What was your very first paying job? How old were you at the time?

I was 17+ at that time and hardly knew how to teach except what I had watched my mother do ( She was a teacher)..

Hi, thanks a lot, yes i suppose our interest shows up early in life. We tend to choose a profession that is best suited to our personality. In a way my mother being a teacher somehow made it easier for me to opt for the teaching job...

This is a great example of how what we do when we are very young can help us choose a career we enjoy. I think it admirable that you chose to help children, and to get the two added students tells me you were good at what you did. And 17, that is young to start teaching or tutoring. How good that you could follow your mom's example.

We did not actually do the driving or anything like that. We got orders from the big contractors and reng our owner drivers and got them to deliver the goods and get signatures on one of our deliver sheets. Then on Friday they came in the office. We checked the delivery notes gave them a cash cheque for the amount due. Then we added up all the delivery notes and sent a bill to the contractor. One time we got an offer from a contractor who was building an extension to a school on the playing field who said we could have all the top soil if we would collect it. We sold it to Fulham Borough Council to surround some new flats they were building for flower beds and grass. We hired a digger and got a company with some tipping lorries to transport the stuff and cleared the field in three days and made a nice profit (Good top soil is quite expensive).

Good top soil still costs a lot. You seem to have been a very enterprising and hard-working group, even if the group was small. : )

That sounds like a lot of work for three employees. With the floods, you'd have been extra busy providing the building materials. You must have been a very innovative group to keep it all going!

Then your experience would have been called on-the-job training, yes? It is a good way to learn. Taking care of children has always made me happy, even today : )

Word of mouth gets you a lot of work when you are a good baby-sitter. And yes, MW letting you go at such a young age for having to take a trip with your family was just plain wrong!

I have heard of internet cafes, but have never been in one. It sounds like you might have met a lot of interesting people doing that, and learned a lot as well. I agree, all we need is "enough" money. It seems when people, like the big CEO's get greedy, that things go badly. Thank you for responding. Karen

I admire those who teach the world's children, just as I admire those who stay home and take care of them. I was a mom who put her career on hold to raise three daughters. That is one of the most rewarding decisions I could have made, so I applaud you all around. Karen

Thanks.. I hope all mothers would be like us

One of things I saved for was a hi-fi, also. It always feels good when you purchase something you want with money you've earned yourself. I have always heard that bar-tenders often act as counselors of sorts, because so many of the patrons tells their problems to the person behind the bar. Did you find that to be the case?

Sounds very much like my first baby-sitting job on the weekends. The people had three small sons and lived right next door. It was a good way to start. : )

My world was more carefree when I was a teen, too. (sigh) But I wouldn't go back either. I like moving forward, and I do think ones first job is a big part of that : ))

A student assistant, now that sounds like interesting and educational work for one just starting out. What were your duties as an assistant?

I am assisting the regular staff at the Accounting Department of the University. I do filing of papers for them. Do photocopy of the files and also I am trained to assist during enrollment time. I do assessment/ computation of the student's tuition fee.

What a great learning experience!

You are right, being a waiter or waitress requires a lot of hard work! And sometimes, it seems we work hard for not so much pay when we are young and starting out, but it does lead to better things, yes? Thank you for responding!

You stayed a while then, which is good, and you got ahead on your first job...also good! The experience must have been a good learning tool for you. Kudos to you and thank you for responding. Karen

Kudos on qualifying yourself in all the areas. That is good money for a person only 16 : )

That is young. What type of gambling did you do? Did you make money? Thank you for commenting. Karen : )

Of course I did! Unfortunately, I gave everything to my mom because she needs money then.

Then you were a very busy teen! It sounds like you had a lot of ambition, and I imagine that has served you well. Thank you for responding to the discussion : ) Karen

I think that's great, though. We all start somewhere : ))