What was your first job?

[JFSinIL]

Babysitting, then one afternoon worked putting together fabric samples for the local fabric store to send to area Home Ec teachers.  First "real" job was counter girl at TacDo Donuts, where I helped decorate donuts as they came out of the fryer, served folks, and was taught how to fry cake donuts (plop them into the bubbling fat with the large hopper thing, pay attention and turn them with wooden chopsticks as they browned, etc.) also used industrial-sized mixer to make more icings in the afternoons when things were slow.  Never got to help with the raised donuts - Mr. S (a married couple owned and ran the shop) worked at his huge wooden table in the  front corner hand-kneading and shaping the donut dough so it could rise overnight until they opened the shop again at 3am to heat up the fryer and start making more donuts.   He was an extrovert and chatted continuously with customers as he worked.  They left by noon to drive home and sleep until time to reopen the shop, I stayed to clean-up etc. We closed right before the local high school let out, to avoid chaos.

 

This was almost 40 years ago, and I can still taste my fav, a just fried, freshly iced, warm devils food cake donut. Quality control, baby!

 

Second job was working employee cafeteria at D'Land (Inn Between) then counter girl at Orange Camera and Photo. 

[creekland]

In family?  I was 8 when I started working (on the payroll with taxes and all) for my dad with his Beekeeping summer job.  He owned up to 500 Hives (depending on the year).  I earned $2/hour.

 

Outside of the family - regular job - I worked in our city library reshelving books and monitoring the children's section sometimes.

 

I also occasionally babysat (hated that job) and rode horses for others in shows (loved that job).  I also had a good gaming pony, so earned small amounts of money from my winnings on him.

[TechWife]

I worked at my parents dry cleaners.

[purpleowl]

I started getting paid for tutoring my peers when I was 15. 

 

Summer after 10th grade (so, age 16), I was hired as an aide for a teacher at a summer school program. That was a three-week deal. Or maybe it was two three-week sessions...I really can't remember. So kind of a first job, but not really?

 

Summer after 11th grade (age 17), I started working at a movie theater. I worked there until I left for college, working in every area except projection.

[need2read]

Babysitting for $2 an hour then cleaning after hours at the local bakery.

 

 

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[Guest]

First official job was as a cashier at an ice skating rink and indoor swimming pool. Prior to that I had done paid babysitting.

[regentrude]

Grew up under a totalitarian regime, so my first work experiences were forced labor that was mandatory and unpaid:

in high school: factory jobs assembling household electronics and using metalworking machines

in college: potato harvest, apple harvest, digging trenches

 

Labor that was mandatory but paid:

working in an industrial kitchen as a college student in summer

 

First paid job I did out of my own volition: graduate research assistant

Edited June 27, 2016 by regentrude

[Library Momma]

When I was 13 I began volunteering as an usher at a local summer stock theater.  It soon turned into a paying job in the box office and by the time I was 16 I was working in the back office.  I was a receptionist/office manager who would assist with whatever was needed from casting to the costume shop.  When I went to college it became my summer job and I was a/the marketing manager.  I helped with advertising and arranged barters for service that the theater needed. I also continued to assist other departments as needed and assisted with wrangling the actors many of which took the train in from NYC on a daily basis.  I also helped arrange housing for those that wanted to stay in the area over the summer. It was great fun and I have great memories and some crazy stories.

[kirstenhill]

I waited until I was 17 to get my first job (I was pretty busy with school and extra curriculars, so my parents didn't push me toward a job.  I also didn't have my drivers license until I was 17, so that would have limited my options).   I had a summer job between junior and senior year of high school working in the office of a small engineering firm that had never had any "office help" per se.  They wanted someone they could pay minimum wage to organize their files, blueprints, drawings, etc and answer the phone.   It was a pretty fun and laid back first job (when I finished filing for the day, I could read a book between phone calls!).  Then in the fall of my senior year in high school I started working at a telemarketing firm that specialized in fundraising and "membership renewals"  (think, AAA auto club calling to ask if lapsed members want to renew roadside assistance).  They lost a big client and I got laid off...and since I was saving money to attend a conference across the country, I just went for the first job I could find, which was McDonald's.  It actually paid better than the other two jobs!

Edited June 27, 2016 by kirstenhill

[lllll]

nm

Edited July 4, 2016 by ~ d9n

[Spryte]

Grew up under a totalitarian regime, so my first work experiences were forced labor that was mandatory and unpaid:

in high school: factory jobs assembling household electronics and using metalworking machines

in college: potato harvest, apple harvest, digging trenches

 

Labor that was mandatory but paid:

working in an industrial kitchen as a college student in summer

 

First paid job I did out of my own volition: graduate research assistant

Can I ask about the mandatory unpaid labor? How did you feel about it? Did you feel resentful or was it just your normal?

 

If that's too personal, no worries. Ignore me.

[trulycrabby]

Lifeguard and swim instructor from age 16 through college.

[mommyoffive]

stuffing papers for my brother 

 

than babysitting

[Peach]

MY first paid job was as a checker at a grocery store. This was back in the days long before scanners when we had to manually key in all the prices, adjust for non-food stuff, etc. 

[MrsWeasley]

Florist

[HRAAB]

Babysitting when I was 12 and up.  Then in high school I cleaned houses.  Made fairly decent money at that, and I figured cleaning a nice, fancy house was better than McDonald's.

[lynn]

First job baby sitting. Lawn mowing, first "real" job McDonald's

[TravelingChris]

FIrst job babysitting.  FIrst job with paycheck- local movie theater= both ticket sales and concession.

[Kareni]

My first job was babysitting for  25 cents an hour.  

 

My first job for which I paid taxes was running the sandwich stop at the tenth tee on the golf course at the country club. The guests came in the front. The caddies had to come to the window at the back.  I hated that job with a passion due to the mice.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Wheres Toto]

Paper route and babysitting.

 

Then retail (Kmart) through high school and first year of college.  Then a long string of places doing secretarial work.

[whitestavern]

Cleaning person at a nursing home. It was one of the only jobs I could get at 14. I convinced my parents to buy me a horse, but I had to pay boarding. It was not a pretty job, but I sure learned a lot.

 

ETA that that was my first real, paid, get weekly paycheck job. I did have a newspaper route and did a lot of babysitting prior to that.

Edited June 27, 2016 by whitestavern