First job experiences?

[hazabaza1]

Howdy ya'll!
So, by some random stroke of luck, I have happened to stumble upon a job! Crazy, I know.
So yeah, at the ever exciting age of 18 I've just got my first job at a bank firm called Nationwide. Not sure what I'll be doing exactly, but whatever it is I'll be doing it for £10 so whatever.

I was just pondering what everyone else's first job experiences may have been like? Good? Bad? Well paid? Dull?
Share it with us!

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

You got a job at age 16
at a bank for that much, with no prior experience?
Lucky...

My first job was retail (a shoe store)
for slightly higher than minimum wage.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I'm nearly 25 and I've only just got my first job.

I ain't gonna say where, because I don't want you jerkbags ruining it for me

It's a customer service/administration role, and I've learned a very important lesson.

Customers can be the whiniest, pettiest, most entitled fuckwads in the universe.

 

[Fractral]

I've heard that nationwide is supposed to be one of the best of the banks (its actually a building society), not sure what its like to work for but I imagine it won't be too bad. If you're a cashier you might even get the exiting event of being held up at gunpoint and being robbed! I am so jealous.
I've never had a job, but I've spent some time volunteering at charity shops. I knew it was going to be bad when one of my co-workers asked me 'what are you in here for?' It turned out all of my colleagues were serving community sentences.

 

[DugMachine]

Lifeguard at a waterpark. I sat around for 8-10 hours watching people not drown in 2 feet of water day in and day out.

Only upside, I was practically payed minimum wage to sit and watch cute girls in bikinis all day ;D

 

[hazabaza1]

You got a job at age 18
at a bank for that much, with no prior experience?
Lucky...

My first job was retail (a shoe store)
for slightly higher than minimum wage.

From what I understand it's basically just trained monkey work for 4 hours every week day evening.
Not that mentally taxing.

I've heard that nationwide is supposed to be one of the best of the banks (its actually a building society), not sure what its like to work for but I imagine it won't be too bad. If you're a cashier you might even get the exiting event of being held up at gunpoint and being robbed! I am so jealous.

I'll be in the backroom.
But thanks, very encouraging, especially that last bit.

I've never had a job, but I've spent some time volunteering at charity shops. I knew it was going to be bad when one of my co-workers asked me 'what are you in here for?' It turned out all of my colleagues were serving community sentences.

Bwahahahha. Oh shit, that's good. My brother's being made to do the same thing but that's just because he's a lazy fuck, he hasn't been caught for anything yet.

 

[SquidVicious]

Technically it was a janitor position when I was like 13 at the office my mum worked at. I came in every two weeks and cleaned the washroom and then vacuumed the offices. I think I got $20 per day, so $40 a month.

My first real job was when I was 15 and I worked at a lumberyard my grandfather use to own. I started mostly just doing basic things like stocking boxes of nails (50 lbs each) and helping load lumber into people's trucks and vans. By the end of the summer I talked my uncle into showing me how to drive a forklift and then I started working on Saturdays during the school year using a forklift to get lumber for customers and building orders to go out on Monday.

While I only got paid like $8.50 an hour for it, I still think that was one of my better jobs, because it taught me the value of a good day's work, when you can physically see your progress and it's noticeable to everybody else. It was really nice riding the train back home in my muddy work boots and dirty clothing and just feeling like I earned this 40 minutes rest, plus it meant nobody ever wanted to sit next to me so I had a place to put my backpack!

I wish more teens/ younger adults would consider manual labour as an entry job. It's hard, but the pay is pretty decent, you can learn some pretty handy skills, you get a workout, and it shows that you're not above doing such menial tasks. During my tenure as a forklift driver I had to do some pretty shitty things when it got slow, like cleaning out the sump drains or fishing out packs of styrofoam insulation from a creek. It never ceases to piss me off when people complain about not being able to get jobs, but then scoff when I ask them if they've considered construction or something similar.

