There comes a point when "Could you just…?" stops sounding like a request and starts sounding like a threat. If you have reached it, the local jobs boards are offering several possible escape routes.

Salaries stretch to £80,000 with overtime, while the vacancies cover Wells, Glastonbury, Shepton Mallet, Evercreech and Castle Cary. Some require qualifications, some want experience and at least one expects you to understand mixed tax without quietly opening a calculator under the desk.

Engineering, workshops and people who can fix things

An engineer capable of handling both mechanical and electrical work is apparently worth investing in, which may come as startling news to anyone whose current employer treats training as a YouTube video watched during lunch. This Mechanical/Electrical Engineer role covers the Glastonbury area and pays £43,000 to £45,000, with advertised earnings of £60,000 to £80,000 through door-to-door pay and premium overtime. The field-based job involves plant and recycling machinery, UK travel, servicing and repairs, with a company vehicle, fuel card and no callouts.

"Where innovation meets passion" is how the company advertising for a Workshop Manager introduces itself. Deep breaths: the actual job is in Shepton Mallet, pays up to £55,000 and involves leading workshop operations for a growing business. A good option for someone who can manage people, production and the occasional colleague who has marked every email as urgent since 2019.

The Trainee Wash Plant Supervisor vacancy in Shepton Mallet offers a route into supervision with Holcim, which supplies construction materials for homes, hospitals, roads and railways. It is one for someone interested in practical operations, sustainability and building materials — or anyone finally ready to discover what a wash plant is without pretending they already know.

Tools down, clipboard up. A Senior Joiner in Castle Cary could earn £45,000 to £50,000 while moving directly towards management. The successful applicant will oversee bespoke joinery projects, learn estimating, procurement and budgeting, and work closely with the directors. Fridays finish at 4pm, allowing a full extra hour to develop strong opinions about people who describe flat-pack furniture as carpentry.

Driving jobs, with varying quantities of concrete and milk

If reversing something enormous into a narrow space while somebody watches critically sounds better than another Teams meeting, a Class 2 Driver is wanted around Glastonbury. The rate is £23.10 an hour, with ongoing work, weekly pay and training for the tipper and mixer industry. The role involves delivering ready-mix concrete to construction sites and could become permanent.

Parcel delivery rarely comes with an audience applauding your arrival, despite being the only reason half the country has anything nice. InPost is seeking a Service Delivery Partner around Wells, with potential earnings of up to £25 an hour paid per parcel. Applicants need their own van or fleet, a registered limited company and the relevant insurance, making this more of a business opportunity than a casual driving shift.

Milk does not teleport from farms to fridges, however firmly shoppers seem to believe it does. HGV Class 1 Milk Tanker Drivers are wanted in Evercreech for farm collections, with afternoon starts between 2pm and 4pm, weekly pay and regular shifts. The advertised rate is £21.39, although applicants should check the full listing for the precise pay arrangements.

Another Milk Tanker Drivers listing covers the Evercreech and Shepton Mallet area, with immediate starts and pay details beginning at £16.50 an hour in the advert. The listing itself is doing several jobs at once, much like everyone after a round of "efficiency savings", so candidates should confirm the licence class, duties and rate before applying.

Road repairs are unlikely to complete themselves, despite years of evidence that somebody may be waiting to see whether they will. Walton Civil Engineering needs an HGV hotbox driver based at its Shepton Mallet depot. The permanent role involves utility reinstatement work, collecting materials and operating the hotbox, with weekday hours from 6.30am to 5.30pm and enhanced rates for overtime and weekends.

Healthcare, retail and professional roles

Thirty-five-minute appointments, no Sundays and no bank holidays: somewhere, an optometrist working to a stopwatch has just felt a tiny flicker of hope. This Optometrist opportunity in Wells pays £67,250 and comes with modern diagnostic equipment, paid professional fees, 33 days' holiday including bank holidays and flexibility around the rota. The independent practice says it prioritises patient care over high-volume retail targets.

For £50 an hour, a Locum ANP is required near Castle Cary to support an established practice on Mondays and Thursdays during January. The role is suited to a qualified advanced nurse or clinical practitioner seeking temporary sessions with a supportive team — two words that appear in many adverts and occasionally survive contact with reality.

Lidl in Wells is recruiting two Retail Shift Managers, paying £15.45 to £15.95 an hour for contracts of 30 to 35 hours. The job covers team leadership, shop-floor operations, stock and cash processes, with extra pay for bank holidays and night shifts. You will need to remain calm in a fast-paced store, including when a customer treats the middle aisle like an archaeological dig.

A Store Assistant at Aldi in Shepton Mallet can earn £14.47 an hour, with flexible contracts between ten and 30 hours a week. Duties include tills, deliveries, shelf-stacking and customer service, while shifts can begin at 6am or finish at 10pm. The advert says no two days are the same, although someone will inevitably ask where the eggs are while standing directly beside them.

Inheritance tax, capital gains, company reorganisations and succession planning: all the subjects known to bring a dinner party thundering to a halt. A firm in Wells is offering £50,000 to £65,000 for a Mixed Tax Manager to handle personal and corporate tax work. Hybrid working, flexible hours and career progression are offered, with the successful applicant becoming a key adviser to the firm's directors and clients.

Warehousing, for people who prefer stock to office politics

A Warehouse Operative in Castle Cary will be paid £12.94 an hour, with weekly wages, Monday-to-Friday hours and an immediate start available. The work includes returns, stock replenishment, picking, packing and computer-based stock management in a busy warehouse. It can be physically demanding and may involve chilled areas, but at least the pallets will not schedule a catch-up to discuss your "bandwidth".

These are only some of the vacancies currently advertised across the area. The full jobs boards have more roles for anyone actively searching, casually browsing or maintaining a second tab ready to minimise whenever their manager walks past.