# What year did you get your first job, what did you do, and how much did you earn? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 5, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210 "2023-04-05T16:41:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/21 "2023-04-05T17:36:57Z")
1978, wasn’t quite 14 yet, got a job as a busboy / dishwasher at a restaurant. I think I made maybe $3.40/hr? Plus all the free food I could pilfer. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/22 "2023-04-05T17:38:09Z")
December 1964, right out of high school. Apprenticeship at NASA for $2.16 hour.The program had raises every 6 months. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/23 "2023-04-05T17:50:39Z")
1978, 16 years old, dishwasher at a Hilton hotel as a summer job. $2.65/hr. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/24 "2023-04-05T17:56:26Z")
1976 or 1977, not sure, whatever it was, I was in High School. For summer work for two years I drove a green pea combine. [![](https://photonews.org.nz/gisborne/issue/GPN163_19680131/GPN163_19680131_076a.jpg) ](https://photonews.org.nz/gisborne/issue/GPN163_19680131/GPN163_19680131_076a.jpg) The tractors were new 1977 models, but the combines were the exact same machines, probably 10-15 years old. Since it was ag work, I made sub-minimum wage (probably under $2/hr), but 12 hour days minimum. I made good money. Bought my tool set which I still have and use to this day. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/25 "2023-04-05T17:56:53Z")
Movie theater usher, 1968, junior year in high school, for the princely sum of $.90 an hour. State minimum wage was $1.15, but for some reason, theater ushers were exempt. Sound like a “fun” job? Well… We worked 6-10pm four weeknights (one was always Friday), 12pm-10pm Saturday and 1pm-10pm Sunday (we had two-hour lunch breaks in the late afternoon.) No free popcorn either. And after you saw the feature two or three times, you could practically quote it. I saw “The Boston Strangler” 37 times straight through, and countless times partially. “West Side Story?” I can sing the entire score. We also had to clean the theater following the occasional kiddie matinee on Saturday. It was a 1350-seat theater. It was dirty, backbreaking work. I once had the projectionist put Jimi Hendrix’s “Electric Ladyland” on the sound system just to have something to listen to while we were sweeping up and lugging tons of trash to the dumpster. All that said, though, I have mostly fond memories of it. It was the first dose of real responsibility for us. I’m still friends with one of the guys I worked with. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/26 "2023-04-05T18:04:18Z")
1987, McDonald’s crew member, $3.35 an hour. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/27 "2023-04-05T18:08:32Z")
Not counting the Work study college financial aid program, 1994, Busboy at the Planet Hollywood Chicago. I think I made $4.25 /hr plus a cut of the tips. Counting Work study, Lab assistant in the Biochemistry Dept. at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1993. That job was mostly cleaning and autoclaving glassware, and taking inventory of chemical stocks. I can still smell the urea just thinking about it, blech. I don’t remember what I made for that one, it was part of my financial aid package so all of that $ went straight to tuition. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/28 "2023-04-05T18:10:26Z")
Fall of 1964, freshman in college, working in the cafeteria of a men’s dorm. I started in the dishroom running the dish machine, separating silverware, etc. for 75 cents an hour. At the end of the second semester I got a raise to $1.05 an hour and a promotion to being a “bus girl”, cleaning tables. And dealing with the stupid pranks of the dorm residents. Did I say promotion? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/29 "2023-04-05T18:14:36Z")
I don’t remember how old I was - probably before I started high school. I worked for a TV repairman. Testing tubes, running errands, doing simple electronics work. The guy was a chainsmoker, so it was a pretty unpleasant work environment. I don’t remember how much I made, maybe $1,000 for the whole summer. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/30 "2023-04-05T18:32:22Z")
Two answers: 1. My grandparents started me working around the age of 4, $.25/hour to help them clean their rental homes. I could pull weeds, help my grandmother sweep (dust pan duty), etc. And no complaining! Do not think working for family, even as a child, [was easy.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-campground-a-mds-story/953669) 10 hour days, 5 days a week: > [@The Campground (A MDS story)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-campground-a-mds-story/953669/2): > > At 10 years of age, I was almost certainly the most experienced American installer of coaxial cable in my age group. In early 1977 the decision was made to pre-wire every new mobile home with the latest technology, a coaxial cable for cable television, and to wire every existent mobile home so they can subscribe to cable as well. The equipment came in early June, and with over 60 lots sold and installed, and more coming in weekly, it was quickly found that the very thin 10-year-old was the perfect size to slide underneath a mobile home (about 1.5 feet of space between the home and the ground… And then, when the seawall was being replaced when I was 12, it was even harder: > [@The Campground (A MDS story)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-campground-a-mds-story/953669/2): > > My job was to _descend into the pit_ , guide the anchor into place, insert the galvanized beams, sliding them to the back, guide the wall frame into place, pull the beams forward into the wall frame, centering them properly, and then… _while still in the hole_ … had to wait while the concrete was being poured 4 feet above my head and 6 inches in the side, my grandfather and the rando holding the chute. If the rods started sliding because of the vibration, I was to shove them back in. When done, I climbed out of the pit, my brother got into the next one, and randos 2 & 3 started filling in the rod pit with sand, close to the top of the frames. > > 150+ times, 75 each, my brother and I did this over 5 weeks. Noseeums biting, the heat and humidity so bad that at times I would see everything encased in a purple haze, the discipline it took to stay in the pit to _get the job done_ is well beyond what I would do today, to be honest. 1. My first W2 job was when I was 13, maybe 14. Whatever the minimum wage was in 1980 was what I was paid. It was in an ice cream shop and was the easiest job I could have imagined. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/31 "2023-04-05T19:44:44Z")
