at a chiropractic and rehab center which fulfilled my need to help people. Clients would come in after a car accident or injury feeling lost. After getting call after call from skeezy insurance scams and so on, they didn’t know if we were another scam. But as soon as they walked in, I could make them feel at home and like they were being seen and heard after a long turmoil of no one listening. I could help them learn how to heal their own bodies through physical exercises and improve their mood by being the highlight of their day or a shoulder to cry on. Being the receptionist for a short time (before I moved positions to chiropractor's assistant), I had to keep straight multiple schedules and keep track of all of the client information like insurance and intake forms. There had to be a place for everything so I was able to create and use organizational tools and systems that I use that skill in my day-to-day life these days.

Aide

One job, as an aid for people with developmental disabilities, was especially challenging. This was not something I had done before or had any training on. I learned how to help and have empathy without pitying or seeming like I was better than someone. I learned the value of companionship and I confirmed what I’ve known for a long time, that everyone needs someone in their life, especially someone to listen. Often that is all someone needs. I learned the value of being proactive and doing things before someone asked me to. The most important skill I learned was communication. It was vital that we kept things straight while various employees switched on and off. We had to keep clear track of what medicines had been given and what had been done during our shift.

Cleaner

I worked for years as an Airbnb cleaner. It seems like an unenjoyable job. Cleaning my own home is enough cleaning for me. I never thought I would enjoy this job as much as I did. We had to do multiple home turnovers in a couple of hours so I learned how to be efficient and thorough at the same time. I learned how to spot my own mistakes and how to clean up after someone else’s mess.

Freelancer

In all my years of freelancing, I learned how to market myself when I felt unqualified and sometimes even unworthy. I have value to give. I just needed to share my passion and let other people experience my joy for creating. Building and joining communities on social media taught me the value of making connections and I grew to love meeting new people through my freelance work.

While these jobs seem entirely unrelated they taught me so much about who I am as a person and what I want to be doing with my life. I learned that what I’m doing right now as a social media coach and graphic designer is the ideal position for me. I get to work with a variety of clients. I get to learn their branding inside and out and figure out a marketing strategy that works for them, which is such a fun game of problem-solving. I get the freedom to design what I want within the guidelines of those brands. But most importantly, I get to help people. When my clients are feeling lost and stuck with their social media I get to give them the tools they need to do it on their own. The transformation is instantaneous as I watch them become more creative and more inspired. I also get to gift my clients with organizational tools that I’ve created based on everything I’ve learned from my previous jobs. I get to work with so many clients because I’ve learned time management and how to do a quick turnaround.

I absolutely love my job.