Remembering Your First Job – Brian’s Blog

With college and high school graduations going on right now, lots of young people will be taking the first steps to joining the work force. Will they succeed? How well do you remember your first job?

I ran across an article about what not to do on your first job in order to be successful. Most of them were common sense pieces of advice that most people should have learned early in life. It got me to thinking about the first job I ever had that brought me a real paycheck.

In the summer of 1973 after high school graduation, I landed a job with my local school district's summer recreation program for low income kids. In my district, almost every child in school qualified for the program. I also was semi-fluent in Spanish at the time, which was one of the things that got me hired.

Growing up in a rural area with limited opportunities, I jumped at the chance.

It was an 18-year-old boy's dream job. I got to help give swimming lessons everyday, got a great tan and a fee lunch, and was done by 1:30 p.m. every day. The program started at eight five days a week, so I didn't have to get up real early, so it left lots of time for summer fun.

It paid all of $2.50 an hour, but it was a great way to spend a summer.

How well do you remember your first job? Was it a good experience? Is it a field you stayed in, or just something to get some job savvy under your belt?