Subject: First Job
Posted by: Lochalsh
Date: Mar 09 10
What and when was the first job you ever had? Did it influence you for the rest of your life?
Up to you how to answer this: You could describe your first job as a youngster, or you could tell about your first employment after you finished your formal education.
Posted by: Lochalsh
Date: Mar 09 10
What and when was the first job you ever had? Did it influence you for the rest of your life?
Up to you how to answer this: You could describe your first job as a youngster, or you could tell about your first employment after you finished your formal education.
99 replies. On page 1 of 5 pages. 1 2 3 4 5
Lochalsh
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It will take me a while to reach all that way back. Every day in every way, those years recede in memory! Babysitting and teaching come immediately to mind, though. Reply #1. Mar 09 10, 10:48 AM |
Deunan 
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First job - working various positions in an amusement park. I operated rides, exchanged cash for tickets, helped children find their parents, worked in the main office answering the phone and writing letters. As to influencing my life...it showed me I could do anything I needed or wanted to do. Reply #2. Mar 09 10, 10:52 AM |
guitargoddess
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Other than babysitting and doing odd jobs for relatives and neighbours for pocket money, my first job was not that long ago... June 2004 I started working at a supermarket. I worked in the cold deli section at first, but it was clear that was not the job for me. I am quite a messy person by nature, and had trouble not getting potato salad all over the place, lol. About a month after I started, there were openings on the front end for cashiers, so I switched departments. The following summer I started working the customer service desk, and the little lottery/smoke shop, and started to have a more senior role on the cash floor (there was, at the time, still someone who was officially the weekend supervisor, but I had a supervisor authorization code and got to cover breaks, etc.) Around Christmas time that year, I was trained to work in the cash office, and started with just doing the closing deposits one or two nights per week. By the time I left the job in the January 2009, I was the primary weekend supervisor, senior office clerk, acting manager when my manager was away, and did half her work when she was there, anyway. Reply #3. Mar 09 10, 11:16 AM |
xbunny
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I worked at a major department store,it was christmastime and there was little table I had to personalize christmas stocking,write there names and then stick it in sparkle,everyone that came near me had sparkles on them,I really loved that job I have to say now,made people happy and beautiful time of the year. Reply #4. Mar 09 10, 12:04 PM |
beachbumb101
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I worked for a law firm during the summer of 2004. I was there for about a month. That was the last real job I had. Now I go to college at the university level full time and am taking 5 classes. I consider this to be my job now and I am working towards being a social worker. I am getting my Masters in Social work degree in 2013 and am getting my bacoloriot degree in 2011. Reply #5. Mar 09 10, 12:09 PM |
rayven80
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I started as a dish washer at a sportsbar. It did affect how I work now because I've always worked food service. I do miss the kitchen sometimes. Reply #6. Mar 09 10, 12:27 PM |
Cymruambyth
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The summer I was 15 I worked in a day care. My job was preparing lunch for the inmates. Soup, sandwiches and jello, day in and day out. Reply #7. Mar 09 10, 1:45 PM |
| Lochalsh
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OT: Cymruambyth, don't use say "jelly" rather than "jello" for the gelatin dish? I know you're not in Wales anymore [cue Judy Garland], but I thought that kind of distinction might have traveled with you from the UK. Forgive the digression. Words matter so much to me. Reply #8. Mar 09 10, 2:10 PM |
| Lochalsh
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Yikes. I meant to say "don't you"! Reply #9. Mar 09 10, 2:11 PM |
redwaldo
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I was 15 too,when I did some work as a builder's laborer;first full-time job was as a bank teller. Reply #10. Mar 09 10, 2:13 PM |
hovenaut
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Although I was mowing neighbor's lawns for pay back in the day, first job was as a paperboy. Tough getting up for the Sunday am editions, but it was fun overall. Reply #11. Mar 09 10, 2:20 PM |
| mutchisman
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A Saturday job in a shoe shop was my introduction to the working world, might sound boring but it was a blast, made some good friends and no... I didn't get the boot! Reply #12. Mar 09 10, 2:23 PM |
| Lochalsh
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mutchisman, I'm not surprised you didn't get the boot. In fact, I'll bet you were a "shoe-in" for the job and didn't have to pump them for a positive reply when you interviewed. Reply #13. Mar 09 10, 2:32 PM |
lesley153