 

[Oliver Nue]

My first job was working for AT&T as a business customer support agent through a third-party corporation. AT&T's policies were taxing, so I broke them on almost every call. I loved the experience, honestly. The office was friendly, I didn't have to follow some stupid script and do suggestive sales.

Most people get an angry customer and they get tied up in all kinds of red-tape, not able to completely satisfy the customer. I got an angry customer and I was allowed to pass them $200 credit, send free phones, give up to 5,000 rollover minutes that wouldn't expire, all kinds of stuff.

Then I got fired for not following AT&T policy, despite having incredible customer reviews and bringing customers back to AT&T even if they were calling from the Verizon store, asking how to keep their number.
-

A bank, though? Sounds fun. Hopefully it won't just be file clerk stuff.

 

[MopBox]

My first job was at 14 working the drive-thru at the local McDonalds for $5.15 an hour? my experince was not entirely unlike that of Kevin Spacey's character in the film 'American Beauty.'


? and half of the above sentence is true!

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

You got a job at age 18
at a bank for that much, with no prior experience?
Lucky...

My first job was retail (a shoe store)
for slightly higher than minimum wage.

From what I understand it's basically just trained monkey work for 4 hours every week day evening.
Not that mentally taxing.

Oh I see, so it's kind of like intern work.
Well maybe not so lucky after all, but still not bad.

Customers can be the whiniest, pettiest, most entitled fuckwads in the universe.

I worked at a shoe store for six years, during that time, I was a pessimistic, miserable person.
I was never happier than the day I handed in my two week notice.
Just don't work customer service for too long, it will kill your happiness,

and who are you Daystar if you aren't you?

 

[omega 616]

Customers gamers can be the whiniest, pettiest, most entitled fuckwads in the universe.

Fixed that for you. hehehe

On topic. I first worked in a car parts place. Was getting paid min wage, always on my feet, running round like a crazy person ... while working with an actual crazy person.

The boss was a mono-browed fuck knuckle with no balls and instead of firing me ('cos I did goof a few times) he said "I have to make you redundant" ... a week later opens a shop in another location.

When I say I goofed, I had to remember codes for parts, each code could be 4-8 characters long and I might get a few mixed up. It was never anything major.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

My first job was working for Toys 'R' Us when I was 16. Trying to blag my way through knowing a damn thing about selling bicyles was not fun.

 

[hazabaza1]

My first job was working for AT&T as a business customer support agent through a third-party corporation. AT&T's policies were taxing, so I broke them on almost every call. I loved the experience, honestly. The office was friendly, I didn't have to follow some stupid script and do suggestive sales.

Most people get an angry customer and they get tied up in all kinds of red-tape, not able to completely satisfy the customer. I got an angry customer and I was allowed to pass them $200 credit, send free phones, give up to 5,000 rollover minutes that wouldn't expire, all kinds of stuff.

Then I got fired for not following AT&T policy, despite having incredible customer reviews and bringing customers back to AT&T even if they were calling from the Verizon store, asking how to keep their number.
-

A bank, though? Sounds fun. Hopefully it won't just be file clerk stuff.

Damn, I wish I got my contract from you, sounds amazing.

And from what I understand it is just file clerk bollocks (PPI claims I think...). But my mother is actually working there too and she says that the office is fun enough so it shouldn't be too bad.

fuck knuckle

I'm stealing that.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

You got a job at age 18
at a bank for that much, with no prior experience?
Lucky...

My first job was retail (a shoe store)
for slightly higher than minimum wage.

From what I understand it's basically just trained monkey work for 4 hours every week day evening.
Not that mentally taxing.

Oh I see, so it's kind of like intern work.
Well maybe not so lucky after all, but still not bad.

Customers can be the whiniest, pettiest, most entitled fuckwads in the universe.

I worked at a shoe store for six years, during that time, I was a pessimistic, miserable person.
I was never happier than the day I handed in my two week notice.
Just don't work customer service for too long, it will kill your happiness,

and who are you Daystar if you aren't you?

