Your First Jobs

[Edbrazil]

 

I think there should some really interesting stories here, for jobs that you held in your high school years,

or even before. Maybe something to do with water skiing, such as working the gas dock at a local marina.

Or, whatever you did. Maybe those jobs led you to your Real Work later in life.

 

One memory I have is typing papers for people when I was in college. IBM Executive typewriter with proportional

spacing that made it look like a professional printing job. 25cents per page and 25 cents for a quart of beer

in those days. Coincidence? I think not.

 

Before that, I worked at my dad's office, for the local A&P market, and for a construction company. All Summer

jobs that I value to this day for the experience, even though they cut into the water skiing time.

 

When I worked for my dad, it was a dollar an hour, which was a good fair wage. I would go to the bank and get

my pay at times in silver dollars. If I had just kept them, I wouldn't now be a broke Old Phart like I am!

[oldjeep]

I had a job in college driving truck for a helicopter crop dusting company. The would land on top the truck, I would hook up hoses and fill with fuel and chemicals. Couple times I got to fly hanging out the door while dumping poisoned corn over fields. Definitely the oddest job I ever had. Payed really well though - better than my first "real job" after school

[A_B]

First real on the clock job aside from mowing grass around the neighborhood, was a marina guard.

I had to collect launch fees, watch the boats at night, stop a drunk from backing his I/O onto his trailer while his drunk friends egged him on. Also had to pull the another drunk out of the water by his belt loops after fell off the dock and couldn't get back up and was starting to take on water. The worst part was all the bikinis. It was just terrible!

[skidawg]

First job---life guard, second job -- ski instructor at ski school, ruined for life!

[rodltg2]

paperboy, then got a job at a movie theatre working the popcorn machine and snack bar. loved working the popcorn machine, I would push it to the limit to see how much it could produce in one pop cycle. only was supposed to do one small box of seeds and one push of the oil. I slowly kept upping the quanity. end result was machine could only handle three boxes of seeds and two and half pumps of oil. anymore would burn the popcorn. i was able to complete my popcorn for a Saturday bags quicker than anyone else! got to watch lots of movies on break, favorite was Christmas Vacation on the big screen!

[kfennell]

I started delivering newspapers when I was 8, my parents would follow me around the neighborhood to watch what was up. Then I around 13 I started umpiring softball, and refereeing Hockey, I remember having to ride my bike to the games, even 15 miles across town! Then I started working at A&P (I see Im not the only one). I remember that job because I had to ride my bike across town (seeing a pattern here?) on the hottest day ever in Canada and get the equivalent of my SSN card. I rode back to the store covered in sweat and handed it to the guy soaking wet.

 

After those my first real job I guess was selling sports equipment at SportChek, which is like a nicer version of Academy I guess without the outdoors stuff. That was commission and at 16 years old I was making about $20-25 an hour in 1999 the key was to stand near the Hockey skates :) After that I started working summer jobs in local union factories. First in a place that made hydro-electric generating coils (and also SSN nuclear generator stator coils, that was neat, working with a US navy guy watching everything you do...), Then brake line factory, then conveyor belt motor factory, then Party rental deliveries (BEST JOB EVER for partying and getting in shape, but I did go from ~20/hour to $14.)

 

Then I graduated and worked in the oilfield as a field engineer for 7 years, and now I am a sales engineer for anything that makes things cold!

 

And that's the story of how I became the youngest person to have a house at SMRR by ~15 years!

[Bulldog]

My first ever paying job was cutting the public area lawns for the village where our family cabin is. I had the ability to work hard and hit the lake before all the people from the city would come out and tear up the lake... An amazing first lesson of get it done quick and well - then go ski.

[Commuterfisher]

Paper route Oakland Tribune 10 years old. Collected payments door to door in The hills of Oakland, California after dark. Yikes!

[GOODESkier]

Not my first job, but I was the waterfront director/boating director/waterski director for a summer camp in Northern New York. Met my wife there when she was hired as a ski boat driver. I trained her to drive before we started dating. best investment in my future ever! She is a great driver, great mom, and great wife (in no particular order.....)

[TravisNW]

First job was working at a local ski shop as a sales associate and detailing boats when it wasn't busy in there. That's when I learned that working in the ski industry = little to no skiing because peak season for sales is spring/summer and therefore I had to be working. From there I went to a snow ski shop and reaffirmed the same thing....

