What was your first paid job?

1. 81

   Sally's Troveposted 12 years ago

   What was your first paid job?
   
   How old were you? How much did it pay? What did you learn from it?

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2. 78

   internpeteposted 12 years ago

   My first job that I made money from was mowing lawns. I was probably around 12-14. It was nice to make a little money then, and it seemed like a lot. I did learn that it takes time and effort to make money.

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   1. 81

      Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I know what you mean about it seeming like a lot...my first job paid me 1.35 USD, and that was a lot then. Those early lessons learned about time and effort are so important!

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3. 94

   PurvisBobbi44posted 12 years ago

   My first job was working for Southern Bell as an Information Operator at 19 years old while attending college.
   
   I do not remember the pay but it was higher than most other jobs around. I worked in a large University Community so we were very busy with students and it was a fun job.

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4. 0

   Justsilvieposted 12 years ago

   The first money I ever earned was for picking blueberries on a neighbors farm, I think i was eleven and earned a dollar. I started working as a babysitter for friends of my parents for their nights out when I was 13 I also washed their windows for extra money. I earned 50 cents an hour.
   
   But my first real job (I paid social security) was at 15 after school and weekends and I worked in the concession stand in the local on-base movie theater. It still only paid  50 cents an hour but you got to watch all the movies for free and also included the popcorn and all the free soda you could drink. (the last part did not make my mother too happy, she was into health and fitness before it was the cool thing to do so).
   
   I learned that to get the things I wanted at that stage of my life (my parents provided the needed), I would have to work for them and since I paid for them them they were more valuable to me. A lesson I wish I remembered with my own children.

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      Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      We always want to make our children's lives better and easier. Sometimes we miss passing on to them the values we gleaned as we grew. But it's never too late.

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5. 62

   duffsmomposted 12 years ago

   I worked very briefly at a factory that packaged car accessories. It was horribly boring and I only last about 2 weeks.  I was 16 and my homework was starting to suffer.

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6. 75

   livewithrichardposted 12 years ago

   My first official paid job (not including my paper routes or the lawns I mowed or raked or driveway and sidewalks I shoveled snow from) was when I was 15.  The job was as a dishwasher at an Italian restaurant.  When I interviewed, the manager told me I would just be assisting 2 other dishwashers by loading and unloading the automatic dishwasher for which I would be paid the minimum wage at the time of $3.25 per hour.  I was excited and happy that I landed my first job and succeeded in my first ever interview. 
   On my first night the other 2 guys didn't show and it happened to be a Friday night and super busy.  On top of that the bus boys were short handed too and everything came into the kitchen in bulk.  I was told I had to hand wash, stack, and put away everthing myself, dishes, glasses, silverware, etc... It came so fast I could hardly keep up.  I let a stack of dishes get too high and they fell onto the floor and shattered.  The manager came running in and yelling at me to be more careful.  It happened again an hour later and this time I was threatened that any further breakage would be coming out of my pay.  When things started to slow that evening, I was told I had to bus tables which I did but never received any share of the tips which is sort of expected.
   The next night I came in to the same situation, just me and to top it off 2 more busboys were missing. 15 minutes into the dinner rush, another pile of plates fell and shattered. The manager came running in again and told me that it was coming out of my pay. So I did what any rebellious teenager would do, I took my apron off, tossed it to the manager and told her she could do the dishes, I QUIT!
   When she told me I couldn't quit it was their busiest time of the night, I told her she might want to consider that with the next idiot that takes te job and I left.  I never did go back to see if I actually did get a paycheck for my one night working.  It didn't matter, I still won an interview and I was still Hired for my first job no matter how brief it was.

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   1. 81

      Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think you have a hub there.

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7. 80

   rcrumpleposted 12 years ago

   My first job making anything at all was mowing a neighbor's yard.  3 1/2 acres behind a push mower of up and down hills and a steep sewage drain.  For that I made a whole $1.25, and a glass of either iced tea or lemonade when it was over.  My first hourly job was at a grocery store, for which I made a whole $1.30 per hour.  After two years, I was up to $1.80 and thought I was on top of the world.  Funny, things haven't changed much.  lol

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   1. 81

      Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      No, they haven't changed much, relatively speaking. You were making 1.80 while the business was making real money. But that's how we learn.

