Poll of the Day > What was your first job?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Was the stress manageable?

I guess I'm just probing for ideas. I really have no direction at the moment, and would have to consult a psychiatrist for medical assistance before I attempted to apply for a job, (actually going to see about that tomorrow...) as I have quite the issues with anxiety/nervousness and some depression, and it's not like I can smoke and have a job (but even if I can, it's not relevant as I know you can get by with it. But weed doesn't fit into my life right now.)

but yeah... jobs? what did/do you do? I know it's only the most stressful when you first start off. But I have to make a decision about what direction my life is going in. I would have preferred a proper education and upbringing, but there is no buddha around for me to rub its belly.

there is also the option of college, as well, because I have to get a G.E.D. still...

I feel like I run on for too long when I make these kinds of topics and no one tends to focus on responding to what I actually posted the topic for, but I've only been trying to articulate these words for an hour, so even if no one responds, that's okay, at least I posted it

i guess it kind of is a long ass way to ask how your first job was
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KFC at the age of 16.
Sucked.
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I was 16 and got a job at a local movie theater. It seemed really stressful at the time but in hindsight it was a great place to work at that age.

Just don't set expectations too high for yourself. You can only expect to do so well at a first job. Just do what they tell you and try to learn from it.
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Dishwasher
It wasn't as bad as other first jobs tbh.

Subway at the age of 18. Still work there. Good job while I'm still in college. I like my boss and it keeps me fed.
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Worked in a pillow factory. Generally I was pulling orders, boxing them up, and shipping them out. They'd put me putting the stuffing in them sonetimed, or embroidering designs on the fabric. It took me a very long time to adjust to it, and I didn't really like it.

I also have anxiety and depression issues, so I looked around until I found a job where I don't really deal with people much. That's my current job, if I were to lose this one, I don't know what kind I'd look for.
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Supermarket cashier.
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The first job I had where I didn't get paid by my parents was working at Walmart returning carts. It was really boring, and paid minimum wage. Not great. That said, it was planned from the beginning to be a job for the summer, so it was always a temporary situation.

My first job without an end date was as a software engineer after I graduated college. I'm still there, so I must be doing something right.
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Hmmm. I like the idea of dishwasher, sounds repetitive enough to be easy. Never really wanted to work with food at all, but something like Subway seems like it would be less stressful than KFC. The responses have got me thinking a little bit more though, appreciate your time guys

3 more posts in the amount of time it takes me to write that, lol
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Coldstone at age 15

Gave every hot girl that came in free ice cream and banged a fellow employee in my car after work one time

But I still had to sing so like a 6/10

KogaSteelfang posted...

Worked in a pillow factory. Generally I was pulling orders, boxing them up, and shipping them out. They'd put me putting the stuffing in them sonetimed, or embroidering designs on the fabric. It took me a very long time to adjust to it, and I didn't really like it.

I also have anxiety and depression issues, so I looked around until I found a job where I don't really deal with people much. That's my current job, if I were to lose this one, I don't know what kind I'd look for.

Bitch you so soft I bet you work in a pillow factory

First paid job was at a meat shoppe when I was 13 about to turn 14. I got insane migraines after a few weeks, though, and left. A year later I was at Mc Donalds.
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Pumped gas at a gas station.

Realistically they paid me pretty well for it too.
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Studio Tech in Television. The position has changed over the years, but still working in the industry.

After finishing High School, I took some classes at the community college. Because college is "what you do" when you finish High School. Started out planning to get into the video game industry. Decided against that, and went in the next semester with the idea of education. My professor pretty much killed that idea saying how unusual it is for men to be teachers because everyone just assumes you'll molest your students...

So not knowing what I wanted to do anymore, I gave up on school, and was fortunate enough to get an entry-level position at the local television station. Basic camera work at first, but I eventually decided that I really enjoyed being in production. So I learned as much as I could working there and moved on to larger markets. Honestly, depending on where you live, it's surprisingly easy to get into that line of work with little to no previous experience.

Whatever you decide to do, just go in with the desire to learn and grow professionally. Even if you decide to switch careers in the future, a lot of those skills will be useful in the future.

Preparing employee timesheets for a home-based business.
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RIP_Supa posted...

Never really wanted to work with food at all, but something like Subway seems like it would be less stressful than KFC.

Yeah I mean it was stressful at first. Believe it or not, it took me a while until I didn't absolutely suck at it. There is a LOT to learn.

