These worst summer jobs prove the point that no matter how much money is offered, some jobs and tasks just aren't worth the effort. Think about this list the next time you are on the other side as a customer instead of the employee and be kind to employees at hotels, restaurants, day care centers and other places where the work is hard and the pay may be low. Whether you're a teenager or an adult you may want to avoid these jobs.
Worst Summer Jobs List
This list of the worst summer jobs is purely subjective. You may have a different set of jobs in mind when someone says "worst job I ever had" to you. Based on both the potential danger of the job and the unpleasantness of the tasks, this list may help you weed out some of the potential employers on your list this summer.
Lawn Care Companies
Some jobs have danger and risk attached to them. Such jobs involve the use of heavy equipment, such as fork lifts, diggers, chain saws and power tools. Such is the case with lawn care companies. Many landscaping companies and lawn care companies hire additional workers for the summer. As the days grow longer, more customers want lush green lawns. Unfortunately, it's often the poor summer worker who is wielding the power edger, weed whacker, or chain saw. Couples with the spray-on fertilizers and pesticides that one may be inhaling every day, this is a job best avoided unless you can get assurance from the boss that certain safely protocols will be followed.
Hotel Chamber Maid
It might look like a dream come true. After all, how hard is it to clean a small room? If you've ever worked as a chamber maid in a hotel or motel, you know that it's very hard. Aside from the physically demanding nature of the job in the form of vacuuming, scrubbing, and lifting heavy loads of wet towels and sheets out of the washing machine, there's the gross out factor. People often leave motel rooms dirty, or worse yet, strewn with unmentionable items, garbage and towels sullied with bodily fluids. If your gross out threshold is low, skip the maid jobs.
Day Care or Summer Camp Counselor
If you love children, you might want to apply for a summer job as a day care worker or summer camp counselor. If you have only a passing interest in children, then dealing with dirty diapers, sticky hands, throwing up or homestick kids, and the general mess kids leave in their wake may not be for you.
Food Service
Snack bars, resorts, and seasonal restaurants in touristy areas often hire additional wait staff and food service workers during peak summer months. While this may not be the worst job you've ever had, it's physically demanding. You'll be on your feet throughout your shift. You will be dealing with members of the public who are sometimes nice, but often cranky and demanding.
Agriculture
Another among the worst summer jobs is a job in agriculture. While picking green beans might sound like fun, the reality is that it is backbreaking and often dangerous work. Some agricultural jobs include livestock handling, and then you will be doing such fun things as scooping manure out of horse stalls and scrubbing water troughs. Many jobs often involve driving or running large machinery too; young teens cannot legally run such equipment.
Fast Food Worker
Fast food workers experience a different level of stress from restaurant workers. While restaurants have professional chefs or cooks to create the dishes, fast food workers often have to cook the food themselves. Coming home every day stinking of French fries after a stint at the local burger joint may not be your thing. It can also get dangerous if hot oil splashes you from the fryer. Cleaning out the garbage cans, dealing with unpleasant customers, and working midnight shifts are all part and parcel of this summer job.
Jobs Are in the Eyes of the Beholders
You may not agree with this list of the worst jobs for the summer, and that's okay. Job satisfaction is in the eye of the beholder. Someone who adores drooling babies may covet a job in daycare, while another person with a strong back and constitution might like a food service job where the tips are high. For anyone looking for a summer job, consider the pros and cons of the job before applying. The very worst job of all may be no job at all for you, in which case any of these jobs might be fine as long as you get a pay check.
