Technically, my first job was babysitting.
But that’s kind of boring to write about.
My second job: a brief stint working with my dad in his underground sprinkler business. That was very not up my alley (thus, the brief stint!)
My third job was teaching piano lessons, which I started doing when I was 14.
My first actual, punch-a-time-clock job, though, came when I was 19.
(This has, to date, been my only punch-a-time-clock job!)
I had just finished my first year of college, and I got a job at Nordstrom.
I worked in the Gift Gallery, which is no longer a thing.
But in the late 1990s, it was a department that sold all sorts of (mostly impractical and mostly expensive) things as gifts.
Limoge boxes, vases, all manner of crystal, occasionally some linens, and also some gourmet food items were in our department.
I did not love this job, and I’ll give you a bulleted list about why. 😉
- The gift gallery was quiet and out of the way, which meant shifts were often boring, particularly in January.
- I couldn’t get very enthused about selling things that seemed impractical and overpriced.
- I hate, hate, hated the pressure to sell things. I liked helping people find something they were looking for; I did not want to try to talk a just-browsing customer into becoming a purchasing customer.
- I disliked end-of-day shifts, which is mostly what I worked. I’d rather work early in the day and then be free for the rest of the day.
I worked that job for about a year and a half before switching to teaching piano lessons full time, and I can tell you, I never, ever looked back or regretted leaving!
Oh, the irony of the future Frugal Girl working in such a place. 🙂
My first taxable job was as a page at the public library for two years in high school Mostly sorting and re-shelving books. I loved that job, although never have I forgotten how FILTHY shelving the picture books made my hands. I still think about this when I’m looking through picture books at a library with my own kids. Individually, the books don’t seem so bad, but collectively? Ugh.
kristen @ goingcountry – my first job in high school also was a page at the library. I loved that job! Not only did I shelve books but I also was able to help with some of the publicity for upcoming events and what not. Loved everything about that job. I don’t remember my hands being dirty but they probably were.
: )
I also had the pre-time clock days babysitting jobs. The days of fifty cents an hour! And that could be multiple kids. Hahaha! Last I remember it was up to
$1 hour. Boy was I shocked years later when I had kids and was looking for a babysitter!
Lisey really wanted to be a page, but my goodness, the page jobs here seem really hard to come by. She applied multiple years, but never got the job.
Yeah … library clerk for five years right after I got married, second job when money was really, really tight. Library books are gross. Not gross enough to keep me from reading them, but gross enough that I’m not surprised at all that my library has not only closed but also declined returns until June.
Kristin-haha, yes. I don’t think Nordstrom was really the best fit for my frugal self!
My first job was a trainee secretary when I was 17 (in the early 80s) in a very small insurance office. I learnt so much from the ‘old’ lady I worked with who was probably only in her mid 50s – like me now!! She used to say ‘if it’s that secret they should photocopy/type it themselves’ when the partners went on and on about confidentiality. She also refused to send a company compliment slip when sending a cheque in the post. She used the scrappiest piece of paper to write the invoice information on, saying ‘I’m not complimenting them by paying a bill’ I still can’t send a compliment slip without thinking of her!
The other thing it taught me was to respect the difference in us all. The one partner was married, two kids, the traditional bloke. The other partner was gay, flamboyant and hilariously camp but the were the best of friends both in and out of the office. As a relatively sheltered and shy 17 year old it was a fabulous introduction to the concept of difference and I think back with great fondness of those three individuals who shaped my early career.
A hostess at Fass Brother’s Fish house in the mid 70’s. I was 14 y/o. Lots and lots of fried food. I remember slipping and sliding on the floor near the kitchen because of the grease. The place was always packed.
I worked for my dad on a custom grain harvesting crew. When you’re too young to drive a truck, you’re not too young to drive a combine. This lasted from the summer after eighth grade to the summer/fall after college graduation.
Here’s where I wax poetic about family life on the road on the Great Plains and in the Colorado Rockies. Wouldn’t choose to grow up any other way.
Also, people without a job at the moment but who have interest or experience in harvesting could almost certainly get a harvest crew job right now. So many of the foreign workers on visas can’t get in right now. It’s the experience of a lifetime.
Not just harvest experience, but any kind of mechanized ag experience. I started daydreaming there for a moment. 😉
My first job was a paper round after school when I was fourteen. I did that for three years and got decent money for it! I used to enjoy reading the film section! After that I became a sales assistant for Claire’s, which I also did for a few years but was in no way fun. I had nightmares about tidying the terribly messed up shop!
I can imagine that Claire’s is so hard to keep tidy. All those small pieces!
I’ve also always thought that working in the bra section of a department store must be dreadful. Those are so hard to hang back up neatly on the hangers.
My first paid job was working in a friend’s boarding house on Saturdays. I would change all the bedding in the house and remake the beds. I can still make hospital corners, lol. I was 10-11 years old.
My second paying work was training horses/ponies for other horse owners or for training their child(ren) how to care for, ride, and compete with their horse/pony in 4-H.
When I reached the old age of 15 1/2 I began working at our local Oasis on the Tollway as a waitress, working 8 hour shifts on weekends and days off of school. I did this until I got married at almost 17 years old.