But after I stopped worrying about being fired for my suckiness, it wasn't so bad. I never wanted to work with food either but the bright side is... free food. And you could do worse than Subway as far as general grossness goes.

It's not the only job I had though. I did an internship as a software QA last year. Was hard to go back to Subway after that...
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Hair stylist. Only job I've had.
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Six Flags. Hated the drive to get there but overall an okay job. I don't miss it though.

EB Games... I sort of got thrown to the wolves because my manager was lazy as fuck and I started in October, so it was busy fast. I had a handle on things somewhat quickly though. It became easy so fast I didn't really notice. I grew to despise it though, because of the company more than any employees (though my first manager tried to pin a deposit theft on me after he forgot to take it to the bank, so I emailed a list of all the rules I witnessed him break to loss prevention - some of it possibly fraud - and they told him if he didn't quit they'd fire him and he'd be deported because he's here on a work visa).

When I quit, it felt pretty good. I was going to college and the end of the semester was approaching. Two people had given separate resignation letters (one month and two months), but the manager didn't even bother looking for replacements despite the store having five total staff members. I said point-blank that right after they leave will be when I'm writing papers and that EB Games wasn't my career or a priority over that. I told her I'd stick around and be reliable, but only if she could promise me no more than 20 hours per week (keep in mind my parents were also paying all my bills anyway). She refused and gave me attitude, so I took out my resignation letter (two weeks) from my back pocket, saw her jaw hit the floor, and that store ended up with two employees because of her mismanagement (for a few weeks). If she hadn't slacked off so badly or been willing to compromise, none of that would've happened.
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Cashier, I think? idk, I had a lot of different jobs while in high school, partly because a few of them were seasonal.

RIP_Supa posted...

Was the stress manageable?

Most people will get a little stressed by their first job. However, if you get a customer-facing job, it'll help work through whatever anxiety issues you might have.
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My first job was as a welder.
I fucked that job up and now I probably can't work in that business anymore.
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I bussed tables at a fancy restaurant in Jacob's field (they've changed the name, where the Indians play)

It was shit. Get there before anyone else, set everything up for them, be the servers bitch the entire shift, hang around bored until the last customer was done eating their giant ice cream, clean everything up.

It was about 10-12 hour days at 16. Not even sure how they got away with that.

I quit within the first two weeks because the manager got lippy with me over not cleaning fast enough. 16 y/o me almost caught a charge that night.

It was p stressful. Always something to do and always expected to have it already done.

It was about 24 years ago and I worked at a discount grocery store when I was in highschool. Dented cans, crushed cookies, stuff nearing it's expiration date, etc. I stole so much shit from that place.
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Was probably 17, summer job cleaning up storm debris from a city park. Up at sunrise. Never had a job before that. I was always told my job was to go to school.
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Car Wash. Loved it.
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Substitute paperboy when I was 9 or 10.
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I returned books, CDs, tapes, etc. back to where they belonged in a library. Easy but bored me to tears.

Courtesy Clerk at Kroger
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scanning paper in college for the entomology (bugs) department. honestly, compared to other people here, it was pretty nice and low-key. only interacted with equally awkward grad students, got to learn about bugs inadvertently, and could have stayed and done a bit of programming if i hadn't jumped to a slightly higher paying paper scanning job. my biggest selling point was my basic adobe photoshop skills fyi.

the work was pretty brain dead though, not gonna lie. also in retrospect, i sort of wish i had *some* customer interaction job in my life to help me get use to dealing with and talking to people, because you'll eventually have to do that if you ever want to move up in your career
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grocery bagger and price tag maker
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Lifeguard at 15. It was nice to be able to learn life saving techniques at that age but the job itself was pretty boring. Never had to save anyone. Someone with anxiety probably shouldn't do it if the idea of diving in and saving a life will freak you out
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I was the neighborhood grass cutter at the age of 12. The summer when I was 14 I was an electricians apprentice then a garage helper. Made alot of money that summer.

First on the books job was when I was 15. It was at a nursery and crafts store where I was mostly a cashier. RETAIL SUCKS. The only reason I stayed there til they went under was because two of my good friends worked there and made it bearable.
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Blaqthourne posted...

Substitute paperboy when I was 9 or 10.

Wait.... if we are counting Paper rounds then when I was 13 - 15 I was a paperboy and also did the odd "errands" for the paper shop owner for extra cash. I also gave all the folk a Christmas card on my route and in turn they left me a card with cash inside often. They were mostly OAP's who didn't get out much so they thought the idea of a simple Christmas card was very thoughtful.
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