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8. 61

   fpherj48posted 12 years ago

   I was 16 and worked at a cookie factory for the summer.....on an assembly line, placing wax paper separators atop each cookie, for stacking purposes, before packaging.
   What I learned was......I may love cookies, but assembly line work in a cookie factory was definitely not a career choice!!   The best thing that job did for me was make me realize I was college bound!  NO doubt about it!

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9. 71

   joanveronicaposted 12 years ago

   My first paid job was tutoring backward students in secondary school Math. I was all of 16. I don't remember the pay, but it was really good! And my students all passed, so I was in great demand and made quite a lot of money.
   I learnt a lot of things: I liked teaching Math, I liked Math, I liked following my students' mental reasoning processes, I liked seeing the light bulb lighting up!  I liked finding ways to make all clear to them, I also learnt that I had the patience and the staying power to complete a difficult job.
   Needless to say, I became a Math teacher, that's what I studied for as my initial professional activity. I have also done a whole pile of other things, like owning a small trucking company or designing and making boutique clothes for women. But teaching has always been my first love.

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10. 94

    mary615posted 12 years ago

    My first paying job was picking cotton for 1.00 a pound.  It takes a lot of cotton to weigh a pound!  I learned what hard work was by working all day in the hot sun and the most I ever made was 10.00 one day.  I wrote  a Hub about picking cotton in the South.

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11. 88

    billybucposted 12 years ago

    Fifteen years old; I got a job fixing the pinsetting machines at the local bowling alley.  I don't remember what it paid...probably $5 per hour...but I got unlimited free bowling, so I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
    
    What did I learn?  Responsibility, and the feeling of accomplishment in doing a job well and being appreciated.

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12. 68

    CriticalMessageposted 12 years ago

    I was 11yrs old when I started a newspaper delivery route... $15 for a rural 100 home route which took about 5hrs to complete by bicycle for a $3 per hour rate... I learned that people were mean when having to ask them to pay their bill.

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13. 85

    snobletposted 12 years ago

    My first paid job was in a hardware store at 15, was paid about 6/hr but also had another side job installing turbos in car... I guess I just wanted to retire early, but that failed lol

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14. 91

    JKennyposted 12 years ago

    When I was 14 I started a paper round (route) at my local newsagents. I used to get 10 pounds a week for delivering in the morning. Later on I took on evening round and earned an extra tenner a week. It was alright, the route took me down my own road and round the block- I used to get teased occasionally by some older kids, but I didn't mind. Most of the time I'd either take my dog with me, so she could bark at anyone who bothered me or I'd listen to music to drown out the world. I kept it until I reached the age of 17, when I finally realised that I'd outgrown the job.

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15. 0

    Marzimeposted 12 years ago

    I started working at 14 babysitting three kids four days a week for 90 dollars. I was raised to work for what I want.

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16. 89

    Simon Lamposted 12 years ago

    I got my first job as a bus boy at a Chinese restaurant when I was 16.  I think I made $5.85/hr.  I learned that making money was hard work and it still is...

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17. 59

    jenniferlynn78posted 12 years ago

    I'm sure this is a most from all of us. Chores around the house everyday and I got paid $7.00 weekly and then 0 dollars soon after because my Dad said, I lived there and I should not get paid to help around the house. I was 9 and then at 12, I babysat my younger siblings for about 6hrs. and got little pay then no pay it was expected. Then at 13, I worked at a redemption center for $2.00hr. and then my first real job at 14 and I worked at McDonalds for $4.25. I learned many things such as the responsibility of caring for my home and maintaining it. I learned to rear children and understand the responsibility of caring for them. I learned responsibility on all levels from an early age that prepared me for life as an adult. I learned to go anywhere in life one needs responsibility, education, and work or else you go nowhere. Thank You Dad!

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18. 56

    Arahullposted 12 years ago

    My first paid job was of a science tutor to teach my neighbour @ 8$/hr when i was 18 and its  impossible to forget those days as it also helps me learn something new day by day
    i taught him  approx two years and then he got transferred to another city

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