How Old Were You When You Had Your First Real Job?

Paper Route - A boy pulling papers and girl on a red wagon.
@wmg2006 (5381)
United States
March 26, 2007 10:40am CST
I was 8 years old when I had my first real paying job. I had a paper route that I did on my bike after school each day. I had to collect money at the end of each month which was the scariest part of the job. I had to go to each persons door and tell them I was collecting for the paper. I was told so many reasons why a person could not pay, it was pathetic. I learned at a very young age, people want service but do not always want to pay for it. How old were you when you had your first real job?
27 people like this
93 responses
@BunGirl (2638)
• United States
26 Mar 07
I was 16 and I worked the counter at McDonalds. Worst job EVER. The plus side is, now I can empathize (somewhat) with those other poor souls stuck in "Would you like fries with that?" land...
5 people like this
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
26 Mar 07
LOL I was a manager for McDonald's in my 20's and I loved that job. My employees were the night shift, all the 15 and 16 year olds. We always had a blast when we worked. I have no idea how I did it, but I was a manager for over 3 years working over 50 hours a week.
3 people like this
• United States
27 Mar 07
I used to work in Walmart in my late 20s. It is the worst possible job ever. I was a sales associate and had no idea about the job before the day I joined. The title "Sales Associate" was so big and attractive to me that I was very happy at first. Then I found out that Walmart can be the worst employer in the whole USA. I quit the job after 3 months. I have decided never to go back there. That kind of job has no respect.
@tommy408 (361)
• Malaysia
26 Mar 07
About 10. An elder brother of my friend used to own a small car wash joint. Once my friend broke his brother's walkman or something, so he (the brother) made him wash cars after school to pay for it. I would go with him and wait for his "job" to finish so that we could go play soccer. Few days after that, The Brother sugested that maybe I could also help him around and he would pay me. Sounded pretty good then. He paid about 2 ringgit (about 50cents USD) every day. For kids my age, 2 ringgit was equal to about 50 ringgit then. I was rich for a while. Lasted for a few months. I don't remember why or when I actually stopped working there.
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
26 Mar 07
I think washing cars would be fun. I can honestly say this is one job I have never had.
1 person likes this
@tommy408 (361)
• Malaysia
27 Mar 07
Oh it was fun, alright. Washing cars are fun if you are a 10 year old hyper kid who thinks water and soap are the best entertainment tool. :) I would not want to do it now.
@ESKARENA1 (18261)
26 Mar 07
i was 12, but least said about that the better. When i finally escaped i worked as a shop assistant, so in reality i was 16. I have a lot of sympathy for shop assistants dealing with rude members of the general public blessed be
3 people like this
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
26 Mar 07
I was about 5 I took weeds of pototoe row as momma picked up the taters or spuds as we called them got paid 2 cents a row
3 people like this
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
26 Mar 07
WOW! and I thought I was young. That hurts my back to even think of having to pull weeds.
1 person likes this
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
27 Mar 07
I still pull weeds but in my own garden now lol
@arvee17 (730)
• Philippines
26 Mar 07
i was around 9 at the time. my older sister told me if i wanted to earn my own money and i said yes, she bought me a pack of candies and told me to sell it to my classmates in school. i started off with 1 pack which has 20 pieces of sweets inside. after a month, i was like selling 4packs of sweets. i continued my small business until i was 11.
3 people like this
@msqtech (15074)
• United States
26 Mar 07
This for me was on a farm cleaning the barn after the cows.
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
26 Mar 07
Now that is what I call marketing. You should be an ace at marketing then.
1 person likes this
• United States
18 Apr 07
Lol that is a really cute story.
@raijin (10345)
• Philippines
26 Mar 07
I was around seventeen when I first had a job, and it's only as a part-time for me because I am also a student the same time. I was a service crew back then, I worked on one of our local fastfood chains here in the Philippines. I learned so much from that experience, as it helped me in making wise decisions in life and in sharing some of my earnings to my parents. The fun and joys of helping people and meeting new friends also benefited me in boosting my self-confidence, and I got more familiar on how things are done in the food business.
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
26 Mar 07
I worked in food service for many years and even got a degree later. It was one of the hardest jobs except for retail, but it always paid the most money. I learned a lot about people from working in the service too.
1 person likes this
@raijin (10345)
• Philippines
26 Mar 07
Hey, I also worked on McDonald's after finishing my contract from my previous job. I worked as a maintenance/service crew that time, and the salary I earn is amost as the same from what our managers do get. The reason why they limit our time and days of work, they scheduled us alternately. It's a great experience for me, though I have to leave and search for a far more good work. BTW, I stayed there for a good nine months!;)
1 person likes this
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
7 Apr 07
I was 18 when I had my first real job, I did have paper rounds and gardening jobs beforehand but my first 'proper' full time job was at 18, I was a secretary for a small friendly firm, I even had my own office, not bad at such a young age, the wage wasn't that good then but I didn't care it was my first ever proper wage!
2 people like this
@msqtech (15074)
• United States
26 Mar 07
I was twelve when I worked on the farm that was the first job
2 people like this
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
26 Mar 07
Aha another job I have never done and here I thought I had done most everything as far as jobs went. 12 is a good age to start learning responsibility.
@lucy02 (5016)
• United States
26 Mar 07
My first real job was as a waitress. I think I was 19 at the time. I found out quick that it wasn't for me either. I was a terrible waitress. I had trouble remembering what went where. My next job was as a nursing assistant in a nursing home. I was much more suited for that.
