What was your first job?

trolleyrun

My first paid job was babysitting albeit not in the traditional way. I'd go to houses within a 5 mile radius asking if they'd like me to take the baby for a walk in the pram for a while. A 2 hour walk would earn me £1. As I was never "allowed" pocket money, this was a fortune for me. I had summer jobs throughout high school and part time jobs during college. Had to be done if I wanted to buy anything/go anywhere.

j.e.j.

Izadora wrote: »

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.

Yes the feeling of independence is good, having earned your own money and not having to ask your parents for money for clothes, etc.

But having worked for £1 an hour in a Wimpy Bar when I was about 15 I must say hand on heart there's no way I'd have my own kid doing that.

Teens should get a basic allowance from their parents per month, for clothes and books, etc. Not for booze and silly stuff, but enough to have a bit of a life and some independence for themselves.

Loz01

Apart from babysitting for two neighbours, my first proper job was in Argos when I was 16! £4.25 an hour and it was bloody hard work!

Buzzybee90

My first job was in a restaurant, I was paid poorly (and this only in the noughties) but it was so good to earn myself some money, that's how I mostly paid for my driving lessons. The money earned at the weekend just about covered that week's lesson!

missbiggles1

j.e.j. wrote: »

Yes the feeling of independence is good, having earned your own money and not having to ask your parents for money for clothes, etc.

But having worked for £1 an hour in a Wimpy Bar when I was about 15 I must say hand on heart there's no way I'd have my own kid doing that.

Teens should get a basic allowance from their parents per month, for clothes and books, etc. Not for booze and silly stuff, but enough to have a bit of a life and some independence for themselves.

I hated many of my Saturday jobs but I can't see why that's any reason to discourage your own children from doing it. If nothing else, it provides a good warning of the sort of job you might end up in if you don't work at school.

j.e.j.

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I hated many of my Saturday jobs but I can't see why that's any reason to discourage your own children from doing it. If nothing else, it provides a good warning of the sort of job you might end up in if you don't work at school.

Ha ha, true. Mind you, even if you study hard and graduate you still end up working in Burger King when you find out that the number of graduates far outnumber the number of graduate jobs

LameWolf

My first official job was in the record department of Woolworths, which I started at 16 when I left school; my first week's pay packet was £20.57.

But prior to that, for a long while I'd slaved over my father's clients' accounts ledgers (he was a self-employed accountant) and I would get 20p for getting a client's books to balance, which could take a long time to do, depending on how tidily and how accurately the client had filled in their ledger - it was all on paper in those days. But it was worth it as I got no other pocket money.

scooby088

Quite a few present day teenagers need to learn a work ethic, its all too easy these days having to goto school till 18, i dont think teenagers should have it easy dipping into the bank of mom and dad how will they ever learn any kind of financial independence. The first job i ever had was packing steel flooring for oil rigs, paid half as much as someone older than me was on about £1.80 an hour rubbish money but what a great feeling having money of my own which i had earned.

Buzzybee90

j.e.j. wrote: »

Ha ha, true. Mind you, even if you study hard and graduate you still end up working in Burger King when you find out that the number of graduates far outnumber the number of graduate jobs

Also, there are a ton of jobs which don't specify that a degree is needed, but they don't consider you if you've not got one, so there's terrible competition even for jobs that aren't necessarily advertised as grad jobs.

Gigervamp

My first job was when I was 14. There was a local freezer centre (like Iceland, but independent) and I worked Friday evenings and all day Saturday. I earned the grand total of £7, but it was great having my own money.

The only thing was, the manager was dodgy. I remember one time when he got my friend and I to rub out the best before dates on tubs of Gold margarine as they'd gone past the date.

My first full time job was between 5th and 6th form. I worked in a ladies and children's boutique. The boss was another dodgy one. The Saturday girls warned me that I'd only have the job for 6 weeks, something to do with him having to start paying tax/NI, and I did indeed get my marching orders when 6 weeks was up.

I didn't mind though because I hated it when he used to put his hands on my hips and tell me how slim I was whilst standing close behind me.