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November 12, 2025 12 mins

Lisa & Russell opened the Book of Records to ask, “What’s the shortest time you’ve spent at a job?” We heard from carrot pickers, picture framers, chefs and more, with some unbelievable stories in the mix! Can you guess how long the shortest job was? Tune in to find out!

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
He set another record. Incredible world record.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Is Saram Russell's Book of Records.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
We've never seen anything like it.

Speaker 3 (00:11):
So you will find the Book of Records at ninety
six a FM dot com dot au. Some of the
entries we have thus far is w Way's oldest car.
Ken Impingulely has a nineteen oh nine Model t Ford.
You can't even get the right what is it? The feeld?
O it now? The oldest pet? Kristen and Darling Downs

(00:33):
has Ninja the turtle who's seventy plus years old. Who's
got the oldest food in the fruge? Linen Alkamos has
some wedding cake from nineteen eighty nine? And who said
I Love you the quickest? Debbiean Thornley has the record
for three days.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
That's pretty good. She knew what she wanted she did.
Are they still together? I hope so, I believe so.

Speaker 3 (00:56):
So today we've opened up the book of records and
we're looking for the shortest time you've spent at a job.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
How long is the shortest you've ever spent somewhere? Oh? Oh,
so you have to really think about it. I thought
about it. It was about six months, okay, what was
about eight months.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Yeah, yeah, so no, that's not going to make it
anywhere near to think of records.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
I think we're out.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
Dot in Rivervale says. When my husband was sixteen, he
got a job at Saddler's Transport stacking kitty letter onto pallets.
He told his dad to wait for him because and
within fifteen minutes he was back with dad. Not his
way to work with.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Dad, Dad. I don't have a good feeling about this.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, yeah, something it's a bit bit Yeah, something's a
bit off here, stinky.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yeah. So because once upon a time people used to stay.
It was common for people to stay at one job
for a very very long time. My grandfather was for
a while.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
He absolutely retired with the gold watch from Wiggs Booksellers.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
It never happens now people are chopping and changing all
over time. But we want to hear it. Yeah, the
shortest time you've ever spent at a job. Sadly, we
can't get Ginnus on board to help us with this one,
but anyway, sir, do it on our own.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
Time has been laid open and we are looking to
put in the person who the shortest amount of time
spent at a job.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
Now, I said, eight months before for myself. I actually
forgot in between stints here. Yeah, I did a little
part time thing for about three three months. Yeah, I
don't know if that counts anyway.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
I actually also forgot because it was so quick. I
also forgot that time that one time at band camp
when I was going to sell some encyclopedias door to door.
I might have gone to two doors and then I'm
out and I called my dad to come pick me up.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
We are out though, because we're ineligible. However, you guys
are now. We actually received a voicemail message on our
text line zero four seven ninety six ninety six ninety six,
This one from from Blair in Willeton.

Speaker 4 (03:05):
Good morning, they said, Russell.

Speaker 5 (03:07):
Okay, Yeah, I had a job that I was filling
bags of carbon at this.

Speaker 6 (03:10):
Place called Carbon Activated Technologies out in Henderson. I did
it for three days. It's horrible, but you guys have
a great day.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
Right, three days? Surprising? That sounds like a lifelong career
for me. Carbon bag and carbon.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
Bagging carbon Dear. Let's go to Scarborough and Sean.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Hello, Sean, good morning from yours.

Speaker 7 (03:32):
I in between my failed university attempt and starting my pranks,
I was a telemarketer for about six hours.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
Six hours.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
You stuck it out that long?

Speaker 7 (03:42):
Wow, Yeah we were we were selling a terrible product
to retirees in Geelong and I, yeah, didn't sell one
and I was yeah, fired immediately.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
Oh you're fired.

Speaker 3 (03:56):
You didn't even know.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
Bet, let's face it, showing your heart wasn't in it.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
I think they did your past.

Speaker 7 (04:02):
If it was a product I believed in, I reckon
I could have done a good job.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
Yes, it was garbage, just ripping off old people. You
don't mention the company whatever you do. Thanks mate.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
All right, well that's the minimal time to beat.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
I guess pretty much. That's not even a full day's pay. No,
it's not.

Speaker 3 (04:24):
On the text, Jane from your Kaine says she resigned
at lunchtime on day one at a tomato canning factory.
Smell terrible and I had a monster hangover. The boss
may be stayed all the end of the day. Longest
day of my life.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Really, Yeah, well all in three hours. Yeah, we are
looking for the shortest time you've spent at a job.
That is the record we are looking to break. We've
got Sally on the line from Caring Up Good morning, Sally.

Speaker 5 (04:53):
Oh, good morning, Hell are you well?

Speaker 1 (04:55):
We're fine? How are you are you? Are you still
you're not obviously at this job? Still?

Speaker 5 (05:00):
No, no, no. My sister and I was a long
time ago. It was like it was about thirty years ago.
Perhaps we were going through a period of irresponsibility, I
would call it. And in the paper there was an
ad for a carrot picking and we thought that sounds great,

(05:21):
just pulling carrots out of the ground that beat. And
we were there was somewhere down this south street, like
you know, south of the river. Yeah, and we turned
up and we had no gloves and we had no utensils,
and it wasn't really that simple because he had to

(05:41):
pull straight carrots and put them into a baby bath
that you had behind you in all of these rows,
and then the crooked carrots he just left on the
ground behind you. And my sister was a bit of
a character. She was rolling around going my back hurts

(06:02):
and our fingers were bleeding, and we had from like
digging the dirt, and then and we just decided we'd
had another Sally.

Speaker 1 (06:12):
Well maybe if you had to going along a little
bit of prepared, this could have been a career we.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
Needed to know exactly really they should be provided with
gloves and a carrot pulling utensil.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
Did you know?

