Douglas Adams…worked as everything from hospital reporter, barn builder, chicken-shed cleaner and bodyguard to script editor of Doctor Who.

– Back cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 2002 Gollancz edition.

Have you ever taken on a job that you had never seen yourself doing? How did it work out?

The Post Editor is older than dirt and has had many different jobs on two continents. Teaching, radio performance, playing piano in churches and bars, playing gamemaster for an online MMO – those are the relatively normal ones. Then there was the two-week stint in a company canteen kitchen in Cologne, peeling spuds and chopping cabbages for some high-tech employees. Or my brief career as a baby photographer. And then there was the week I spent cobbling together souvenir keychains for the Shah of Iran's nephew...it's a long story.

We're betting you have stories like that to tell, too. Have you ever taken an unusual job? Was it because you really needed the money (been there, done that, see 'keychains' and 'Shah of Iran's nephew')? Or out of a sense of adventure? Did you just want to see if you could really make it as a cookware demonstrator? (Hot tip: put a touch of garlic in whatever you're cooking and you'll draw customers like flies.)

Is the odd job you had once a story you've saved to tell the grandchildren? Why not share it with us?

We want to know how it went: the fun parts and the not-so-fun parts. What were the challenges? Did you decide the job was a promising career change, or not for you? If you have pictures, so much the better. If not, paint us a picture with words.

If you're willing to share these employment byways, you may do some younger person a service. At least they won't feel alone as they navigate the temp worker portion of their careers.

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