1967, I was fourteen. I started as a busboy in a neighborhood Italian restaurant for $1.25 an hour (minimum wage for that year) I also was charged a quarter a shift to pay for the bus jacket to be laundered. Not long after that I was moved off the floor into the kitchen at the salad station, then the pizza oven and then behind the line at the fryers. I was fifteen by then working Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday seven plus hour shifts. Today, OSHA would fine them into bankruptcy ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/32 "2023-04-05T20:02:19Z")
I was 15 in the summer of '79. I was employed by the City of Los Angeles to be a locker attendant at a public pool. Minimum wage of $2.90/hour. 20 hours a week. This pool was in a neighborhood with a gang presence. The real gangsters weren’t hanging out at the pool. The wannabe gangster kids told me on my first day, “whiteboy, if you come back here tomorrow we are going to kick your ass.” Of course they were bluffing and we became friendly as the summer progressed. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/33 "2023-04-05T20:04:59Z")
I never got an allowance from my parents, so I had to hustle for pocket money. I started babysitting local kids (on our block) when I was 11, but moved on a few years later to mostly single moms – two sisters-in-law (they married and divorced brothers) – filled my pockets for a number of years. I made $.50 an hour. I applied at our local branch of the L.A. County public library when I stated high school. It was a very desirable job – halfway between the school and my home – but I didn’t get a job there until my junior year. It paid decently though I can’t remember how much. I kept that job through college (moving up one rank from page to aide). When I got out of college, I found a job running a small library for the L.A. County Data Processing Department. My experience there was what got me into programming. And my monthly salary when I started in 1973 was $590. I felt rich! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/34 "2023-04-05T20:18:20Z")
The first supposedly regular job was with a carpet cleaner when I was a young teen. Nasty, dirty, hands-and-knees work. Carpet cleaning rigs like we have now didn’t exist in the early 60s, so this meant being on all fours and scrubbing the carpet with a sponge. He’d put me to work and then disappear. Then the guy stiffed me; quit calling me for jobs and didn’t pay me what he owed. What he didn’t understand is that I got this job through my mother, who was the head of the unemployment division for the office in Anchorage. In addition, she was good friends with the labor commissioner. After trying to call the carpet guy and getting high-hatted every time, she called her friend who had a subpoena issued. The guy showed up at the door with my $21.45 the next day. Second job with a bit of permanence was a summer working at a car wash. Another job that you really don’t want. Paid $1.75/hr. which was minimum wage in Anchorage back then. Hard work for customers who were never satisfied. I finally just quit showing up. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/35 "2023-04-05T20:18:56Z")
1995, the age of 16, Marc’s grocery/discount store, $4.25/hr which was minimum wage that year. I only lasted the summer. During the school year I had to do school. I did indeed work every year since then, though. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/36 "2023-04-05T20:28:02Z")
Summer 1986 I was 15 and worked at the Holland Sporting Club as a general gofer, landscape “muscle” and kitchen helper. Got $4 per hour, not bad when minimum wage was $3.35! Sure, I got yelled at by the weird one eyed caretaker, and the whole place was overrun with old people, every member of the club was a senior citizen, but it was kind of cool and I feel like a fool for going to work at the A&P the next summer. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/37 "2023-04-05T20:29:33Z")
1996, summer after high school I got a job as a custom picture framer. I don’t remember my exact hourly wage, but it was something like $7.50, which was much better than minimum wage at the time. Picture framing was my job or a part of my job for most of the following 20-ish years. It’s a fun job that pays well for retail work (and it’s easy to get hired if you have the skills). I’ve considered opening my own shop, but it’s more investment than I care for. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/38 "2023-04-05T20:32:59Z")
Buck an hour at a mobile home Park my grandfather built. ~1971. I was rich compared to the other kids I knew. I mostly mowed grass. But did pretty much anything from repairing streets to opening and closing the Mobile Homes that we had for sale (we had a sales business too). ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/39 "2023-04-05T20:43:28Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I only lasted the summer. During the school year I had to do school. I had to earn money to pay for college. Summer jobs alone were not enough. ---
**Author:** ![Yosh99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ccd318/32.png) [@Yosh99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yosh99)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210/40 "2023-04-05T20:51:57Z")
1966, at age 15, my first summer job with a house and building mover for $60 for a 60 hour week. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-did-you-get-your-first-job-what-did-you-do-and-how-much-did-you-earn/982210.md?page=3)