What was your first job?

Former_MSE_Andrea · 3 June 2015 at 11:33AM

We all probably have funny stories of our first jobs.

What was yours?

It doesn't matter if it was your Saturday job when you were a kid or your first "proper" job - spill the beans

My first ever was as a Saturday shop assistant in a shoe shop when I was 14 earning, if my memory serves me right, £1.22 an hour! I should add this was a long time before the national minimum wage!

Gloomendoom · 3 June 2015 at 11:37AM

I can't remember. It was a long time ago.

amistupid · 3 June 2015 at 11:42AM

A paper boy when I was ten. Got paid two bob for a round which took an hour.

Kids don't know they're born today.

onlyroz · 3 June 2015 at 11:52AM

My first job that earned me real actual money was a summer job in the Medical Physics department of our local NHS Trust inbetween finishing A-Levels and going off to Uni. I was helping to test some of the dialysis models built by one of the other Physicists. I repeated the same job the following summer, and had other summer jobs for my other undergrad years.

My first permanent position after completing my PhD was working for a pesticide company helping them build ecological models. Somewhat surprisingly, a model of fish swimming around in a tank is very similar to the models of electrons wandering around semiconductors that I was building in my PhD.

Mrs_Ryan · 3 June 2015 at 12:16PM

My first job was in John Menzies in the MetroCentre.
I quit when they refused to allow me any time off to collect my A-Level results as they 'weren't important enough to warrant time off' but they fell over themselves to give someone else time off to go with his girlfriend to collect her GCSE results :mad: luckily one of my kind colleagues thought that was disgusting and kindly swapped shifts with me to the evening shift so I could go and collect my results.
I wasn't going to go to university but I changed my mind after getting my results, I was too polite to tell them the real reason I was leaving so I used that as an excuse as I was moving away.

j.e.j. · 3 June 2015 at 12:58PM

onlyroz wrote: »

My first job that earned me real actual money was a summer job in the Medical Physics department of our local NHS Trust inbetween finishing A-Levels and going off to Uni. I was helping to test some of the dialysis models built by one of the other Physicists. I repeated the same job the following summer, and had other summer jobs for my other undergrad years.

My first permanent position after completing my PhD was working for a pesticide company helping them build ecological models. Somewhat surprisingly, a model of fish swimming around in a tank is very similar to the models of electrons wandering around semiconductors that I was building in my PhD.

Those sound like good jobs.

I have very mixed feelings about kids/teens being made to work in shops or cafes, etc for a pittance. It's not helping their cv and the working environment is awful. They just get exploited.

onlyroz · 3 June 2015 at 1:05PM

j.e.j. wrote: »

Those sound like good jobs.

I have very mixed feelings about kids/teens being made to work in shops or cafes, etc for a pittance. It's not helping their cv and the working environment is awful. They just get exploited.

People have different views and situations, but I wouldn't expect my kids to get a job while still in full-time education. I would strongly encourage them to get some work experience (paid or otherwise) during the long summer breaks while at Uni though. There are many summer internships available in a wide range of areas, and some of them can lead to a proper job on graduation, or maybe some extra sponsorship while studying.

missbiggles1 · 3 June 2015 at 1:12PM

My first job was in the office of our local Woolworths, with one of my tasks being to go round the tills with a leather satchel collecting the takings 3 times a day. (On my own, at 15!)

I went to a very academic grammar school in the 60s and almost all my friends had Saturday/holiday jobs throughout the 3/4 years when that was possible. I don't think it's a good idea for older teenagers to loll round expecting their parents to fund their social lives and buy anything other than essential clothes - it's a bad preparation for life.

candlelight_2013 · 3 June 2015 at 1:13PM

I was 15 when I left school, and 2 weeks later I had 2 job offers.

My Mother decided what I would do. I wanted to train as a nursery nurse but she wouldn't have that, I had to work in an office, so I went for 2 job interviews as an office junior in a solicitors' office. One offered me £2.10s. and the other £3. 10s., so guess which one I took.

This took place in 1960, and I just did not dare argue with my mother. I did become a fully fledged shorthand typist/secretary going to night school to learn pitman's shorthand. I did that until I had my first daughter when I gave up work (I don't think there was anything like maternity leave in those days).

Candlelightx

[Deleted User] · 3 June 2015 at 1:18PM

First job: 4 days work experience as a 14 year old at my dads workplace - rubbish money (£1.50 an hour in mid-90s) and boring work. I ended up writing them an employee database instead.. I don't mind bad pay but can't deal with boredom!

First 'proper' job was weekend work at Boots The Chemist when I was 16. I got no allowance from my parents unless I found a weekend job!

Izadora · 3 June 2015 at 1:35PM

j.e.j. wrote: »

I have very mixed feelings about kids/teens being made to work in shops or cafes, etc for a pittance. It's not helping their cv and the working environment is awful. They just get exploited.

It may not have helped my CV and working in a cafe for the grand total of £1.30 an hour (it was a long time ago but it was still a pittance) when I was 14 may have been exploitative but I'm still glad I did it. My parents gave me all they could but, as well as being able to go out and do more, I loved the sense of self-worth that I got from earning my own money.

What was your first job?

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