2 people like this
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
26 Mar 07
I tried waitressing at 17 and just like you I found out real quick it was not my kind of work. I lasted about 1 month, but hated every minute of it. I have friends who love doing this type work.
2 people like this
• United States
26 Mar 07
My first real job, that paid, was waitressing at Diamonds Restaurant and I was only 14. Before that I was cooking, placing orders, packing, cleaning up, and serving food at my uncle's tavern in Upstate NY. No pay but lots of experience to get me hooked onto Hospitality Management as a second career to writing, my first passion !
@patootie (3592)
8 Apr 07
I was 15 .. I worked in a little tiny Liptons grocery store as a packer, filler, and anything else they wanted me for on saturdays .. I hated the job but was so glad to get away from home for a whole day .. BLISS !! Here in the UK you have to be 14 to do any job although it may have been younger perhaps 12 when I was a kid ..
2 people like this
@lpetges (3036)
• United States
26 Mar 07
i had a regular babysitting job at 13, for a set of twins (6 months old, a 6 year old, and a 10 year old),, i watched them everyday after school.. their parents were dairy farmers, and needed someone to watch them while they did chores, and milked cows. i loved the babies,. but the 6 year old, and the 10 year old were out to get me from the first day there. They would bring in their mean dog, who bites, and threaten me that if i didn't let them eat all the cookies or whatever they were not allowed to have, they would sic this dog on me! i hated that job.. i told their mom, and she just kind of laughed it off. i was never so glad to be done with them!!
2 people like this
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
26 Mar 07
What a horrible experience at such a young age. I baby sat a lot when I 9 until I was in my 20's. I must have had a good reputation because I would be booked every night of the week and I even had some people offer to pay me more if I would slide them in someone elses spot. I babysat twins too who were real mean!
@goldjay (465)
• United States
8 Apr 07
I was 15 when I had my first real job. It was working at a summer day camp.
@bluewings (3857)
26 Mar 07
I was in standard 8 when I was asked to write for a biweekly magazine.They read my article in the school annual magazine and contacted me.The pay wasn't big but I was thrilled because it was a great source of pocketmoney and was recurring.That was my first job.I was 12 years old at that time.
3 people like this
26 Mar 07
I had my first real job when i was 13 doing a paper round also. I didn't enjoy it though. After the 2nd day I got my dad to drive me to peoples doors (I know its bad), but I hated it Thankfully the manager was a nice guy and paid me for a whole week even though I only worked 3 days in the end. I wasn't ready for work though. However in them days I only got paid £10 for a week, awful really but it seemed alot then. I then moved onto a part time cleaning job whilst studying at college and recently got a full time job as an IT engineer.
2 people like this
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
26 Mar 07
Oh I made so much money with my paper route. You must remember it was in the 60's and I made over $700.00 a month. That was like a million dollars for an 8 year old. I would not have liked it for $10.00 a week either, I got chased every day by big dogs.
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
27 Mar 07
Well I had my first one at the age of 10 the same as you Paper Round and yes I had the same Problems collecting the Money which was a Pain in the Winter when I had to go back again and again.
2 people like this
@aidonia (4209)
• Greece
26 Mar 07
My first work was at the summer when I was 8.We went to live at an island for 2 months.At ground floor of the home was a green grocer's shop.I work there afternoon and they pay me with vegetables lol: The problem was I had allergy in okra and when need I touch them all my hand turn to be red and I had itching....
1 person likes this
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
26 Mar 07
Oh my, payment with groceries would be wonderful today, but at that time I am sure you wanted money. Okra always burns my skin too.
@aidonia (4209)
• Greece
26 Mar 07
I love eat okra but not clean it.
@AskAlly (3625)
• Canada
28 Mar 07
I was about 5 or 6 and I would get a penny for every egg I gathered. Needless to say, I was always pointing out what other people were doing wrong with "my" chickens. Especially when they were not laying more than a dollars worth of eggs a week!
2 people like this
@cruzades (659)
• Philippines
28 Mar 07
I was 17 when I started to work. Nothing special during my stay at my employer, I was studying then as as well (night schooling), I need to work to assist my educational finances, that's it.
2 people like this
@japboy (572)
• Malaysia
27 Mar 07
i had my first job when i was 17 years old. i worked as a packer in the mall for 1 month and worked as a waiter for couple of days. by the way, you are very when you had a first job, i'm really impressed. so what are you doing now?
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
28 Mar 07
Thanks I really wasn't that young if you consider the time era. There wasn't anything else to do so I chose to work. I am now a Chief Operations Officer with an import company. I now have 5 college degrees and about 120 different jobs under my belt. I think I am a work acoholic. I usually have 3 jobs at a time, because I get bored very easily.
• India
27 Mar 07
Woah!!!! you really are a cool person....You started working when you were 8?????? lovely!!! Your experiences regarding your first job is a real eyeopener. How much do you earn in mylot now and how much did you earn back then???? What do you do at present???? My first paying job was when i was 15yrs old. I used to draw banners and stuff like that since i was good at artwork and get paid for that
1 person likes this
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
27 Mar 07
Thank you, today I am a COO Chief Operations Officer at an import company. I made very good money with my paper route, but of course I make much more now. I made $800.00 a month at the age of 8 which was great money for the time.