In the nearly three years I've been in employment I've had my fair share of terrible positions. But that's life right? You can't find your prince without kissing a few frogs and it's the same with getting a job. I've scrubbed floors, cleaned toilets and served very angry customers (which is of course what I do now!) but one job definitely tops the rest in terms of awful experiences. 

Get your cup of tea ready, maybe a digestive biscuit (other biscuit brands are available) and put your feet up becaues this is going to be a LONG story.

So let's begin...

My first 'proper' job was working as a Waitress at a Hotel. It was pretty rubbish, the staff were lazy and the pay was poor. But as a student with no responsibilities, other than learning to drive, it was enough to get by and have some spare change for the fun things in life. I was there maybe five or so months before I finally passed my driving test (only 1 minor may I add!) and I was overjoyed. Finally I had the freedom I'd been waiting for. I didn't have to have my parents on standby to ferry me about, I was my own boss. I felt like such an adult. But with great rewards come great responsibilities and I was now faced with a hefty £1,500+ insurance fee to be able to be an adult. I spent so many nights crying because I just didn't have the money, neither did my parents. I applied for hundreds of jobs and heard nothing. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, I could leave my current job and possibly be worse off in the long run or delay driving.

I really wanted to get my insurance going, the longer I was a good driver the more it would go down and I thought that in the long run this would benefit me, after all nobody likes paying thousands for anything. It was late at night I noticed an advert for a new 'Vintage style store' opening (I'm not going to disclose the shop's name) and I thought eh, I could do that. I liked vintage at the time and it looked pleasant enough, plus the wage was a wopping £2 more per hour than what I was on at the time. It looked perfect. Oh how wrong I was.

I applied and managed to get an interview. Because it was a new store they were interviewing in bulk and I was in the last batch of three, maybe four groups. So my confidence wasn't particularly high, after losing out on so many jobs before I guessed I wasn't likely to get a position in a room full of experienced beautiful people. I tried though, I thought the manager looked impressed when I mentioned something about teamwork and I led my group with confidence. At the end we filled in sheets with our availability and left. It felt right? You know when something seems to fit you so perfectly. I knew I had to get at least an offer for a position.

On the Friday after I got a call saying they were willing to offer me an 8 hour a week contract. They explained 'ALL' (this is a key point) contracts would be reviewed after Christmas with the shop being new, so nobody was safe. I accepted it, the money was good and I wasn't fussed about serving another plate of food at the time. So I handed in my notice and stepped into the dangerous world of retail.

At first it was good. Shifts were fairly short and most of the staff seemed friendly. As the weeks passed however something seemed very wrong. A lot of girls were going about like they already 'had' the permanent positions. I felt like one of the only people working, most staff just stood chatting about their holidays or whatever they'd been up to, I heard more about shopping than I did our new stock. Bag checks, although necessary, felt intrusive and often older members of staff got away without having them. Our manager was frantic, she yelled at everybody when she was stressed and ignored the inexperienced members of staff instead of supporting them with their training. All in all it was a shabby place to work and my confidence started to dwindle.

Then I discovered something that really sent a chill down my spine. I was looking at the next weeks rota, around Christmas time, and found a sheet of paper detailing everybody's contracts. To my horror not all of the positions were temporary like they had previously stated. I was down as a temp, which is not what I had agreed to, and some of the other members of staff were permanent. We were all pretty annoyed at this. I was panicking all the way home, I had £120 a month insurance that needed to be paid for and now faced the possibility of not having a job at the end of the year. But still, I sucked it up and decided to face management. 

I was terrified of my manager so decided to speak to the slightly calmer looking Assistant Manager. I explained my situation, and how I was unable to get discount bus fair because I had been lied to about my contract. She smirked at me, telling me I didn't need a permanent job (Yeah like the 16 year old students did) and that I should've turned down the contract knowing the situation. She was completely ignoring me. I felt as a temp I didn't stand a chance of getting a permanent contract especially after overhearing that staff numbers would have to be cut. I went home in tears. My anxiety peaked and I had constant panic attacks, I could barely do a shift.

To make matters worse I received my P45 (Cancellation of employment) a single day before my last shift. So in a matter of hours I went from having a job to not having a job. My manager called me in and explained that Head Office had wrongly sent out the P45's without permission of the store and she was sorry. I couldn't care. I put on a front and said I was fine and walked out on Christmas Eve without a job. All temps had been cut and some permanent staff's jobs' were on the line.

I'd been messed around, lied to and bullied by older members of staff. It was three months, medication and counselling later for my anxiety that I eventually got another job. I love it, I'm back waiting tables and although some staff aren't my cup of tea it's good for me.

Always be extra careful when signing contracts. Check twice, three times, maybe four just to make sure everything is spot on. I was lucky I had my parents' support or I wouldn't struggled paying my insurance.

Tell me your worst job experiences here or via Twitter. 

Sophie <3

Twitter: @nosophienoblog

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Business Email: nixonlsophie@gmail.com