In my best hippie voice, I have officially become a tool of the system, man, taking over butter burger joints throughout America.
I started my first shift at Culvers today and, although intimidating, I know most of the people, my job seems simple enough (I’ll work mostly up front or on run to start with), and I’m excited. Both my brother and sister preceded me, both being offered managerial positions, but only one accepting it. I have lots to live up to!
What was your first job, and do you have any tips for me?
My first proper job was on a building site when I was sixteen. On the first day I was helping to erect scaffolding. It was cold with wet snow. I didn’t have gloves. The shed where we had our tea and sarnies had a photo of a woman doing something with a donkey on the wall. I was sacked after a week!
My first job was teaching piano… while I was working on a music education degree… I taught piano for 10 years, then decided I would rather do something else, and then something else.
Did various things…
finally being a high school teacher for 19 years…
Now I want to retire and be a unicyclist!!!
I’m going to do JUST THAT in a couple of years!!!
My first job was judo teacher at a summer camp for 6-8 years old kids when I was 16.
I did this for a couple of years then started better paid (but much less fun) summer jobs.
Good memories.
My first regular job was at Pizza Hut (deliveries and pizzas making). that was actually pretty fun too (for a student job) due to the fact that the manager didn’t bother too much about the rules (and the job in general) and let us loose most of the times.
Then I started working full time for the IT industry…
My first job was at a LBS and it was for 2 summers and I needed a part time year around job so I am working at a local grosery store. And this’d summer working at the. Bike shop and Kroger.
I finished my first day with customers a little less than an hour ago. Needless to say, it was one of the most eccentric experiences of my life.
So I get there at 5, I clock in, and Danny says that he will be training me. It was a lot of fun, Danny was nice and I caught on quick to Custard/Shakes/Malts. Then I learned run, which I was on for the next hour, in addition to checking tables occasionally.
Around 6:30, a High School girls soccer team came in and swamped us. It was crazy in there. I had to run orders out to them (accidentally dropping cheese curds once), but in general it went OK. After I finished running their orders out, a few started following me around and asking for my number . Two sat down at a table I was cleaning and started chatting with me while my parents were less than two feet (about two thirds of a meter, metric system folk) away, eating their shakes while struggling to contain their raucous laughter.
I did NOT expect my first real day to be this eventful. It was fun though; I’m just glad I’m done with computer training. 5 hours of the most demeaning computer program ever = not pleasant.
Great idea for a thread; I don’t think I recall it being brought up before…
Go on, searchers, prove me wrong.
My first real job was at a movie theater. In those days they still called us ushers. But we didn’t really “ush” in 1978. Occasionally someone needed help to their seat, or finding one after a crowded movie had started, but that was a very tiny part of the job.
As was tearing tickets, which we did to. The other 90% of the job was mostly cleaning. Sweep, mop, wipe, take out the trash in the ladies room, clean up anything and everything. Midnight movies brought new meaning to the idea of “everything”.
We got to do some fun stuff too. I remember climbing up a very tall, rickety ladder, carefully placed on the sloping floor, to change a light bulb in the theater. My view from the ceiling looked down on the projection booth. Also changing the letters on the big marquis out front. I used to hang by one hand, with my feet on a tiny protruding edge below, while pulling and dropping letters to someone on the catwalk below that. Stuff that was crazy dangerous. I guess that was my outlet since extreme unicycling didn’t exist yet.
I’ve also been, among other things, a pizza driver, a sorbet and ice cream maker, a sign painter, a graphic artist and process camera operator, a 1-hour photo lab tech, a circuit board maker, a typist, a professional circus performer, a juggling (and other circus skills) instructor, and even briefly the personal secretary for the guy that created CNN along with Ted Turner.
Yup, all that time learning to perfect the unicycle, when all the chicks really want is a man who can bring them shakes and cheese curds.
My first job was to teach (rather advanced) maths in a Moroccan College.
My problems were that I was inexperienced as a teacher and that I had students that were more apt with maths than me (polymaths?) !
I did work hard every night to keep up! that taught me a lot (including maths :p). I also learned to be stubborn and “stand my ground” with administration and to defend my hard working students.
If it weren’t for rock climbing, my hands would be softer than a baby’s bottom. Oh the woes of the engineer.
My first job was a law office receptionist. Answered phones, typed out letters, made copies. So incredibly boring… although I guess it’s better than being yelled at by angry customers.
Since then, I was a warehouse stooge (packing and unpacking trucks, moving pallets), shipping and receiving stooge (packing and unpacking boxes), semiconductor test technician (occasionally electrocuting myself), computer network technician, computer programmer, science verification analyst, system engineer, blah blah blah.
As for advice to the young worker, the only advice I can give is to be impeccable with your word and always do your best at everything: if you say you’ll work at X o’clock, be there 5 minutes before X o’clock, without fail. Even the most trivial task can be done poorly or done well; choose to do it well. Never do half of a job, even if it means you have to work a little longer, always do 100%!
People in high places take notice of these things and they can help you succeed much faster than if you just do the bare minimum to get by.
. Two sat down at a table I was cleaning and started chatting with me while my parents were less than two feet (about two thirds of a meter, metric system folk) away, eating their shakes while struggling to contain their raucous laughter.
