Melbourne worker leaves corporate life behind and works ten different jobs in four months

A young Aussie worn out by the monotony of corporate life decided he would work ten different jobs in just four months in order to figure out his next career move.

Jesse Hare, 27, from Melbourne, went on the traditional path of graduating high school and heading straight to university, before landing a job in marketing.

But he quickly grew weary of spending each day in front of a computer and felt it was time to make a change.

He decided he needed some life experience and through the help of friends in other industries, he lined up a job in ten different fields where he’d spend one week in each.

His jobs included farm work, construction, hospitality, personal training and even working as a hotel valet. 

He began his adventure in November and worked his final shift at his last job at the hotel this month.

‘I was feeling a bit disgruntled in my workplace and was pretty miserable when I realised I was doing something that I was good at but wasn’t actually passionate about,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘I wanted some life experience after the Covid lockdowns and I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. 

‘I just realised I needed to figure out what the next step was and try the process of elimination and work different jobs.’ 

Dairy farm 

Mr Hare’s first job was working on a dairy farm in Cobram, near the Victoria and NSW border. 

His days started with a 3.30am wake-up milking and feeding the cows and moving the herds.

Mr Hare said the cows were milked twice a day everyday, which meant the farmers would finish at 9pm if they wanted to work both the morning and evening shifts.

But a work day could end as early as 11am if staff wanted to knock off after the first round of milking.

Mr Hare’s first job was working on a dairy farm in Cobram, near the Victoria and NSW border

A day on the dairy farm started as early as 4am, with the cows milked both in the morning and evenings

‘It was probably the earliest alarm I’ve ever had to set, I felt like a zombie some days and there was always more work to do,’ Mr Hare said.

‘It was very intense and very eye-opening.’ 

An afternoon nap became a necessity for Mr Hare to get through the work, with the 27-year-old adding that while he felt isolated from his friends during his time at the farm, he left with a new perspective on life.

‘I met some amazing people and learnt a new perspective of how food gets to your table,’ he said.

‘There’s lot of hours available with split shifts and competitive wages.’ 

But the downsides?

‘You have to deal with a lot of cow s**t, and s**t attracts flies,’ he said. 

Mr Hare has been sharing videos of each of his job experiences to TikTok. 

Tomato greenhouse 

His second job was at a greenhouse picking tomatoes in Carisbrook, about two hours north-west of Melbourne.

While the job in the greenhouse was at a slower pace than the dairy farm, the conditions were gruelling.

It was extremely humid inside the greenhouse at 28C and Mr Hare said it felt as hot as 40C.

His work consisted of deleafing, picking the tomatoes, pollinating using a leaf blower, and then packing them to be sent to supermarkets.

Mr Hare worked at a greenhouse picking tomatoes in Carisbrook, about two hours north-west of Melbourne

Mr Hare spent his days picking tomatoes before they were ripe enough to be packaged and sent to supermarkets

A day of picking tomatoes ended by 2.30pm and because the work was independent, he could choose his own shifts and listen to music or podcasts all day.

A British backpacker was also working with Mr Hare at the time in order to complete his mandatory agricultural work for his visa. 

Sheep and grain farms 

Mr Hare spent two more stints working on farms, one week dealing with sheep in Dunluce, in regional Victoria, and the other on a grain farm about an hour north in Donald.

‘What I realised the most is how highly specialised each job is, like you can’t come in and think you know what’s going on,’ he said.

‘For the most part the other workers are pretty welcoming, they were keen to show what they do but I had some moments when I was being a bit of a battler.’

For Mr Hare, his week on the sheep farm was his favourite job throughout the entire experience.

‘I felt really connected to the land and nature. I felt like I had some autonomy over the job there and doing things I never thought I’d do like handling sheep,’ he said.

‘I just thought ”wow, this what it’s like to be a real farmer”.’

Working at a sheep farm in Dunluce, in regional Victoria, was Mr Hare’s favourite job out of the ten different industries he tried 

Café work

Heading back into the hustle and bustle of Melbourne, Mr Hare started working weekends at a cafe in Carlton North.

While it was initially a struggle to deal with the fast-paced environment, having spent weeks doing farm work, Mr Hare said he enjoyed the social aspect.

‘It was a complete change from the farm, I was constantly having to talk to people and be on,’ he said.

‘You also get to see the real difference between people from the country and those from the city, they’re always on a schedule.’

Mr Hare worked at the cafe on his weekends off from the farm work and said he felt self conscious at times because he still had dirt under his fingernails.

