Question of The Day. Saturday 23rd of November.

[MonaLyssa33]

My first job was cleaning at a vet clinic. I was 14. I was fired within a couple of months because I didn't do the work they wanted me to, but I also wasn't trained on everything, so I had no idea what some of the things I was supposed to do. They also fired me by calling my dad instead of talking to me. My parents stopped going to that clinic because of that.

 

[Willowy]

I babysat starting at age 11, and got a paper route when I was 15 (and still babysat as needed). I got my first "real" job at 19, at a call center. It started out great; the owner of Gateway 2000 (ooh, modern!) had lofty ideas about customer service, didn't want anyone to have to "press 1 for tech support", so we were just directing calls. It was fun and easy and we all had a blast.

Then Gateway lost money and couldn't afford to keep superfluous phone answerers around, so another company took over the call center, and it was OK. Then they skedaddled and another company took over and they were awful. I'm glad I got my Post Office job right about then so I was able to quit. There is nothing more soul-sucking than a terrible call center.

 

[cassiopea]

My first paid job was as a dog walker at the age of 10-12, then after was a babysitter at 14-15.


My first "Official" job was at a Subway at the age of 16. I hated it! The job itself was tolerable, but oh my goodness it was such a toxic environment there. Manager and coworkers and everything. I was the only teen, everyone else was 30+; being taken advantage of, mind games, double standards, broken rules that weren't legal, bullying etc It was the only job where I actually cried before having to start my shift. At least the good thing was, it made me realize how I never wanted to have another job again where I would be upset enough to actually cry - made me that much eager for Uni! And to aspire for a job/career that I could enjoy well enough, with better bosses after learning very well what makes a terrible boss.