Jen Nadol Author Interview!

Top Ten Jobs I’ve Had

Cassie works in a coffee shop in The Mark and a mortuary in The Vision.  I haven’t done either of those jobs, but here are ten I have done, worst to best:

10. Babysitter – My friend Beth babysat all the way through college and loved it.  I did it full-time one summer, watching a 2 year old boy while his mom played tennis.  He wasn’t a bad kid, but how many times can you play with the same toys?  It was SO BORING.
Age: 13 
How long: One summer.  And I never babysat again after that.  Ever.

9. House Cleaner and Filer – Since babysitting wasn’t for me, my dad got me work cleaning apartments and also had me file stuff at his law office.  The cleaning was fine.  The filing? Not so much.
Age: 14 
How long:   2-3 months.

8. Bob’s Big Boy Waitress – Polyester.  Hair Net.  Liver n’ Onions.  Enough said.
Age: 16 
How long: 2 years

7. Line Stander – In DC there are lots of congressional hearings where important people talk about important stuff.  Only a certain number of other people are allowed in to listen, but the people who want to listen are too important themselves to wait in line.  So they pay people like me to hold their place.  Beginning at 6am.  And you’re not allowed to sit down or bring a book or any kind of electronics.  You just have to stand there and stare at the wall until your important person shows up around 10. 
Age: 22 
How long: 4 excruciating hours

6. Human Resource Manager – Dept. Store – My first “real” job.  The economy was terrible and I was just happy to have one since my bf who’d graduated a year earlier was still working at a deli.  I was just out of college it felt a little like play-acting to be talking to grown-ups about their body odor problems and why they couldn’t get to work on time.  I learned a lot.  Some of it I didn’t really want to know.
Age: 22 
How long: 3 years

5. Corporate Human Resources – Same Dept. Store - Boring middle-management type stuff.  I don’t recommend it.  I got to move to NYC, though.  That was cool.
Age: 25 
How long: Eternity…that’s what it felt like around 2pm every day.

4. Cashier – TC Sports Outlet.  My best friend worked there too, along with four college guys of varying cuteness.  What’s not to like?  Oh, yeah…maybe making $3.85/hour? (yes, that was legal) 
Age: 15 
How long I worked there: 1 year?

3.  Assistant, Assistant Manager – Dooney & Bourke Outlet – The first summer after college I broke my arm the second night I was home (you can assume it was in the stupidest possible way).  I had no job and desperately needed one so I went through my interview with a sweater draped casually over my cast, which I only removed after I’d gotten the job.  Loved it – busy store in a cool loft with all my friends working in other outlets nearby. 
Age: 19 
How long: 2 years on & off

2. Shoe Salesperson – This was a fun job.  I like shoes.  I liked working on commission (except the weeks I got paid $0).  I liked the people I worked with.  I spent too much money where I worked. 
Age: 20  
How long: 1 year+

1.Writer – The only job I’ve ever had where I couldn’t wait to start work every day.  I definitely made more at some of the other jobs - possibly all of the other jobs - but, to me, it’s still the best job ever.   

 

Jen grew up in Reading, PA, hometown of John Updike, Taylor Swift and fellow YA author A.S. King (nope, she didn't know any of them). She went to college at American University in Washington DC, graduated with a BA in Literature, then spent the next twelve years doing something totally unrelated to pay the bills. Now she lives north of NYC in an old farmhouse with her husband and three young sons. She is thrilled to finally be writing, the thing she always meant to do.