Jump to content

Menu

What was your first job?


mommyoffive
 Share

Recommended Posts

Planting trees and picking up trash for HOA. It was supposed to be "educational" so they were permitted to pay less than minimum wage. I got my lifeguard cert and started getting minimum wage (3.35) a few months later.

 

ETA not counting babysitting or organizing files my parents brought home from their own jobs.

Edited by Diana P.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I worked at Dairy Queen from the time I was 16 til I went to college (a couple months shy of 18).  

 

I also worked there when I was home for the summer after my freshman year, saving up because I was getting married that August.  I had originally gotten a summer job doing data entry at this place in the middle of nowhere.  The pay was better, but there were no lights in the parking lot and it was all in this kind of sketchy warehouse that was - literally - in the middle of nothing - and I got off after midnight most nights.  I went to DQ to get some dinner once when I was working, and my old boss was like, 'You can come back here!' and I was like, 'You know, I think I will.'  He did give me a raise compared to what I'd made before, and the atmosphere and everything was just - better.  

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had an awesome first job as a page for the local library. I worked there all through high school. They even gave me a scholarship when I graduated. I mostly worked in the children's section and learned so much about children's literature. I also got first dibs on checking out new books, videos and music.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Babysitting starting at 9 (yes 9 ) for short periods of time. By 11 I was picking blueberries and babysitting up to 9 hours at a time 4-5 days a week.

 

My first commercial type job was as a dietary aide in a nursing home starting t 16. I moved up to weekend cook at 17 and worked there until after I was married.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Babysat tons from 11-18, including long weekends, 6 weeks all day one summer, aftercare/tutoring for a third grader one school year.

 

The summer after my senior year of high school I worked 20 hrs per week as a Loan File Clerk for a credit union. I worked with a classmate and we had great fun in our office listening to Veggie Tales CDs while we worked. When she went to France for a week on a school trip I was happy they let me work an extra 20 hours since they weren't paying her :). Then I spent an 8-hour day shredding the bi-annual report. Whoa was that a crazy waste of paper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First regular job would be with Hewlett Packard after college. Then a string of tech MNCs until I stopped working.

Before that was temp seasonal cashier at a supermarket, temp weekend counter staff at a general practitioner, private math and science tutor, working at the computer center while undergrad as a counter staff, software instructor and coordinator for the campus wide windows NT migration.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tutored a KG boy in "reading."  Earned 25c.

 

Washed dishes for the neighbor (probably not very well) to earn 10c.

 

At 10 I had my first paid babysitting job.

 

Around that age I also used to go to pizza shops and fold boxes for whatever they would give me - sometimes coins and sometimes free snacks.

 

First "regular" job that I got on my own was a paper route at age 13.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First job ever.....Answering the phone for a tiny real estate office at 14yo, I was on call, and if I was available, I went there when the *only* agent needed to go out to show a house so the office wouldn't be empty. 

 

First real job.... 17yo was a sales clerk at Music Land during Christmas season.  

First non-seasonal job....(next fall) at 17yo as the assistant to the art director when I was in college. 

First permanent job....18yo I worked in a group home for handicapped adults.

Edited by Tap
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Babysitting for a neighbor down the street, but I don't count that.  lol  My first "real" job was waitressing and other stuff at a catering/rental hall facility.  We had some fun, late nights there and always got a bit of the yummy food!  But it was tiring.  :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I taught horseback riding, starting about 12. I just taught the littles in exchange for my own lessons.

 

Then worked at Express, then a party store - custom designing parties. That was fun.

 

Oh, and before and during those I was artist assistant at art shows. Various friends of my mom's would hire me. The travel was fun. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I only worked one retail checkout job in high school, and only for about 2 months in the summer.  My parents didn't want me to work during school.  I stapled my thumb to a receipt there and passed out.  :blush:

 

First paycheck job was at a telemarketing center.  This was back when long distance companies first started up.  Thank goodness I only was on the phones about a month before I got promoted to the mail room, then quality control.  Eventually I ended up in the training department, creating manuals and training guides, and training the new people, a class of 30 each week.  It was a lower management job, I had to wear a dress or suit, and I was so proud!   Oh, we also took inbound calls for Collins St Bakery fruitcakes during Christmas season!

Edited by goldberry
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was 18 and worked in a chiropractors office for a couple of months until the doctor's husband propositioned me. Apparently he did that to all of the staff the other girls told me. I never went back after that day and my mom called and complained to his wife. My next job was as a substitute teacher until I went to work at the university during grad school.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Medical transcriptionist at the doctor's office where my mom worked when I was 16. I took a year off after high school and worked full time as a receptionist through a temp agency. Continued to do receptionist temp work summers through college, until I graduated and landed a teaching job.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I worked at Wal-mart for about 2 weeks, but then got engaged and was moving across the state, so I quit.  My next job was as a file clerk at a credit union through the high school's co-op program.  I ended up staying there for years afterwards and moving up into accounting.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...