90% of the time, the customers are pleasant (it's an online store, so most of the communication is through emails, and the rest is through the phone). Stuff like missing parts, replacement parts, delivery errors, that sort of thing.

There's always the one customer though...

 

[Oliver Nue]

Damn, I wish I got my contract from you, sounds amazing.

From what I understand it is just file clerk bollocks (PPI claims I think...). But my mother is actually working there too and she says that the office is fun enough so it shouldn't be too bad.

Well as long as the work environment is fun and sociable, any job can be great. Ten quid an hour is decent pay for that kind of work, and experience at a bank can really help you in the job market.

 

[itsthesheppy]

My first job was when I was 15 years old, wokring at a mall CVS. The only thing I can remember is ruthless boredom and a boss who despite being in his 40s called me "guy".

"Hey guy, you're doing a great job."

"Can you come in an hour earlier on Thursday, guy? Thanks, guy."

Drove me mental.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

90% of the time, the customers are pleasant (it's an online store, so most of the communication is through emails, and the rest is through the phone). Stuff like missing parts, replacement parts, delivery errors, that sort of thing.

There's always the one customer though...

I figured online customers would be even less pleasant,
considering it's online and all.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

90% of the time, the customers are pleasant (it's an online store, so most of the communication is through emails, and the rest is through the phone). Stuff like missing parts, replacement parts, delivery errors, that sort of thing.

There's always the one customer though...

I figured online customers would be even less pleasant,
considering it's online and all.

Well, it's a lot easier to keep my cool when it's over email

Better than having someone screaming in your face, anyway.

 

[DoPo]

It's a customer service/administration role, and I've learned a very important lesson.

Customers can be the whiniest, pettiest, most entitled fuckwads in the universe.

Wait, you didn't know that? Here, let me bring it into perspective - I'm pretty sure you've seen the amount of whining, pettyness, entitledness (fuck, I hate that word) and fuckwardness of gamers. Now, think about it - they are all customers.

I'll let that sink in.

OT: My first job was doing excavation work on an archaeological site really close to my town (just outside it. I even walked there). It sounds wa-a-a-ay more interesting than it was. We didn't dig out ancient treasures or anything like that, we pretty much dug holes and found the occasional piece of a broken vase. The most exciting things we found were pieces of glass and one time - several actual broken vases (rather than the odd piece here and there).

Was it good? It was sort of all right. We had free breakfast and I liked the other guys who were there. Was it bad? Yeah, it also sucked a bit. But overall it was more enjoyable than irritating. Was it well paid? No. definitely not. It was barely above minimum wage and that is a really low amount. I'd prefer to not disclose it, if you don't mind. Was it dull? Yeah, mostly dull. As I said, we were digging out just random bits and pieces, nothing ground breaking. To expand a bit - it is just random old Roman village that had been pillaged but even before that, it wasn't of any importance. Still, the archaeologists spouted out some interesting facts for history, and one of the guys working there (digging) was actually a history major, so that was cool. Also, about half of my colleagues were actors from the theatre in town (it doesn't work during the summer, so they took up the seasonal job) and they were plenty of fun.

 

[CAPTCHA]

My first job was painting wargaming minis. I got hired by a guy who did it full time as his assistant. It was kind of boring really: undercoating, filling, basing, crap like that. One time he gave me this GW dragon mini to paint, asking that I touched up the paint job that was already there. The paint job was shit however and I felt it needed more than highlights added, so I went to town on it and painted it up to showcase standard. The guy still only paid me £20 quid for the commission when it was easily worth £60. After that I got tired of working for the guy and started working for my self as a painter. I was skilled enough that people would pay large amount for showcase jobs (usually between £40-55 a mini) but the time it took to paint these always meant they ended up at a loss. Instead I had to take up painting 5 mills to tabletop standard, with the occasional larger commision, like painting a someones Bloodbowl team up or whatever. Painting 5 mills all day made me grow to hate painting however, so I gave it up and got another job.