General Question

atr408's avatar

What should my first job be?

Asked by atr408 (357points) January 2nd, 2008

I live in Stockton california and am 17

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8 Answers

jrpowell's avatar

Well, I can tell you what my first job was. I got hired at a movie theater when I was 19 (I got SSI until I turned 19 and 2 months). After all the shit jobs I have had I can say that was the best one.

Unfortunately it is really hard to get a job with a blank resume. You could do fast food but that sucks. I would look into finding someone you know that has an opening where they work. But yeah, try a movie theater, it is easy work and you get to flirt all day.

weaselope's avatar

any job that gets you out of stockton

wodowd's avatar

I would always try to work at a place that you wouldn’t want to go in. This way if you leave the job on bad terms it won’t really matter. My first job was working as a cashier at a local grocery store. I had a problem with the manager, and ended up quiting. I hated going back to the store to get grocerys, but it was the only store near by so i didn’t really have a choice. Just remember its your first job. Its not a carrer don’t let them push you around too much.

gcross's avatar

@wodowd hahahahaha

I kind of have to agree. My first job was as an account clerk in a joint furniture/feed store, counting up the receipts. My boss looked like a frog – fat, squat, with bulgy eyes. It was a case of last hired, first fired. I lasted about four weeks.

I don’t recall what my husband’s first job was, but my son’s was as an unskilled laborer at WalMart. His first day on the job consisted of about eight hours of collecting carts from the parking lot and returning them to the store, and miscellaneous shelving within. He rode his bicycle home the couple of miles from the store. When he walked in the house, he walked stiffly and moaned (yes, moaned), “I can’t feel my legs”. In house only a few minutes, he came and asked me to massage his legs because they were beginning to cramp something awful. After graduating from high school and moving out, his next job was as a stock or general clerk in the photography department of a store similar to Walgreens/RiteAid.

Breefield's avatar

I’d say aim for the stars.
My first job was at a web design firm when I was 14, programming things in PHP. I’ll just say I wasn’t doing the crappy 14 year old job you’d expect. I hate getting lumped in with all those other r-tards.
Anyhow, I worked there 6 months and then quit because the pay was too shabby. $8 an hour for building business ready websites stinks, just so you know.

Anyhow, after I quit, my previous employer came back to me and asked if I’d work for them because they still needed someone to do the PHP. It’d just be contract work though. I agreed but only under the terms that I get $25 and hour. They were happy to oblige.

Quitting my job was the best thing I ever did.

thegodfather's avatar

Try to get an idea of your career path. Do something you enjoy not something to make a buck because after 40 hrs a week (or more), if it’s something you don’t like all that much, you’ll hate life.

It’s not what you know but who you know. Look for opportunities no matter how small that will connect you with mentors. Those mentors will lead you to even better opportunities. Be patient. It will pay off down the road.

Be humble too with your first job. Use it as hands-on experience training.

I live by the 99% rule: 99% of people just go with the flow. Do anything to break from what everyone else does and it will be noticed. I chased a dream early and now have more opportunities as a result. So many people start chasing dreams in their 30s or 40s. Don’t wait until then, start dreaming and planning now. Your first job can do a lot more for you than pass the time. If you plan wisely, it can be the starting point of a successful career.

Don’t be like the kid in his backyard shooting hoops who makes his own crowd noises and dreams of the NBA. Put a plan together and decide on who you want to be your agent and work hard at practice. Then find that job no matter the pay or the level on the corporate ladder and make a go for it.

ErikaM's avatar

Start with something awful, something you really hate. That way, all of your future jobs will seem better!

artemisdivine's avatar

a hooker? he he… oh to be young and flexible. this actually depends on your skill set/education. the fewer the skills, the fewer the options.

i worked mcdonalds when i was 17 (yes i know everyone laughs). but i was actually fun back then. i only scowled at the customers once in a while.

talk to your parents friends and let them know you are looking. some might be in business and need a secretary etc. that is what i am. nothing better than sitting around all day playing on the net and opening other peoples mail!

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