‘I found it fun but I don’t think it was for me – the best part was the free coffees and the great people I worked with,’ he said.

‘But the worst part is if you get a customer’s order wrong they’ll be sure to let you know.’ 

Mr Hare started working weekends at a café in Carlton North in between his farm work

Volunteering at a music festival

His next role was volunteering at Beyond The Valley music festival, scanning wristbands and handing out environmentally-friendly rubbish bags.

Mr Hare worked three five hour shifts over the four-day festival in exchange for a free ticket.

‘I did get some fomo (fear of missing out) when my shift was clashing with an act I wanted to see and your friends are all having drinks and I’ve got to put my high-vis vest on,’ he said.

‘But the upside was it was a lot more satisfying knowing everyone else had to pay for their ticket.’

Tickets can cost up to $500 for the entire event. 

At one stage during the festival Mr Hare had to console a woman whose boyfriend was experiencing a drug-induced psychotic episode.

‘He had a full change in personality and started trying to fight the people around him,’ he said.

Mr Hare volunteered at Beyond The Valley music festival, scanning wristbands and handing out environmentally-friendly rubbish bags

Landscaping

Mr Hare tried his hand at landscaping for a week, and said while it was nice working outdoors, the experience was physically taxing.

Having no real experience in any trade, the 27-year-old said it was encouraging to see the bond his fellow landscapers had with each other.

‘There’s definitely that mateship and element of teamwork,’ he said.

‘There’s also the satisfaction of seeing your work each day. I was used to sending emails and just doing the same thing.’ 

Another job Mr Hare tried his hand in was landscaping.  ‘There’s the satisfaction of seeing your work each day. I was used to sending emails and just doing the same thing,’ he said

Construction labourer

Mr Hare’s next role was working in construction at a site in Chullora in Sydney’s west, where he was mainly drilling holes with a hammer-drill.

Raking in $34 an hour, Mr Hare had to obtain a white card, which was done through a one-day course which costs around $120.

‘I was extremely nervous before I started and one of the guys asked me if I’d ever used a hammer drill before and I said ”yeah, totally”, but I was freaking out,’ he said.

‘But once you get on site they show you what to do and I was pretty happy with how it all went.’

A major downside of the job was the state of the site toilets, which Mr Hare said were ‘pretty grim’.

Other cons were the never-ending dust that ‘went everywhere’, the danger of the job and the physical toll the role took on his body

‘The job was probably my least favourite because I thought I can’t do this for the rest of my life – it breaks your body,’ he said.

‘You can’t do anything after a day on the site, and I reckon the others felt like that too.

‘They must just have to go home and go straight to bed.’ 

Mr Hare worked as a construction labourer and used a hammer-drill at a site in Chullora, Sydney

Fitness trainer

Towards the end of his mission to work ten different jobs, Mr Hare took up the role of a trainer in a crossfit gym in Kellyville, in Sydney’s north-west.

The gym, BaiFit, is ran by Mr Hare’s sister’s boyfriend, and because it’s for crossfit trainers, the exercises are often more complicated.

‘I helped take a few classes and it was a bit awkward because I was kind of standing there thinking what’s going on,’ Mr Hare admitted.

But he learnt how to pick up some of the movements himself and enjoyed how social the gym was.

‘There weren’t too many lows but they’d have to be the early mornings, starting at 5am was tough,’ he added.

Towards the end of his mission to work ten different jobs, Mr Hare took up the role of a trainer in a CrossFit gym in Kellyville, in Sydney’s north-west

Hotel valet

For his tenth and final gig, Mr Hare worked as a porter at the QT Hotel in Sydney, acting as a valet and bringing guests’ luggage up to their rooms.

Donning an outfit straight out of Peaky Blinders, Mr Hare said being a valet was something he never thought he’d do ‘in a million years’.

‘But trying out new things has given me confidence and knowledge that I didn’t know I needed,’ he said.

As for his future, Mr Hare said he’s interested in becoming a certified CrossFit trainer, and would like to try out a few more trades such as carpentry and plumbing.

‘I’m still figuring out what career path I’ll go down but I’ve hugely enjoyed this time away from the desk and computer,’ he said.

‘One day I think I’ll end up living regionally but for the time being I think I’m going to try new things and see where that takes me.’ 

For his tenth and final gig, Mr Hare worked as a porter at the QT Hotel in Sydney, acting as a valet and bringing guests’ luggage up to their rooms