[MrJones]

Grocery sacker and stock boy at Roberts' Grocery. Things were different back then. I remember being told to ride home with an elderly lady to unload her groceries for her because her back was hurting. She brought me back to the store safely, but I think that might be frowned upon these days.

[Texas6]

Lots of character builders coming up through HS, power washed rigs, worked the Ranch, etc. But the summer after my Freshman year of college ruined me for life. Waterski instructor on Lake Conroe in Houston. Best 3 summers ever and completely responsible for my lifestyle today. My Dad used to tell me it wasn't real work and that I was living my life like a beer commercial. It was hard work actually but definitely didn't feel like work, and I'm pretty sure his comments were obligatory fatherly verbiage, but he secretly loved it

[Edbrazil]

Wow. Some very interesting comments so far. I wasn't sure about starting this thread,

but it looks like it is "working" out. And everyone appears to value their early jobs.

First duty at the A&P was organizing the bottles of soda. Sounds like a simple deal, but

they were in the un-airconditioned part of the store, and it was hotter than stink there,

and occasionally a bottle would EXPLODE.

[MISkier]

I started by mowing lawns and shoveling driveways (later using a snowblower). Then a paper route. First real paycheck job was at Hamady grocery store bagging groceries and bringing carts from the parking lot back to the store. Pushing the carts through all the snow in the parking lot was a real challenge. Some campus dishroom and pizza delivery in college to pay some bills. The first full time job in my actual field of study was as a programmer while I was in graduate school.

 

But, the best lesson I learned about work was from my Dad. In addition to working me around the house (cutting/splitting wood, digging the foundation for the addition, other major projects), he always stressed the value of actually earning your pay. But, he also focused us on education and getting ahead. He took me and my sisters to a strawberry field on a hot day to sign on as day laborers paid to pick strawberries by the pound. I think we were all younger than 12. At the end of the day, we were completely exhausted, sore from crouching, hot/sweaty, and not rich. He then made a point of relating our grades and studies to earning potential and future careers that did not involve that type of labor or working conditions. I think it worked.

[GAJ0004]

My first real job was working as part of the clean-up crew in the finishing division of a steel mill. Basic janitorial duties, and cleaning out production equipment. It was the summer of 1988 when I was in college. I don't think we had a drop of rain from June-August, and we had a couple of days where it got up to 110 degrees. It was in the upper 80's to mid 90's most of the summer. I can remember chugging down a gallon of water and still being thirsty. It was one of those jobs that make you appreciate the value of a college education. Triple digit heat is unusually warm for northeast Ohio. It usually tops out on the mid 90's. After that I was able to get computer jobs during my time off from school which led me to my first career as a computer operator, then programmer which came to an end in 2001. I had to make a career change after that when information technology jobs started getting outsourced to India.

[DaveD]

While looking for a job out of college I worked on a dairy farm cleaning stalls. No bikinis there.

[HPskier1]

My daughters first job is going to be as a ski counselor at Isaihs run this summer. Great place! Eight weeks of skiing 3 times a day and hanging at a private lake helping other people Learn to ski. Can't beat that. I hope it will be a lifetime memory.

[crashman]

My first job was painting fences on a farm for a housewife when I was 18. She was older than I but still pretty young and her husband was gone a lot. At the time Garth Brooks' "That Summer" was popular and I must have listened to it hundreds of times. "There's never been another summer when I have ever learned so much"

[dbski]

First job was washing dishes at a Country club for a whopping $1.25/hr. Will never forget getting my first paycheck after 2 weeks for around $75 take home and going to the local K-mart and buying a "mini-8" 8 track tape deck for my 62 Falcon, cost $75. I was only 15, couldn't drive but had my tunes! Second job was washing and prepping cars at a Ford dealer. Being a young gearhead this was like heaven. Most of the cars were boring but occasionally got to drive a Boss 302 or a 428 Mach 1 into the wash bay. Had to make sure the rear tires were dry when you pulled them out!

[6balls]

Delivered feed, poured cement pads and built grain bins on top of 'em. Built hog houses. Replaced worn floors in hog houses over the pit. The floors are cement slats and the walls solid cement...we'd saw them out and replace 'em all. Hot, humid, smelly. Blew crap out of my nose for days.

Money was good and it was my best friend's joint called Paul's Country Farm Store, so at least was working with one of my good friends.

[501Brandon]

First job was on the "Slime Line" in a Salmon Canary in Sterling Alaska (home) then skinned bark from logs for log homes...

[Porkfight]

In high school, I worked for a photographer shooting weddings, sports events, portraits, etc.

