Your first job

[dex]

I also did paper rounds , when I was in primary school, but it was more a family job as my mom, brother and I delivered a local paper.

I did a round of nationals when I was in secondary school and daft as it seems, it was the same route. My first real jobs were office jnr type jobs, which I didn't do well in.

[itsmeagain]

I worked in a brewery office  on a YOP  scheme in 1980, at the age of 16. Did I like it, well it was ok. Irate pub landlords yelling at me as I took down their phone orders for delivery of beer, is not exactly my scene I must say.

[vodkafan]

 Age 16 I was a "work shifter" in a denim jeans factory. It involved just lugging  the bundles of  cut pieces of cloth (in multiples of  10 ) from one work station to another so that the women didn't have to leave their sewing machines and lose valuable time. It was interesting to see the jeans taking shape. When they got to the end of the room they were complete and I would be packing them in their bundles of ten.  On another note I was very shy and I was mercilessly teased by all these seemingly very worldly married women. I also remember going home every night with nostrils full of the blue denim dust. I was quite interested in all the different sewing machines and how they worked.  There were 2 mechanics and one trainee a couple of years older than me, but he had lost interest. Mostly they just used to have him wash the boss' cars.   After I had been there a year the trainee left and I asked for his job. They said yes and I inherited his toolbox. I thought it would be full of all delicate tools I had seen the other mechanics use to fix these intricate sewing machines. But no. When I opened the toolbox inside it were six hammers .   

Edited November 12, 2013 by vodkafan

[Brian.]

Ha ha, if in doubt get the hammers out.

[vodkafan]

Ha ha, if in doubt get the hammers out.

 

That was his policy.

[poppyshake]

I went straight from school into a sales ledger department. I had a lovely desk with one of those massive electric calculators that holds a till roll and I just used to punch it into submission  It made a very satisfactory clunking noise as its brains whirred round .. I didn't have to use mine at all which was lucky  

I loved it and would happily do the same job now if it existed. I got promoted a couple of years later and went to a stuffy department with a load of killjoys and no big calculator .. I was supposed to chase people up and demand money (not exactly with menaces but in a very firm voice ) I was hopeless at it and hated it and left

[86WM]

My first job was a Trainee Window Fitter. It didn't last very long as I am (secretly) not a big fan of heights. The lasting memory I have of that job is one time when I got my finger trapped between a window frame and the actual window fitting. I can laugh about it now but at the time was a scary experience as I thought I was going to be missing a finger by the time it was unstuck. That job was 10 years ago and didn't lead me anywhere. Between now and then I've worked in every industry there is. Now working as a Security Guard.

[Talisman]

My first job was a general dogsbody for a marine engineering company. It was okay for a first job and I have had a of other ones since - telex operator (remember them), receptionist, supermarket cashier, insurance clerk, showroom manager for a fitted kitchen company, exam invigilator, and cleaner which eventually led to my current job as a head housekeeper in a care and rehabilition unit for adults with brain injuries.

[France]

I earned £2 a day minding a stall in the Chelsea Antiques Market keeping an eye out that nothing got nicked, the owner did the actual sales and knowledgeable stuff. Then went on to be a barmaid, telephone sales which I loathed but was frighteningly good at so I kept getting promoted. To avoid being trapped in telephone sales for life I went to Australia where I was the first woman in the state of Victoria to sell meat directly to butchers  from the abatoir (didn't last long, the butchers were far more interested in whether I was wearing a bra than the quality of the meat), I sold photocopying paper, was the assistant Editor of the Hong Tatler. Back in London I went into advertising, then PR, looked after my children, moved to France, picked grapes and worked in the office at a chateau. Now I'm a tour guide, the best job I've ever had. Love it.

[Hayley]

So many of you had really interesting first jobs! And such varied jobs afterwards! My first job was working weekends at a tanning salon - I took bookings and payments as well as cleaning sunbeds, emptying bins and sorting the towels out. It wasn't the most fun thing I've ever done but I did meet a lot of nice people. The woman who did makeup there did mine for my school prom  

[muggle not]

On 3/7/2013 at 6:49 PM, muggle not said:

 

• When a kid i delivered newspapers (thru rain and snow) did that for about 4 years.

 

At the age of 16 -17 I worked at Piper Aircraft sanding airplane wings (during the summer break from High School)

 

 

I worked nights in a "sweatshop" running and threading machines that made rick-rack (attended a Technical college during the daytime).

 

Thought I would bring this forward since there are new members now.

[timebug]

I started my working life as an Apprentice Engineer at Rolls Royce Ltd, Based here in my home town, this was the aero-engines division, not the prestigeous car side of the company. I left after two years when I decided that I wanted to be a famous rock star/actor/ne-er do well and have never looked back!

[lunababymoonchild]

My first job was as a Youth Opportunites shifting furniture.  Oddly, that didn't last long. Things went pear-shaped from there and I'm now a carer.

Edited December 18, 2021 by lunababymoonchild

[itsmeagain]

In s brewery office before I ran away from home and began a new job.