Today I joined the work force. Two hours ago I finished my first work shift as a valet parker. In following Caliguy's thread of "Your Dream Job?" I was wondering where did you all start? What did you do to earn that first dollar and what was it like? Did that position affect where you are now? :wave:
Congrats on the job! What was the nicest car you were able to drive today? Me. I started in at a warehouse, packing online orders. That was 2 years ago =) Totally different compared to what I do now in a server room.
Worked at the AMC movie theater at the Orange Mall when it existed. I was 15 1/2 and had a work permit. The job sucked, especially since that was the mid 80s and back then they showed Rocky Horror at midnight sometimes. Cleaning up after that was a drag. The job influenced me to never want to do that kind of job again! lol
^^^^ Same here. I delivered newspapers as a kid. I made about $30-40 a month. You had to go door to door collecting. I even hired my little brother to help me deliver the Sunday papers cause they were do big. Use to "porch" them all. That 1st job really has nothing to do with what I do now, but it instilled the value of earning and taught me responsibility at an early age. Rain or shine, you went out on your route. Sundays got up at the crack of dawn to fold papers and then go out while still dark out to deliver. You deliver late and you'll get complaints. Now a days, the routes are too big for a kid to do on a bike.
Thanks Gene! I forgot about the folding of papers-what a drag. My first dog bite too! I've hated toy poodles since.
My first paid job was at my father's cabinet shop at the age of six. I was stuffing little packs with 8 shelf clips. I then put 1-2 packets in each cabinet. Worked there every summer until the age of 12. My first job out side the family business was at A&W (burger joint) just before I turned 16.
Delivering the newspaper on a bike was also my first job. I think I was 13. Thanks to the dogs chasing me, I leaned how to sprint. I never got bit, but came close. The dog somehow ended up under my bike and I ran him over. He was OK, but never chased me again. My first purchase with my money was a camera, the old type of box camera. My second job was working at the old Taco Mesa, in Costa Mesa, on Harbor and Mesa Verde. I think its a rental car place now. Anyhow, my first purchase with money earned from that job was to replace my front teeth I broke off a few years before trying to get air, using the driveway as a ramp, with my paper delivery bike. Second purchase was a 35mm SLR camera. Third purchase was a new bike. After all these years, my money is still going to bikes.
shuffling books at the Arcadia Public Library when I was 16. I remember my first paycheck...brought a huge smile on my face!
I worked at the first Little Ceaser's pizza in California. $3.35 per hour. Some like to say that no US citizen would want that job today. In 1984 it was a pretty good job for a teenager. I bought a car, had insurance, paid my tuition, and even had a little to spare.
10-15 I mowed my neighbors lawns..... fairly lucrative to make 30 bucks a weekend when you were ten! 15-18 Lifeguard, Swim instructor and Pool Manager (movin on up!) Lifeguarding is the best job ever. You get a tan, the view is awesome, and the pay was pretty solid (15+/hr if i recall) and you have a diving board for break time!
Besides cutting grass and shoveling snow, my first job at age 16 was cart pusher at Target, then soon upgraded to McDonald's. <Great food benefits and a kick-ass brown uniform!
My first "official" job was serving up cones at a Dairy Queen when I was 14 or 15. I think I made $1.00 an hour during training, and by the end of my first summer was up to $2.10 an hour. I moved up to the big time when I started working at McDonald's
My first job was a professional photographer at the young age of 17. ... Well, kinda. I was that A-hole at Knott's Berry Farm that asked if you wanted your picture taken. Now I'm a professional chef! ... Er, kinda. I make sandwiches and salads at your local Panera Bread...
First job: paper route in Downey (rode a Schwinn Continental)-- $50/month. Second job: flipping burgers at Foster Freeze-- $3.00/hr. and all the food I could eat Third job: lift operator at Mammoth-- minimum wage + season pass :clap: Current job: Risk management at nuclear power plant. Uh-oh, gotta go!
I made bike parts in China when I was 12. It was a living. Then I worked in a grocery store throughout high school. Now I'm a chef (not at panera).