First Jobs?

[pizzaparty9 19]

i am 18 and i am curently a coach at hugos gym fitness coaching kids gymnastics sometimes working b-day partys and open gym i also work as a substitute coach for wallers gym jam and sometimes work open gyms and sleepovers there

[Bunni 1,075]

A grocery store. A really, really boring grocery store. Payed below minimum which also sucked. Glad I'm done with that place.

[roomforapony 285]

My first job I got when I was 15. I worked at a place called "Aloha Fun Park". It was kind of like Chuck E. Cheese except we had go-carts and putt putt golf. It was probably the worst job I ever had, and I've had some pretty crappy jobs. I'm a very hard worker, and am always the one to do the job nobody wants to do, I take initiative, etc. They reeeeally took advantage of me because of that. All of the employees and managers acted like high schoolers even if they were past the age to be acting like one. So they would all pick on me, then tell me to do all the dirty work, and then shove their work onto me so they could just stand around my entire shift, I always had to be the one to work with difficult customers, etc. I quit without giving two weeks notice.

[biloh 33]

i worked in callcentre selling american express credit cards, i hated it.

[Lord Sprixx 261]

I remember my first job. It may have been only a few years ago but still. I used to work through a REALLY sketchy job agency down in the bad part of town. They had little work for me until I got a call asking me to bus down to the next town over to a warehouse. Well it was a beer warehouse, not so bad. Except I was there boxing stuff or moving it like I was told, I was there cleaning up a spill, one of the skids collapsed and about 1000 cans of beer were destroyed, we had to use shovels! it was a mess, and oh boy the smell. I feel sick even seeing the brand "Carington" Or whatever it was called, I know the can really well, not so much the name. I went to work in that warehouse for a few weeks actually doing different stuff everyday XD. But that first day was the WORST!

[pizzaparty9 19]

started at 17 and is currently 18 and my 1st job is coaching gymnastics at hugos gym fitness and i also sub for wallers gym jam and work open gym's and sleepovers

[Retro*Derpy 3,078]

My first job was at the ever so wonderful Six Flags. Have I never experienced such horror in mismanagement and confusion before. They literally pull one random employee out of the crowd and made him a supervisor for that day. Doesn't matter what education you had, you were going to do it, you could only cross your fingers and hope you weren't picked. On my first day they only told me how to use a cash register, but never let me do "hands on" with it and stuck me in a Coke stand by myself :/ Idiots. Anyway when the season ended they asked if I wanted to come back, and hell no I said. Though now I'm working in a factory, which isn't much better, though at least they know how to manage themselves.

[Virulence 254]

I used to work. It was fun and all, but my co-workers were real Diamond Tiaras all right. So snobby and always calling me names. But yeah I used to work at........

[HallowsEve 52]

My first job is actually the current job I have. I've been working there for 9 months now. I work at a gym daycare. Fun stuff. Really fun. 

[MustangRacing3 12]

My only job has been at a race track. I volunteered there for like 2 years just to get in to watch the races but the past 2 years I've been a paid employee. 

[ColtofPersonality 855]

I use to work at PetCetera. A large retail chain in Canada...but I kinda made them go into bankruptcy.  I started in October 07 and worke til May 2008.  The store was a nightmare manaagers would come and go faster then RainbowDash could clear the sky. The animals were sick and they were ethuanized properly..I won't go into detail it's too horrible to explain. We were carrying animal waste, dirty sawdust from the live stock cages plus misc to the bin without gloves. We had to supply that ourselves + equipment. We had a rat/mouse infestation and a leaking roof with mildew.  So a few friends and I decided to form a union and get better treatment..well somebody snitched on us and we were all terminated unlawfully. Our papers said they were going through fore closure but the store was beating daily sales records out of 15 stores. This one happend to be in the rich part of town.  Anyway the lawyer for the union took the company to arbitration and forced them to pay us [18 as a collective] 2 weeks compensation plus severence and pay out our vacation pay.  Well that being said Dan Urbani put the store into bankruptcy protection and sold off the stores but not the name and title to another party. 

http://www.rabbitadvocacy.com/petcetera_workers_file_complaint.htm If anybody wants to look into it.

