The summer after high school (1987) I went to work at the camp I had attended for 9 years prior. I was on staff, not just a counselor. Counselors didn’t get paid (but didn’t have to pay either). I got a whole $100/week, but it was a real paycheck with SSI withheld and everything.
Thinking back to what I got paid for:
Paperboy, when I was in 8th grade, so about 13.
Then a janitor-type position in high school, 14-15.
Then washing limousines and Hearses for a local funeral home, 16-17.
I literally grew up in the family business, an electronics repair shop. From the time I was capable of it, I was expected to lend a hand–starting with just fetching tools and helping carry things, then progressing into the technical work. I was occasionally doing repairs on my own by the time I was 10. I didn’t get paid for this, as such; it was more like chores–I got room and board, after all. Spending money was mostly dependent on how things were going for the business.
My first paying jobs were part-time positions in college, and they were…eclectic. I worked in a cryomagnetics lab in the mornings and someone else’s TV shop, doing repairs and heavy lifting, in the afternoons. Those were the official paycheck-type positions–nights and weekends were often spent on the odd jobs…like dealing blackjack on a riverboat or running errands for a houngan (and occasionally guarding his shop).
My advice:
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Think. Think about what you’re doing. Think about the goal of the job, and how you’re going about it. It’s good mental exercise, it helps you avoid mistakes, it helps you fix things when something goes wrong, and you may even figure out a better or easier way to do the job.
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Be polite. Smile at people. It costs you nothing, and making someone else smile can brighten your day in turn. (And will probably make them easier to deal with, at least.)
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If you should ever, in the course of your job, find yourself huddled under an overturned boat in a swamp, in the dark, in a storm, because your employer required some moss from a very specific tree…it may be time to reconsider your employment options.
My first job was “stairway cleaner” in some apartments. Sweep and mop and wax every central stairway in 13 buildings. My advice - Don’t take more than one bottle of wine from any of the cage-like storage bins in the basements. And don’t go have a look when your friend says, “I think there’s a dead guy in that bin.” There will be and he will have a rope around his neck, a kicked over bucket at his feet and hands still wrapped around the pieces of wood that made up the “cage”. At least we got the rest of the day off with pay.
MikeF. Whoa, man.
The first thing I did for money was shovel snow in the neighborhood - on a good day my friend and I could take home about $70 each.
First “proper” job (although I was paid in cash under the table) was at 14 when I’d spend a few hours every Friday night cleaning the kitchen at a Jewish bakery. It sucked, but it did prepare for me for a career in the arts - spent a lot of time on my knees.
First job that required interpersonal interaction was my job at Cold Stone which I started at 16. My advice? Learn as much as you can about what’s in the food you’re serving and how it’s made - customers in my experience really enjoy having their questions on the subject answered comprehensively, and it’s an easy way to build a rapport, which means repeat business for your boss and bigger tips for you.
Ha, I forgot all about my paper route. I did that in the seventh grade. LOVED IT. You wouldn’t believe all the treats I got at Christmas. I was a good paper girl.
My first outside the home job was at a Wendy’s when I was 16. Before that I sold anything I could(vegetables from the garden, lemonade and all sorts of stuff), some babysitting and did data entry on a per piece, 1099 basis.
My first real job was as a bag boy in a supermarket. I was fourteen and i was paid fifty cents per hour. My advice to anyone just starting out: Pay yourself first.
I was a swim instructor at the YMCA at 15 and a lifeguard at 16. I loved both jobs and continued doing them at least part time for almost 10 years.
My advice would be to always have a positive attitude. Don’t bring your personal problems to work with you. Also, getting a job is a great way to learn how to manage your own money. Especially when you only get paid once a month like we did then!
My first job, at age 14, was running the candy counter at a college bookstore (we lived on campus).
My advice (which might apply to a restaurant job) is “Don’t eat the merchandise.” I got in some trouble that way.
My other advice which has been mentioned before, is to learn to budget your money. Put some in savings; don’t spend the whole check as soon as you get it, etc. If you start early, you will build good habits for the future.
::cue music:: Car wash!
I worked at a hockey rink when I was 16-17ish.
If you are doing a task/using a chemical that calls for eye protection - wear eye protection.
My first job was as a dishwasher. $1.50/hr. I was 15.