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My first job was a school holiday job when I was 16. I spent half the time answering the phone and telling lies. Most people would rant and rave until they just broke down and sobbed "I really wanted to watch (insert favourite programme) tonight." "I'm really sorry your TV hasn't been repaired yet. I'll have a world with the boss of the workshop. ...He says it's nearly ready, and he hopes you'll get it back tomorrow." Or I was behind the counter, trying to sell the batteries that nobody had heard of but gave the shop a higher profit than the famous brands; and the rest of the time making tea. The following year, I was in Woolworths for the fortnight before Christmas. That was in the dark ages, when every section had two or three staff standing inside (you got evils if you sat down), and its own cash register, which didn't work out the change for you - you had to work it out yourself, and count it back to the customer. We had to call a supervisor if we were offered a £5 note, because there had been a flood of forgeries. Ring! Ring! and wait... Fun when the section was surrounded by people holding plastic Christmas trees, all waving fivers. We had to do an arithmetic aptitude test first, but still weren't trusted to take more than £1 (well, it was hundreds of years ago!) without calling a supervisor. I called for five-pound notes, but not for "large" amounts because nobody would ever have got served. I reckoned if I couldn't cope with taking more than £1 accurately I might as well give up now. A lot of the compartments held tiny things like tree baubles. A customer would hold a bauble up from the tray, ask for the price, and then buy a couple of dozen at that price. The first time that happened, my companion, who was OK because she was a schoolfriend, giggled and said I'd fallen for the oldest trick in the book - the customer holds a big one over the tray of smaller, cheaper ones, and I let them go at the lower price. I only did that once. After a fortnight, my feet hurt, my head was spinning, and I failed to recognise someone I'd known for ten years. Never again! Reply #14. Mar 09 10, 2:47 PM |
| Lochalsh
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I worked in a glass factory after my first undergrad summer. I'd stand at a conveyor belt with several other women and we'd pick up four drinking glasses in each hand as they came from having had the designs fired on. Although the glasses were still quite warm, we'd have to inspect them for flaws and then turn around and place them in divided corrugated cartons. I was not as fast as the other workers--this was not a temporary job for them--and I couldn't chat and make the time pass they way they could. I'd spend eight hours at the belt, then go home to have nightmares about thousands of glasses tumbling off the end of the line and shattering. Now that I think about it, the job was a lot like Lucy's in the chocolate factory! What did I learn? I wasn't good at manual labor and should be extremely grateful that I was working on a university education. Reply #15. Mar 09 10, 3:09 PM |
tezza1551
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First job was working as a shedhand or rouseabout in a shearing shed. Picking up fleeces, sweeping the board, pressing bales and penning up. One of the less pleasant aspects of the job was that you regulrly had "dags" chucked at you .. the lumps of sheep manure that had to be removed from the fleece. Reply #16. Mar 09 10, 4:26 PM |
Schoonie101
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Worked in a surf shop for a few weeks when I was 16. The job was a joke. First day, owner was 2 hours late opening up. I didn't know anything about check/credit card policy or anything like that. Was there about 10 minutes, owner bails and leaves me to fend for myself. I was clueless. But I improvised and didn't screw up TOO badly. Customers helped me a lot too which I was VERY grateful for. After a few weekends, got screwed on my paycheck on top of it all, something like $60 for 3 full weekends of work. What a waste! That knocked work out of my system for at least a couple years! I have to say, though, that experience did make me pretty forgiving of people working in retail, especially when it's busy. Very easy to get frazzled when multiple things are going on at once (not to mention keeping an eye out for ripoff artists) and it's just one person working. Reply #17. Mar 09 10, 8:25 PM |
| gpm97457
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Worked as a stock boy at a local book store. Reply #18. Mar 10 10, 2:54 AM |
insanity22186
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I picked cotton - really. I could pick about 150 pounds a day and I made 2 cents per pound. I was so proud of my first years' wages. I saved my money and bought my clothes for the new school year and saved my dad from having to do so. I picked cotton for 3 years. Reply #19. Mar 10 10, 3:33 PM |
| Lochalsh
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Bobbie, I knew a woman who picked cotton when she was growing up, and she described it as a hot, sticky, bone-wearying job. I'm truly impressed with your efforts and am glad that they helped you further your education. Reply #20. Mar 10 10, 4:41 PM |
99 replies. On page 1 of 5 pages. 1 2 3 4 5
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