How honest should I be about my dirty job?

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OMFG DONT TOUCH ME WITH YOUR POOP HANDS.




Seriously dude? This was so ****-ing unnecessary.

 

[Pigsfoot]

I used to work in a surgical skills lab for human surgeons and surgical residents. I would 'prep' human body parts, thaw frozen heads by soaking them in hot water, put entire torsos on hot tables so they'd be pliable enough to do practice surgeries. often, I'd come into the lab to puddles of blood and bits of ooze. Once there was a colo-rectal training lab on about...8 torso specimens. needless to say, the place smelled like a sewer.
There were also live pigs in that lab that were used for live animal surgeries (terminal). Between the human body parts and pig parts everywhere, it was all pretty horrifying, but in the end, super interesting and made for a fantastic personal statement and great experience to ad coms.

filtering poo for a waste management plant will make for great stories too.

I'm going to vet school in the fall, and i'm proud of my past gross job!

 

[plsfoldthx]

Respectfully, it was my job, not yours. I would think I have a much better idea of how people react to my job when I tell them than you do, so perhaps there is a justification for my hesitancy? Just a thought.

Just because someone snickered at your job in the past doesn't mean you have any better idea of how an ad com will react to your job. 🙄 You just seem completely neurotic. You can't tell us your job because someone will go look you up and expose you for your waste management job? Get over yourself.

You're either a troll or a paranoid schizophrenic

 

[bluesky80]

This whole time I was thinking you worked for the IRS...then again you said it wasn't a morally reprehensible job...

 

[Concubine]

Your fine. I had a similar job once, collecting cow ****, putting it into a net, & then squeezing the water out of it so I could feed the dry feces to dung beetles. I think it even came up in the interview. Nothing wrong with **** work, it builds character.

 

[runawayclock]

inb4 that stripper thread

 

[vballninnie]

Thanks, Meat. That helps a lot, I didn't know that there were a lot of other people out there with my experiences. I have some thinking to do but now at least I have a confirmed case of someone who was candid about their job, and then didn't have it cripple their admission chances.

Sorry for the smoke screen guys. Perhaps it was a bit excessive. I just don't want my job to define me, I'm scared of exactly that -- adcoms reading my application and being like "ugh, we don't want someone like that here." I worked for a wastewater treatment plant in their lab, checking the treatment process to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal regulations. Contract work for the city gov't. Apparently there's more than 20 different ways to weigh or filter poop, and I know all of them. I'm fairly certain I will be the only premed applying with that kind of job (kind of like Meat was with the meat science. Actually that is the perfect comparison for it.) Yes it smelled. A lot. I won't go into details.

Case is one of the schools I am applying to, maybe if I end up there Meat I will look you up and we can revel in our awesome bizarre jobs $$

This would make a great opening sentence on your PS! If I were adcom, I would interview you! 🙂

 

[zombymush]

This whole time I was thinking you worked for the IRS...then again you said it wasn't a morally reprehensible job...

I thought 'porn star'

 

[SabC]

You want to be a doctor. You can't possibly believe your poop soaked days are eh...behind you.

 

[marty mcfly]

OP claims to have matured from the job. The hesitation to list this job, however, screams immaturity.

Ivory tower, high horse, etc.

 

[runawayclock]

OP claims to have matured from the job. The hesitation to list this job, however, screams immaturity.

Ivory tower, high horse, etc.

Well, his co-workers didn't get too many dates using the line "there's more than 20 different ways to weigh or filter poop, and I know all of them." I don't think it's immature to be hesitant (even if it is unnecessary). You wouldn't want to be "the guy that filters poo" - but i think it'd make your app stand out, and you're probably going to get a lot of interesting questions at your interview!

 

[TheRadiologist]

When I was a med student I watched a resident disimpact a patient. For those that who do not know what this means, it involves scooping out a large amount of feces from the patient’s rectum mostly using your fingers. I do not know how dirty a job can get, but this one has to be pretty high on the list. It is a yucky job, but someone has to do it. If you ever need to be disimapcted, you will really appreciate the importance of someone willing to do this work.

I am not on any admissions committee, but if I was, I would consider your willingness to do a dirty job a positive trait. As a doctor, you will have to get feces on your (gloved) hand at least during your training years.

If you do not want to tell people, why not just list the job in more general terms and not be very specific. Most likely it will never come up in the interview. If it does come up in the interview, just tell them. I do not think it is a big deal. Not listing a job at all can hurt you because they may wonder what you were doing during that time. IMO you have more to loose if you do not list anything for the time you worked at the job.