Now I do graveyard shifts as a security guard.  13.50 an hour to watch a door and walk around every hour. The thing is to stay awake.

[Nightmare Night 151]

my first job was only seasonal at a hot dog restaurant called Jolly's now i work part time soon to be full time at Walmart it really sucks there but hey...its a paycheck.

[Shanks 10,811]

My first "job" was waiting tables some cleaning, napkin folding and occasionally helping to make bread or run an errand at my Dad's Italian restaurant. I got to eat as much as I wanted, I loved the people including the customers, the tips weren't bad and when things got slow I would sometimes play a round or two on the Pacman machine up front. It was basically handed to me and I got to do some things you wouldn't typically get to do so I don't think I can entirely count it. But it did teach me important social skills which didn't come easily to me as an individual with Autism and came in handy for when I did get my first "job" which I will mention in a moment.

 

My Dad eventually had to sell his restaurant due to him getting kidney failure and has changed hands several times since then and the food unfortunately has not been as good. So my second "job" which barely counts was also handed to me though this organization that helps disabled people called Community Interface Services was a job at this place called Take a Break scrubbing coffee pots. I was there for several months or maybe a year at most, it was tedious and boring but having a little extra cash didn't hurt.

 

My first job I got myself was at a grocery store, I found out from my social worker that *insert company name here* was hiring so I decided to take that opportunity to apply. It took three tries until I was hired, the first time I was interviewed by the assisstant manager who was a stocky, muscular fairly imposing man and I was so nervous I barely even got a single word out and sort of screwed that one up. The second time was at a neighboring store in the same district I was denied a second chance because apparently I re applied a bit sooner than their policy allows so that was also a wash out. The third and final time I went back to the store I originally applied at and this time was interviewed by the manager who was a very kind and friendly woman who would later become one of my biggest allies.

 

A few days later I got a call that I was hired and instructed to pick up my uniform and report to orientation and food safety training. After that was said and done I started my first job that I had to go get myself at the service deli. When it came to making sandwhiches, cooking chickens and other prep work I did okay but when it came to serving customers I got nervous and panicked a bit too much so I was a General Merchandise Clerk shortly afterword and went from slicing and service deli meats and chicken to stocking beer, water, bread, crackers, cookies, chips and a few other things. I quickly became one of the best GMC's and most well respected employees in the store and was in less than a year promoted to Food Clerk and was also made a backup dairy clerk.

 

After a few too many knee injuries I was taken off of my 4AM shifts that started after my promotion and for a while I mainly faced up the store and after management was confident enough I was made a 2nd dairy clerk. A year or two after that I transferred to another store in the district in part due to not getting along with this new manager and that store being closer to my new house and have been at that store since. After transferring I was made a backup produce clerk and because of a shortage of employees did a little bit of everything. I was eventually once again made a 2nd dairy clerk and despite my misgivings was made a backup checker which I am doing everything in my power to change because I am the worst checker in that whole dang store. So that is pretty much where I am at now I hope I didn't put you all to sleep with my wall o text.

[Lost 1,409]

My first (and hopefully last) job was at CEX

(this place:)

 

 

 

 

 

It was a real shady job, they paid me in cash (often incorrectly) and apparently extended my trial period without telling me (its usually around 3 months) i worked there for about 6-7months before they fired me without any notice because they couldn't afford my wage anymore. Apparently by extending my trial period they could legally fire me with no notice, wasn't a bad job, just the manager was a dick but i think he's been fired now anyway.

[Feather Gem 965]

I work at the bookshop at my school.  Its fun but I don't get to have recess xD But whatever!  I never do anything except walk around blankly during recess anyway!

I know lots of stuff now.

 

• The Indian girls usually like to buy the Peanut Zeus
• The onion crackers are the most popular snack things.
• If there are mini round pizzas, they'll sell out very fast.
• The Chinese girls from my class always buy Ice Lemon Tea, Blackcurrent Juice, and Chrysanthemum Tea.
• The moment that girl comes, grab a box of Milo for her.
• When people ask for water, they want Bleu, not the others.
• When someone asks for Ribena, they mean Blackcurrent juice.
• That girl always makes sure her total comes up to RM1 instead of RM0.90
• Sometimes, Chinese girls and boys will buy piles of this candy, probably for their friends.
• People usually want the chocolate milk rather then the other milk.
• If they don't say which Twister they want, they probably want orange.
• Ori means original apparently...