I only worked 3 days a week, but I put in 34 hour/wk. Like this:
4pm to 4am Friday night/Sat morning.
4pm to 4am Sat night/Sun morning.
4pm to 2am Sunday night/Monday morning.
So, for completely sacrificing my weekends, I made $51.00–before taxes.
It was an Italian restaurant. Damned burnt, sticky cheese on everything.
Mondays at school were a real drag, too.
I wish that, somehow, I could’ve saved one of those checks. Drag it out everytime my son complains about his job.
Technically, my first job was for the school district, cleaning out a grade school over the summer, but I quit that after about two weeks. I then got a job at a fried chicken place, working with folks whose company I enjoyed.
Advice? Realize that your first job isn’t a be-all, end-all. It’ll fill up a space on the resume that will get smaller and smaller the more you get work that deals with what you’re actually shooting for, career-wise. Enjoy the money in the pocket, make friends with people you think are worth befriending, and try not to let it get to you if the job isn’t all that interesting / fun. This, too, shall pass.
I had quite possibly, the best first “real job” ever. I worked at Busch Gardens in Tampa on the African Queen boat ride. It was like the Jungle Cruise at Disney Land but with real animals. People got on the boat, we told them a little story with groaningly bad jokes (“dont come on board, come on excited!” “and check out the waterfront congominiums!”, and each boat had a live macaw riding on the back (Scarlett was mean and would bite but Rajni was a sweetheart!). I got over all fears of public speaking, discovered I loved being the center of attention. I spent many years as a successful corporate trainer and I owe it all to BG.
It was also a perfect summer job, the park closed early (8?) so all my coworkers were free every night to hang out and have fun.
Sadly, the African Queen shut down the next year and a roller coaster splash ride (the Tanganika Tidal Wave) opened instead. I only had one wonderful summer, the next year I worked in a park gift shop and it was horrid. There endeth my Busch Gardens adventure.
My first ‘real’ job was as a summer custodian at the elementary school I went to. I was in high school. This would be around 1978 or so.
At the time I thought some of the old-timers were “characters”. I found their tasteless ribald banter entertaining at lunch and break time. One guy was actually kind of cruel, picking on the other kid my age working there and randomly spewing anti-semitic garbage, and another was a drunk who would wander in whenever and shuffle off to a distant room and sleep it off. But he made us laugh.
The lead custodian, who we called “Frankenstein” when I was a little kid (he reminded me of this) was a good enough guy and patient with us newbies.
Two teachers making some extra dough rounded out the crew. They worked together and associated with the other guys as little as possible.
One thing I was taught (besides running a floor scrubber) was to not ‘ruin the work’ - that is, don’t attack the work with so much youthful gusto and make everyone else look like slackers. Everyone must work at the same pace.
I suspect TheKid will receive lots of advice, not all of it good. Then again she won’t be working with a bunch of bitter old cusses so at least there’s that.
My first job, other than irregular babysitting, was an all-summer babysitting job M-F from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm. I was 15 years old. I supervised and fed two kids. The mother insisted they have a hot breakfast and a hot lunch every day.
My first “real” job was after summer ended. I was 16 and worked at Baskin-Robbins. Wore a dorky pink and brown uniform. That was 34 years ago and I still can rarely eat real ice cream.
My advise for TheKid is to show up ON TIME. Be ready to work. Listen to what’s asked of you and if you don’t understand it, or don’t think you can do it, ask for clarification/help. And remember that they aren’t paying you to chat with your friends or to check your text messages. When you’re on the clock, you should be working.
StG
My first job was at one of those independent Hallmark stores, age 15. I worked from after school until close, and they gave me keys to the store to lock up. It was a great after-school/weekend job. I was there for almost three years.
For someone new to working with money, two things:
One - make sure you can make change without a cash register or calculator.
Two - tips are based on the before tax total.
Hah, I thought I would have made the least amount!
My first job was in 1980, I was 10 years old and I babysat for the summer. I made $50 a month.
I made 9c**/hr**.
Yes, $0.09 an hour – worked at a Scout Camp on dish crew. We’d get breakfast dishes done just in time to set up lunch… then dinner, then try to get cleanup done by 9 or 10 pm… we worked 12-16 hrs/day and got paid $10/wk.