Speaker 5 (06:26):
It was actually embarrassing because I was the one that
had to go and tell the guy that we were leaving,
and he'd weighed all our carrots and we'd earned something
like ten dollars, seven dollars and ten cents something stupid,
and he was going to round us up to ten
dollars and I said, they don't even pay.

Speaker 1 (06:47):
Did you have Did you end up with orange fingers?

Speaker 5 (06:49):
We did. We had orange fingers, but with blood under
well I had blood under my fingernails because it was actually, well,
you needed gloves.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yeah, once again, as I said, if you had been prepared,
thank you. Three hours.

Speaker 3 (07:07):
There we go down to three hours.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
Let's see what can you beat that, Paul.

Speaker 4 (07:13):
Yeah, I can do that. One I was I left school.
Dad was very adamant that if I left school, I've
got to get a job, doesn't matter whether I liked
it or not. Character Yeah, So I applied for a
job at a picture framing in Maddington and I went there,
got the job started Monday, and I lasted an hour

(07:36):
by an hour because what happened is they put a
laquer on the picture frame, and obviously I was allergic
for the lacker because I came up in welts on
my arms and everything, and yeah, I had to leave.
And then I got home and Dad was like, what
the hell happened? And he goes, oh, you should just tap.

Speaker 5 (07:56):
Him up.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
Slacker.

Speaker 1 (07:59):
That was what it was like backing, was it? No,
at least you had a good excuse.

Speaker 6 (08:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
I think that's an excellent excuse.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (08:09):
Since then, I've had jobs that have lasted twenty years.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
Ok So you had the you had the working ethic.
It was just, you know, none of this lack of stuff.

Speaker 4 (08:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, I had to frame it in the road.

Speaker 3 (08:22):
Wants an allergic reaction your EpiPen.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
Wow, there you go. So yeah, that's one hour. Okay,
that's not bad. I think we can do better. I
think we can do better.

Speaker 3 (08:33):
For the Book of Records today, we're looking for the
shortest amount of time spent at a job. Tim in Craigy,
what have you got for it?

Speaker 1 (08:41):
Warning? Tim?

Speaker 6 (08:42):
How are we going?

Speaker 1 (08:43):
Good?

Speaker 6 (08:45):
That's good. The shortest time I've spent in a job
is twenty minutes.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
Twenty minutes, that's like me starting at six o'clock with
Lisa and not making it to the six thirteen years.
That's how quick it is.

Speaker 3 (08:58):
What was it? What?

Speaker 6 (09:01):
I took a job out in Mount Magnet. So I
drove all the way from Perth out to Mount Magnet
for a chefing gig. Yes, twenty minutes into service, the
owner told me I had to cook my surf and
turf prawns in a garlic gravy sauce, not a creamy
garlic sauce. And I threw the towel and I said,
hell no, I'm out here.

Speaker 3 (09:21):
Prawns in a gravy.

Speaker 6 (09:24):
Prawns in a gravy sauce for the surf and turf.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
Oh my god, it doesn't sound good. I don't eat prawns,
but I wouldn't beating that. Certainly it wouldn't be eating those.

Speaker 6 (09:33):
So I was out of there lickety split.

Speaker 3 (09:37):
Your prawn integrity took you away. How long did it
take you to drive there?

Speaker 6 (09:42):
By the way at eight and a half hour? Was
there in eight and a half hour?

Speaker 1 (09:50):
He spent longer at the fuel pump on the way
there and back than he did in the actual gig.

Speaker 6 (09:55):
I think I was I was well out of pocket too.

Speaker 1 (09:59):
Yeah, you were.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
I think i'd be a bit nervous about prawns at
Mount Magnet gravying.

Speaker 1 (10:05):
Tim, may I say a chef with standards. I like that.
I like that.

Speaker 3 (10:09):
Well done.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
I was going to say, maybe you've been doing bigger
and better things, but no, it scarred you.

Speaker 6 (10:19):
I've been in my current job for the last twelve years,
so I'm pretty happy. Well done.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
Another one who he does have the commitment just had
to be in the right.

Speaker 3 (10:27):
That's right, It wasn't Tim.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
No, thanks Tim, thank you very much.

Speaker 3 (10:32):
I've been searching today for the person who spent the
shortest amount of time at a job, and I think
we have found a record holder to enter into the
book of records. Jim in voll Divers, Good morning.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
How long Jim?

Speaker 6 (10:49):
So?

Speaker 3 (10:49):
What what was the job and how long did you
spend at it?

Speaker 2 (10:53):
I was a job for a fairly good company in
Osbond Park. But I spent less than few teen seconds.

Speaker 1 (11:00):
Then, couldn't have been that good fifteen seconds?

Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yes, I attended the interview. The guy read my resume,
was very impressed, and I chatted to him for about
ten minutes, and then he said, I don't need to
hear anymore. You're hired. And I stood up and as
I shaking his hand, I said, by the way, what's
the pay that had to cover? And I prosed for

(11:25):
a few seconds, and then I said, I'm sorry, I
can't work for that much.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
Okay, fifteen seconds. So I'm gathering you didn't accrue any
holiday time. There was no There was no sort of payout.
What was it super like as you left after fifteen.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
Unfortunately no sick days either, They didn't.

Speaker 3 (11:44):
There was no farewell party, no cake, no drinks, no
passing around.

Speaker 1 (11:50):
So, Jim, when you went for the next job, did
we sort of change the order fence? Which?

Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah, the next job, I asked him the pay during.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
I was just gonna say, did you maybe flip that
question to the top of the top of the list
next time?

Speaker 3 (12:06):
Thanks Jim, you're in the Book of Records.
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