What was your first real job?

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbbamI First real job...worked at an insurance agency when I was 16 years old (1974), a junior in high school. I made around $2 an hour. I still had that job in 1977 when I got married, but had to leave as DH worked for the same company. I left my job because he made about $1 an hour more than I did. Yep, ladies and germs, I married for money... I worked other jobs along the way. During my last few years at Megacorp, I finally made enough money that I could do just fine on my own. At the end...1998...I was making $50k a year with benefits. Not too bad considering I have no formal education.

That was great pay in 1998! Way more than I made on the LSU faculty, anyway...

[Ronstar]

1. 1972 - janitor at the village library - 4 hrs a week at $2 per hour

2. 1974 - Civil Engineering tech - 40 hrs a week at $3.25 per hour

Good thing jobs paid by a family member are excluded - I worked in the family bait shop from 1971 to 1973 for a dime an hour.

[F-One]

First j*b was delivering pianos and organs on per delivery basis, 14 years old, depending on the job $3, $5 or $10 per delivery, depending on the size of piano and movement requirements. I weighed maybe 110 lbs.

In High School, I was self-employed in an illegal activity, making about $100 - $150 per month part-time (and no it had nothing to do with sex).

First j*b that supported me was lab technician for a university, pay $10,500 per year in 1980. A month later I married the love of my life .

[WhoDaresWins]

My first job, when I was 16 (1970) was as a page in our small town public library. My duties entailed shelving books, making photocopies, getting older materials out of storage per patron request, working at the circulation desk as needed for the princely sum of about $1.50 per hour. My 92 year old Aunt held the same job at the same library during the 1930's and she recalls being paid ten cents per hour.
My first professional job in 1977, with a masters degree in library service in NYC, paid $10,000.00 per annum and supported my new husband and myself in NYU student housing quite nicely. We had no car and very few possessions but we regularly went to museums, Broadway shows, other theater and musical venues for a pittance(available to students), foreign films(student rate) and lived extremely well, at least culturally.

[bbbamI]

Thanks W2R....I was pretty lucky.

Not having a formal education has been like having an albatross hanging around my neck. Even though I don't need the education now, it still bothers me.

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbbamI Not too bad considering I have no formal education.

I suspect that "formal education" is not that important a factor in being member of this particular group of FIREed/Wanna Be FIREDed. There are many roads that one can take to get here -- education could possibly be the least effective. (As I said earlier about Smart vs Witty.)

Someone should do a Poll. (Way too much w*rk for me.)

[bbbamI]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonBoyd I suspect that "formal education" is not that important a factor in being member of this particular group of FIREed/Wanna Be FIREDed. There are many roads that one can take to get here -- education could possibly be the least effective.

I agree...there are many roads to FIRE.

The education part is a personal thing to me....

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonBoyd (As I said earlier about Smart vs Witty.)

Well, truth be told, I was asked to interview at Megacorp from someone I had seen at a few happy hours!

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonBoyd Someone should do a Poll. (Way too much w*rk for me.)

Umm, hmm...me too....

[Meadbh]

First job: local government office during several summers. Paid quite well, but I don't remember the numbers.

First real job: hospital intern, 1980-81. Paid approximately $15000. Worked approximately 70 hours a week, equivalent to about $0.23 per hour. This was in Ireland where, at the time, my marginal tax rate was 65%. So take home pay was less than 50% of gross. But since all my time was taken up working or sleeping, I didn't have time to spend it anyway.

[megacorp-firee]

1) deli floor sweeper. ? 1966 timeframe I think. $2 something and hour, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Although I did have to pay dues to the retail clerks union to get this high paying job.
2) enlisted 'dog' for my uncle (Sam), 1970, $300 something a month, and all you could eat at the chow hall and a place to stay, ... no union though

... hmmm I think I was better off with that deli job

[Khan]

When very young: farm chores, helping with harvest on family/neighbors farms, baby sitting.

First real paid job: Housekeeper at a summer resort in the Catskills; don't recall wage, was sub-minimum wage because was student, filed to be exempt from state withholding.

Several summer jobs.

First full-time job: US Army Management Analyst, Picatinny Arsenal NJ, GS-5, don't recall amount.

[donheff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack 1) What was your first real paying job (not paid by a family member)?