[MarkTimm]

First job, was at the Kidder factory. Cleaned skis after they came out of the mold, assembled bindings etc... Sounded like a great job and it was but a hot factory full of fiberglass was miserable in the summer. The equipment perks were great and to this day I still consider Denny and Creed as family.

[usaski1]

Was not my first job, but worked at Calabria Boats (ski Brendella) (Merced, CA) making vinyl decals for the boats, and ran the parts desk some. Loved the smell of fiberglass coming from the place in the morning! Other early jobs included working at a cable TV company, and worked in my dads office some.

[Than_Bogan]

Here's a shocker: My first job was as a Math Tutor. Apparently I was pretty good at it because I kept having to up my price to avoid being utterly swamped by demand. Of course, I lived in a town with lots of silly-rich people who were happy to pay almost any price for an increase in math grades and/or SAT scores.

 

The funny part is: It took several years as a professional programmer with an MIT Masters to reach a higher hourly rate than what I charged as a math tutor in high school!

[A_B]

@usaski1‌, did you ever come across my old ski bud, JR Galliers at Calabria? He worked for Hydrodyne and was picked up for Sales position when they were bought out.

[usaski1]

@AB Its a small world... I remember JR He did lots of parts things, factory organizing, ect.. ... wonder what he's up to now...

[Chef23]

I started out delivering the morning paper, cutting grass and shoveling snow. When I was a sophomore in HS I got a job at the local grocery store started out bagging groceries then got promoted to stocking shelves.

 

I then got a job at a local snow ski shop where I worked for 15 years including part time after I was out of college. The shop sold EP skis for a while and I got a Wingtip trick ski which I still have and a Stilleto which my Dad sold at some point.

 

In college I also got a job during the summer which I turned into a full time job after I graduated. I have been selling technology ever since.

 

I don't see my kids working as much as I did but they are much busier than I was.

[dave2ball]

My first job was at Mello's water ski shop. ring a bell Horton. It was fun, interesting good people good times way too many stories. Would not know where to start.

[Mateo_Vargas]

I'm another one that started at A&P

[Edbrazil]

At the A&P, think I started out at $1.25 and later got a raise to $1.35. Did a lot of bagging

of groceries and carrying them out for people. Got occasional tips, even though I didn't

actively solicit them.

One task was going out into the parking lot behind and picking up the grocery carts that

people left there. The parking lot had a gentle slope to it, and I used to see just how many

carts at once I could stack and ride down. Maybe got to 8 or 9. Just lucky that I didn't

crash and wreck them and myself.

[swc5150]

I cut grass for at our neighbors house when I was about 12, then moved on to stocking shelves and bagging groceries at IGA when I was 16. I sold MC's through college, and also co-operated a residential tree service.

[Fatroll]

I did telemarketing for a basement waterproofing company. This was in the day of cold calling from the phone book. Base pay was $5.00/hr but there were incentives and bonuses. I averaged $18-20/ hr. That summer, I only worked 20 hours a week which left plenty of time for the lake and had plenty of cash.

[behindpropellers]

Beach Attendant and lawn mowing guy on weekdays. Skied in traveling waterski show to different cities on weekends.

 

Good times.

[kstateskier]

Bagging groceries at the local Dillons Grocery Store. Then moved up to Cashier. Later went on to working at a golf course and a line order cook at a breakfast joint. In my college years I pumped propane at Uhaul and installing hardwood floors in new construction. All of that led me to a career designing user experiences behind websites & mobile apps.

[PBD]

Yet another grocery bagger, but it was a union gig so the pay was pretty sweet for a high school punk. It got me my first car. In college it was a little tougher duty working summers on a cattle ranch as a hand, then driving combines for a summer (don't ask what comes out of your nose on the days the AC fails) and finally, working in a local creamery. The creamery was the toughest physical gig as we were taking 640# blocks of cheese and turning them into 40# blocks. Think of doing 40# reps for 10 hours straight.

[Razorskier1]

Farm hand, office cleaner, janitor (University of Iowa Laundry services). All fun stuff that taught me what I didn't want to be when I grew up!

[xrated]

First "job" came at 16. Family friend who was the preacher, teacher and did construction asked me at the super bowl party if I wanted to learn a career...thought about it for a day and said sure thing. That summer I went to work learning all sorts of things about construction and carpentry.

 

He was big on the Career not a Job aspect and took the time to show and teach me things the right way. Of course this ruined me for future work. Imagine at 16 having the boss look you in the eye and say "I have never and will never ask an employee to do anything I haven't, can't or won't do myself". Yeah that makes working for a big company later in life really hard!

