What Job Would You Have Had in the 1920s?

What Job Would You Have Had in the 1920s?.

A new year, a new decade and 2020 looks set to be the best year yet for everyone here at Cordant People! The new ‘roaring twenties’ has begun, and it got us wondering what jobs we might have had 100 years ago in the 1920s?

Recruitment now is full of technology and fast-paced applications and placements. Back in the 1920s, life was much simpler and so were jobs. While the crazy parties, wild outfits and jazz music went on behind the closed doors of the rich, most ordinary people worked long hours in a variety of different roles…some of which no longer exist today!

So, if like us you’ve been wondering what job you would have had in the 1920s, take our infographic quiz below to find out. Good luck old sport!

Cook at The Ritz

Cooking at The Ritz Hotel in the 1920s would often mean preparing lavish meals for the rich and famous celebrities of the time. Charlie Chaplin stayed in the hotel’s Regal Suite in 1921 and was photographed throwing carnations to his fans from the balcony! 

Maid at Chatsworth House

Maids at Chatsworth house would be kept busy by their aristocratic employers! With over 30 rooms to clean, it’s likely they’d live on the premises too…just like Downtown Abbey! 

Journalist at The Daily Mirror

Journalists in the 1920s didn’t have the luxury of using a mobile phone for calls, or for browsing the internet for the latest story. They’d most likely be out the office for the majority of the day, knocking on doors and following leads the ‘old-fashioned’ way.

‘Knocker Upper’

Before the alarm clock was invented, the job of waking up workers would fall to the local ‘knocker upper.’ Wielding a long stick, they’d tap on the windows of the snoozing workforce to ensure they were awake and on time to make it to the factory for the day.

Cow Farmer

With the country still struggling from a food shortage due to the effects of WW1, cow farmers and their colleagues would be responsible for feeding the nation. It was, however, one area that didn’t feel the ‘boom’ of the 1920s with the post-war economy producing underpaid jobs for desperate farm workers.

Dress Maker

Dressmaking was honest and one of the only options of employment for young working-class girls in the 1920s. It wasn’t a well-paid role, and their lives were in complete contrast to the roles played by the society hostesses they made the dresses for.

Banker at National Provisional Bank

The 1920s were the ‘boom times’ for bankers. Those working at banks like the National Provisional (Natwest) would be banking some serious cash themselves. That is, until the 1929 Wall Street Crash…

Actor at The Apollo Theatre

While Hollywood ‘talkies’ started making waves across the pond, many British actors were still putting on a show at theatres, like the Apollo, across the country. Stage actors would have worked alongside some future greats such as Laurence Olivier and Marion Lorne.

Engineer at MG

Originally a sales garage in Oxford, there is still much debate as to when the MG Car Company started trading. The first factory production line was set up in 1927, so there would have been a high demand for skilled engineers to join then. If only Cordant Engineering had been around in the 1920s…

Telephone Operator at Mercury Communications

Known in American slang as ‘Hello Girls’, these switchboard operators were vital in the early days of telephone communication. They were required to manually connect calls via cables and jacks at the telephone exchanges where they worked.  

Is your recruitment process still stuck in the 1920s? Get in touch with your local Cordant People branch today to discuss your needs, or find us on FacebookTwitterLinkedIn or Instagram to let us know which 20s job you scored!

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