Newspaper boy. Followed shortly by drug store clerk.

Quote:

2) What was your salary/pay (and year) for the first job you held that supported you independently?

I was pretty much independent for the second half of college getting by with a variety of part time jobs (janitor, psychiatric aide, etc). My first full time post graduate job was substitute teacher for $40/day.

[ksr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover My first real job was as a paperboy, too. Even now when I have "responsibility" dreams, I dream that I have forgotten to do my paper route for like a week and that my customers are really pi$$ed.

Isn't it funny how we can't escape some of these early stresses? I worked as a waitress through college and I still occasionally have dreams where I've fallen way behind and customers at all my tables are yelling for me!

[RonBoyd]

[QUOTE=bbbamI;863165]The education part is a personal thing to me..../QUOTE]

As it is to every one of us. That is why a Poll is called for -- you can't get anymore anonymous than that.

[bigla]

First job was at a local supermarket, worked the dairy dept and then cashier - this was when I was in high school 1963-64. Did some work study while in college. First real job was in 1968, a Special Education teacher at a NYS dept of Mental Hygiene facility for the mentally retarded. I made $6500/yr to start in 1968. Did get frequent raises with grade increases. I continued working for NYS for 28 years.

[LOL!]

I did the paperboy thing in 8th grade with 2 different routes, but I don't think we should count that.

I worked more than 40 hours a week as a short-order cook my junior year of high school. I made $1.60 an hour. I did not work my senior year of high school so my grades would not suffer.

I was a custodian during college for 20+ hours a week for 3 years.

I was a nurse's aide (think soap-suds enemas until clear, pre-op shaving, other minor procedures and clean-ups of dead bodies) at $2.10 an hour, 40 hours a week one college summer.

Grad school paid me a stipend of about $12K a year. I made $1K a day consulting for Genentech and other companies a few times. Started my IRA with that money.

[Coach]

My first job was as a library page, age 15 so 1966, .65 per hour. I blew my first paycheck of about $15 on photography supplies.

My first real job was as a salesman for Burroughs Corp, 1973. $700 a month plus commissions, but I wasn't much of a salesman so they didn't amount to much. The salary seemed ample -- every four months or so I'd have $1000 extra built up and I'd buy a CD. We all went out to lunch every day and a quarter each produced a reasonable tip.

Coach

[Midpack]

Bonus question:

3) What is the lowest paying job you've ever had?

And I am the winner! I had a full time job for 3 months that cost me $3.90/hr. Summer of 1975 I was a waiter in a nice restaurant that paid me $1.10/hr (below min wage, allowed for waiters because of tips). However, I had to pay my busboys and bartenders $5.00/hr to subsidize their wages. Before you conclude that I'm completely stupid, with tips I made at least $1,000/month for those 3 months --- but on paper I actually paid my employer for the privilege. At the time, I thought I was rich...

Top that!

[Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack Bonus question: 3) What is the lowest paying job you've ever had? And I am the winner! I had a full time job for 3 months that cost me $3.90/hr. Summer of 1975 I was a waiter in a nice restaurant that paid me $1.10/hr (below min wage, allowed for waiters because of tips). However, I had to pay my busboys and bartenders $5.00/hr to subsidize their wages. Before you conclude that I'm completely stupid, with tips I made at least $1,000/month for those 3 months --- but on paper I actually paid my employer for the privilege. At the time, I thought I was rich... Top that!

Off the books as a cocktail waitress when I was 22. No pay, no benefits, Saturday evenings; I did get some food.
I was good at the job and made good tips, and the management made clear to customers that employees were not to be touched.

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack Bonus question: 3) What is the lowest paying job you've ever had?

I went to work for McDonalds as a Manager "trainee." I had been there for a couple months when they were forced to give me a raise because the Minimum Wages had gone up to 95 cents an hour. (I was salary but the government computation upped my monthly take.) I did stick it out, however, and several years later was a District Manager with five stores under me. Even then, I got a big increase in salary when I left them and went on with life.

[charlie]

1)I started as a paperboy in grade school and worked up to "grunt"
on a power line crew by graduation from high school in 1952.

2)My first career job after graduation from U of Texas in 1957 was
with Temco (an aircraft co. in Dallas) at $475/month. Big money
at that time.

Cheers,

charlie