 

Think I started at 6 an hour and 3 years later I was making close to 20, running job sites and working by myself when the boss was off doing bids. Was a great job and I dang near went into construction instead of healthcare. This time of year I really do miss roofing houses or building decks. Come winter or 90 degree days not so much.

[A_B]

@usaski1‌, he is skiing on a lake up in Michigan, and last I heard, did large account sales for Autozone. I have never skied with anyone that had more flying body parts, half in the water turns, etc., but he kept on truckin, even when he knew an OTF was imminent.. He skied at my lake when we had a club, for maybe 10 years or so. He provided comic relief in the boat and on the water with his go for broke style. Lots of fun.

[LZywicki1]

Was a caddy from 12 to 16, then dishwasher. After college worked for RCA, then Whirlpool doing appliance for 15 years. Now with Thermotron as a Field Service Eng. for climate simulation chambers.

[Edbrazil]

Caddying for golf was a standard job in my youth, and plenty of my friends did it. Golf

course next door, and long before golf carts. Didn't pay a lot, and it was a rugged job

in the peak of the Summer when they had to carry double bags for 18 holes. A caddy

needed to be a good ball-hawk when shots went astray. Bit of an oldtime golf course

there, that today's pros would be able to drive the green on at least 1/2 the Par 4's. True

yardage was probably around 5600, although the scorecard claimed something like 6300.

Short yardage was more than made up by the Back Nine, where there were plenty

of woods on each side just waiting to eat your errant shot. I once shot a 40 on the

Back Nine, and that was close to a miracle. Even had a 7 on one hole.

[nam1975]

Painted houses, drove a tug at the airport night shift in college. More painting. Tossed boxes in a warehouse one summer for a month, till I quit and picked up a paint brush.

 

I like ladders and heights?

[wtrskior]

One of my first jobs was a summer camp water ski instructor.

 

Still the best job I've ever had to this day.

[6balls]

@razorskier1 ah yes...I forgot about cleaning Dad's office building and I'm sure you remember driving all over those rural towns having no clue where you were going delivering calendars to businesses for $.05 per calendar!

[BraceMaker]

Culling and selling strawberries. Start up the day as the migrant labor finished up, cull quarts and flats, sit in the shade reading and trying to avoid all the wasps.

 

Got sick and tired of the damn sticky fingers.

[ALPJr]

First work was self employment in 1970 - 72 at 10 to 12 years old - selling used but clean golf balls 4 for a $1 in front of our house on the 2nd hole of the Ocean City - Somers Point Golf Club. Made about $80 a summer. The summer of '74 right after 8th grade I started washing cars and pumping gas at Wallace Buick in Ocean City, NJ. That was a great summer - saved enough money to by my first boat, a 1968 14' MFG Corvette II. Learned to get up on one behind that boat. Also pumped gas for Dr. Jack Ramsay who had a summer home in OC. At the end of the summer he stopped in and gave me a Buffalo Braves warm-up and a NBA ball. Two years later he won the NBA championship in Portland. Jack was a truely great person!

[DooSPX]

First paid job was working at a computer store at 15. Which led me to the IT field I'm in now. But first actual work was mowing grass for free ski lessons at 12 or 13! Best thing ever!

[rayn]

Started pretty young doing the morning paper route, added a second route a couple of years later. Instead of collecting every week from everyone. I decided it was much more efficient to collect from half the route every other week. I still remember recording everything in the book they gave us. In addition my dad got me a job washing dishes at a catering hall, graduated to waiter and finally to bartender. Did that until sophomore summer in college and then worked in high tech and been doing that in one way or another for 31 years.

 

My kids(17yo) have not "worked" a day in their lives unless you count the odd babysitting job, or me paying them to shovel the snow. But then again I want them to concentrate on school, as we all know there will be plenty of time to work.

 

 

[swardco]

First job, washing dishes in a Mexican restaurant for $1.50 / hr. Worst job ever! First exposure to how strong the drug/alcohol culture seemed to be in the restaurant industry. Next job was working for the Forest service, building trails, living in a tent and making minimum wage. Really felt like I was making big money! By the time I was a Senior in HS ended up working for a tiny little disk drive, startup company. 32 years later I still work in the disk drive industry.

[TylerR]

I hung drywall and eventually worked my way up to an electricians assistant before I went to college and ruined all my usable skills with book knowledge.