A few weeks ago, my sister graduated from high school. Several months before graduation, she realized that the time had come for her to start being more responsible, to start acting more like an adult. She needed to start relying a little less on my parents.
She needed to find a job.
For months she visited every store at the mall and nearly every store in her neighborhood. No one was hiring at the time. Office positions were out since she had no experience working in one.
Upon graduation, she received a letter from a company called Vector. Have you guys heard of it? Vector recruits high school students fresh from graduation to work in sales. I got the same letter myself many, many years ago when I graduated. At first it sounds like a good deal, but the problem is that salespersons get paid only in commission, which really sucks. Furthermore, my mom later told me that the items for sale were knives.
Knives?
My sister could barely sell boxes of chocolate to raise money for high school choir expenses, and Vector expected her to sell KNIVES?
She kept searching, calling places, and finally called the last place on earth where she wanted to work.
Let me give you a clue: it’s a fast food burger joint with a clown mascot.
“Sure we’re hiring!” answered the excited manager when my sister called.
Now she’s a proud employee of that lovely fast food burger joint.
“Ugh, I have to wear this uniform,” she groaned.
“Take a picture of yourself in your new uniform and send it to me so I can make fun of you,” I replied, “and so I can post it on your MySpace.”
So she’s not very happy with her very first job, but who is?
Do you remember your first jobs?
I actually got into the job scene quite late. I started working as a freshman in college. I worked on campus, as a student assistant in the Neurology Department. As an “assistant”, I did everything- filing, faxing, confirming appointments, restocked supplies in the doctor’s offices, etc. To be honest, I liked my job. It wasn’t very hard, and everyone was really friendly. I liked my boss a lot and talked to her often. She was really cool and laid back. I worked there for 5 years.
My very first full-time job though, was in Japan, where I taught English. It was the first time I experienced an inflexible schedule. I couldn’t just take the day off whenever I wanted- there were consequences for doing so. At one point I got the mumps and used up all my vacation time (since there was no difference between sick leave and vacation time). It really sucked, but at the same time I more or less enjoyed my job.
So, what were your very first jobs like? Did you start working as a kid and delivered papers (as my boyfriend did)? Did you start working in high school? Or were you a late starter like I was?
5 Responses to “First Job”
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Viet Nam commando, then porn star, then I worked for NASA a few years. Finally I settled down as a Whataburger cook.
I was a milkman in high school. I stocked the dairy shelves at the two grocery stores in my town. It was an afternoon gig and I did it for two years. During this time I once chugged an entire quart of egg nog in about five minutes. For the next day or two, I probably sat on the toilet for a total of about five hours.
True to my nerdy roots, I tutored half the girl’s tennis team — mainly chemistry, my forte, but bio, geometry, history, you name it, I’ve tutored it. Then I worked for my mom and uncle in retail, women’s apparel — ugh, working for family is the worst — so I quit and got a job as a secretary during the week and waitressed on the weekends. And since, I have held many different jobs. Right now I am trying to find a nursing assistant position in a hospital so I can gain more experience, but even though all the hospitals state that they are hiring, nobody replies to my application submissions!
First, good luck to your sister! And my first job was at the Mineral County Chamber of Commerce and Economical Land Development. I made coffee for my boss (the only other employee) and answered the telephone saying that whole title everytime it rang..
My first job kicked ass! I worked keeping score at community college sports events. I also got to do other stuff for the athletics department and pretty much it was just a kick back job. My second job was at a bagel joint and there we played hockey with bagels before throwing them away. I hate working in the restaurant business. People were so weird and wanted shit just so. And those were the people that came in every day.
Tell your sister not to give up on finding a job. McDonalds is not the place to be unless your in corporate. Then you make the greasy McMoney instead of the greasy McMeal.