[Betez 1,734]

There's not really anywhere around here that hires 14 year-olds. However, I'm turning 15 soon, so I'm hoping to get a part-time job then. I'm thinking about working at a movie theater, there's plenty of them nearby. Or maybe at Home Depot, although I don't know if they hire 15 year-olds, considering there's tons of potential liabilities. Another job I've been thinking about is working at this local Pizarria.

[HayPanda 42]

Live in NY, first job at 14- McDonalds.

 

ONE OF THE WORST THINGS I HAVE EVER HAD TO ENCOUNTER IN MY LIFE. They treated me like crap because I was the youngest. (and shortest...)

[A Glimpse of Everything 129]

Pretty sure they hire at 16. At least that's how it is here in Michigan.

 

Here in Minnesota they hire at 14. I'll be 14 in late June. Hopefully, I'll get a job at the local Pizza Ranch. I know the guy who owns the building very well.

 

And I love their chicken. o3o

[Daruin 6]

My first real paid job was working as a bagger at a grocery store. Before that, though, I would do odd jobs, such as lawn and garden care to web design and programming.

[Creamy Arty 6,251]

My first job was at King's Dominion, a theme park in Doswell, Virginia. Pay was slightly higher than minimum wage and I only worked weekends during school and worked all week during the summer. Hours ranged from 20-30. Sometimes it was fun, most of the time it wasn't. Humidity was Virginia's standard 100% and out there on the tarmac that comprised most of the park grounds the temperature hovered at a near constant 120 degrees during the day. Most of my time during my second season of working there was spent standing unprotected under the sun, selling things from a cart. At the store I worked at during my first season there, the doors were left open at all times and for some reason the AC vents pointed right at the doors, meaning all the cold air was just vented outside.

 

The training was horrible too - most of the time there wasn't any. Not for the managers, at least. Most of us grunts were taught how to do our jobs, but rather than promoting those who had been there a while, they hired new people to be our managers and left it to us to teach them how to run the store. Yes, we taught our bosses how to do their jobs so they could tell us to do our jobs that we were already doing. I gave them two weeks notice when I was ready to leave at the end of my second season, but then somebody broke into my locker and stole my wallet. Reporting it to security just got me laughed at, so that incident combined with all the other crap I put up with and their callousness resulted in me walking out that day and not coming back.

 

 

The most fun time I can recall was after the park closed one evening and I was tasked with rounding up some electric scooters along with another dude. We had a jousting match with brooms on them, and I won. Poked him pretty hard in the chest and "dehorsed" him.

[HeartOfSilver 41]

I got fired from my first job ever because my boss didn't think I was "outgoing enough." Consider that it was my very first job ever and he tells me that I'm not bubbly or personable enough. Only after two shifts.

 

What was even worse was I didn't see a cent of that money because it all went to taxes. 

 

But since then I've had pretty stead employment.

Edited February 15, 2013 by HeartOfSilver

[Otter 1,942]

 

Pretty sure they hire at 16. At least that's how it is here in Michigan.

McDonald's will hire as young as 15.

 

My first job was at a model rocketry company called Quest Aerospace. It was alright, but it was usually pretty boring.  

[Celtore 2,769]

McDonalds when I was 16. It was an interesting year and a half before I quit. The head manager there was extremely mean and quite often had people in tears over the tinniest little things. You know what's even better? I got to open in the kitchen with her every Saturday.

 

My first saturday was a disaster and had me in tears as I was expected to perform as well as the seasoned employee (haha, condiment joke) I was eventually to replace. A few months later, I managed to do this and even outperform him in many aspects, but still the tinniest little slip-up caused a lot of drama.

 

I was upgraded to crew trainer after 6-8 months, certified to teach breakfast because of how well my eggs always turned out. About a year later, I was training for both dinner and breakfast and I started noticing my hours were increasing quite a bit. I talked about reducing them because I couldn't keep my school work going and doing this kind of crazy shift work and they claimed they understood.

 

Next week: five 8-hour training shifts in a row, including two opening training shifts on Saturday and Sunday.

