Employers could vary in their treatment of servants from individual to individual, but it was generally recommended that household managers keep a close eye on their employees - so you would most likely be held under some level of suspicious supervision. On one level, this was not much different than the way any employer might act: they were concerned that you might be dishonest and wanted to prevent theft or laziness. Maids were required to be sober, clean, neatly dressed, well-behaved, and competent at their tasks, so a mistress might keep track of whether you seemed to have been drinking, take a close look at your cuffs and apron, pop in on you while you're working to make sure you're not stealing, and hold you to a strict schedule so you couldn't go out to taverns at night. She would likely make a special point of forbidding garments and accessories that seemed to be above your station and could get in the way of your duties, like a crinoline or bustle, trains, silk, or false hair. As a maid-of-all-work/"general", no matter how kind and personable your mistress is to you, you would be expected to work extremely hard on a variety of tasks with hardly any rest, since you're filling the positions of housemaid, scullery maid, cook, and possibly nursemaid all at once. However, the family is not allowed to injure you or starve you. (Webster's Encyclopaedia of Domestic Economy suggested that maidservants be allotted four pounds of bread, a quarter of a pound of cheese, and half a pound of sugar per week, half a pint of beer per meal, half a pound of meat per dinner, and half a pound of dry tea per month, so that can be used as a benchmark for what's reasonable.)

Because you would be working such long hours, you would not have much opportunity for making friends. Your best ones might be the maids on houses on either side of yours, if you should happen to be outside at the same time - but you would have to be careful, because your mistresses would see any socializing that appeared to get in the way of your work as laziness and a waste of the time they paid you for. (If you have days off at the same time, you could meet up with them outside of that context, however.) Tradesmen's assistants would also provide opportunities for chatting with someone outside of the family, when they delivered meat, wine, or anything else, but likewise, your mistress would have an interest in making sure that you didn't fraternize too much; on the other hand, if you went out to make purchases for the family, you could have a lot more freedom of association. Frequently, followers - that is, young men who want to be your sweetheart or even get married to you - were disallowed, or were only allowed if specifically and individually approved.

You are doing the job because you come from a working-class background and this seems like the best opportunity to provide for yourself out of a limited selection - perhaps your mother used to be in service and influenced your choice. You might not have the credentials or references to be taken on for a more specialized job in a better family, or the skills to work for a milliner or dressmaker. As for stopping, there were really two options: either you would go on to a different (hopefully better) job once you had more experience under your belt, or you would marry someone and leave paid domestic servitude behind you (while of course continuing it in an unpaid manner).

There are a lot of great primary sources from the nineteenth century that were written to help middle-class wives manage their households and social lives, or to instruct servants in their duties. I would recommend:

An Encyclopaedia of Domestic Economy, by Thomas Webster and Mrs. William Parkes (1844)

Cassell's Household Guide (1869)

The Maid of All Work's Complete Guide, by Anne Maria Sargeant (1850)

Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, by Isabella Beeton (1861)