 

That is when I quit on the spot. It honestly wasn't worth it. I had enough of being yelled at every saturday morning for the most mundane of things. I had also been written up that week because of miscommunication on the manager's part when they asked me to take an extra shift. I was a loyal employee, I literally ran around the parking lot at 4 AM in a T-shirt sweeping up garbage! I was much more than the previous opener ever was.

 

I now proudly work at a better place, one where my boss and I can communicate respectfully and openly to one another. I can't specify where, but I will simply say not construction or the food industry in any way. I suppose the one thing McDonalds did was make me appreciate my summer job more and to enjoy every moment of it. I also do tasks extremely quickly although there really is no rush, I'm still clocked into that mentality.

 

EDIT: and holy crap this got way too long...

Edited February 15, 2013 by Celtore

[Stalliongrad 982]

My first job was a summer job at a theme park. Six Flags America here in Maryland. My job was not glamorous at all. I had to pick up the debris left by people in the walkways. The job itself was not difficult. They give you a dust bin and a small broom and assign an area for you to walk in the whole day. I did a great deal of walking i actually lost a fair amount of weight. Then after a few months i got "Promoted" to Bathroom duty. It was better and worse because working in the bathroom and keeping it clean was easier than walking around but obviously you have to sit around in a bathroom all day while people at a theme park (who have been eating very unhealthy things that may not agree with them) do their business. Because this was a summer job i don't really consider it my "First real" job.

 

A few months later i got a job at a Lexus dealership at 18 years old. My job was to be the valet. I had to greet the guests who brought their car in for service then go park them on the lot. Before doing that my job was simply washing the cars and vacuuming the insides etc. I really loved this job because i am a girl who loves cars. And I was lucky because i shouldn't even have been hired. You need to be 21 to do this job but my boss hired me because I was "More mature" than most 21 year olds. That's a lot of trust to give an 18 year old kid the keys to 40-70 thousand dollar cars and trust me not to A. Crash and B. Steal them. I knew this and its why i was very careful. I can honestly say I got a great amount of experience and skill in customer service here because Lexus customers (rightfully so) feel they are entitled to the world. They come in and demand things they aren't entitled to. But if i pay that much for a car i would want everything to be right. So I can't really blame them for it. The people immediately above me were all complete idiots. They treated the Valets like work slaves and when you didn't bow to them they threatened to tell management. I was the only one who would not stand for this. One of the Service Advisors "told" me to get him coffee he didn't ask he said "Get me my coffee". When he got the General Manager the GM said I should listen to him. I got the Owner of the dealership. I told the owner "Is getting another employee coffee more important than tending to the needs of our guests?" the owner said "no" and i really felt bad I had to bother a busy man for such a dumb question but it was necessary to show him the foolishness that goes on a day to day basis.

 

Retail jobs are always going to be like this. I feel that management should not be given as a degree or class you can take. It is impossible for someone who doesn't know the jobs of people he is in charge of to supervise them. I think that management should always be promoted from the bottom up. Because those people know what its like to be at the bottom and they know what the job is. Customers are always going to try your patience but this is just part of consumerism. You would expect the person behind the counter at McDonalds to be professional so you must carry yourself as such. It is a good test of your patience and you will become a better person for it. Yes the pay is not great but once you have this job for awhile and you get used to the pay you will feel very lost once its been taken away from you like it has been for me.

 

I wish you all the best in your new job. Its very hard to find work nowadays even at McDonalds. The one near me told me they are only looking for people who speak English and Spanish. Which I think is a little unfair but that's just how it is now.

[Mr Dash 1,818]

My first job was right out of highschool. I did landscaping for 1 1/2 years for a small privately owned company. The owner is a friend of the family. It was just me, my brother and the owner. Mostly me and my brother did all the mowing and all that. I got a really nice farmer's tan, and I got to experience different types of manual labor. From simple lawn maintenance, to laying sod, to digging trenches and placing pipes for sprinkler systems. We pretty much did it all. Even land clearing. I did get to play with a Bobcat (not the animal). I hated it pretty much every day, but I stuck with it for 1 1/2 years. I was ready to quit my first day too. I got a decent sunburn, and I felt like s***. I just stuck with it though. That's pretty much the gist of my first job.