Early Jobs - Starting out in the workforce

[RalphVa]

1969 (a very good year too) fresh out of High School, started pumping gas and repairing truck tires @ $2.50 per hour. We were "Full Service" and boy, did I enjoy washing those windshields of those Hippy Chicks passing thru.

Yeah, I worked for my father in his service station through HS. Enjoyed washing some of those windshields, too, but cleaning the women's (the worst) restrooms was not pleasant. On Sundays, Dad would let me open up and take all the profits. Fixed a lot of flats Sunday afternoons.

Ralph

 

[lman]

When I was 14 years old, I started helping farmers baling hay. I did that for about 3 summers. They began paying me $2/hr. One farmer was not happy when I was not available because of helping a different farmer. He then started paying me $5/hr. I didn't need football practice to get in shape after handling about 10,000 bales in hot, humid weather. It didn't upset me much when they started going to round bales, since I was ready to move on to something else.

 

[mapper]

First job was strawberry picking about 9 years old, made $12.40 that first year, probably ate another 10-25% of that! Did that adding beans and raspberries to my resume until I built a small customer base of lawnmowing jobs in my early teens. Went to work for a greenhouse farm when I got my driver's license. After high school graduation I worked summers at a pulp mill while in college. Graduated with an AA in forestry, spent several years in temporary jobs in and out of forestry. Went to work on a survey crew for Wash. DNR. Later transferred to photogrammetry office. Moved from DNR to WSDOT photogammetry after 10 years. Retired as photogrammetry manager 4 years ago.
You asked....

 

[ArlyA]

You guys who worked on farms reminded me that that's where I came from. I earlier only listed my jobs after HS. About 1/2 my family is in the AG business today and I can not recall when I started operated machinery on our farm. In Junior high, I was operating combines but we should note, this is not usual for the AG industry. In high school I owned and ran a New Holland round baler for $$.

 

[Cub 7274]

My uncles farm for 3 yrs 73-76 then the RR for 36 yrs now pension

 

[windy acers]

Which printing company? I worked at a newspaper for 30 years. We'd get ads from all over the country trucked in. Always found it amazing what other printed items were on the trucks besides our ads. Magazines, catalogs, etc...

I WORKED WITH THE SAME UNION PEOPLE AS THE CINCINNATI ENQUERIER AT ROSENTHAL IN BLUE ASH OHIO. TV GUIDE WAS PRODUCED BY AS MANY AS 15 COMMERCIAL PRINTING COMPANIES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY WITH ALL DATA FOR THE NEWSPRINT SECTION BEING TRANSMITTED START PRINTING ON THURSDAY. THE REST OF THE COLOR AND INSERTS BEING SHIPPED IN DURING THE WEEK MOSTLY FROM RANDAR PENNSYLVANIA. TV GUIDE HAD AS MANY AS 22 SEPARATE PEACES BEING GATHERED INTO A PERFECT BINDER(GLUE BACKBONE) IN STRIPS OF TWO BOOKS AT 12,000 PER HOUR X2. WITH INLINE INKJET MAILING STACKING AND SHRINK WRAPED.WE WOULD FINISH UP ON MONDAYS. IT WAS A 6 DAY WEEK PLUS ALL THE OVERTIME YOU COULD STAND. MANY MANY SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS. 2.2 MILION A WEEK!!!! MOST COWORKERS HAD A FARMING BACKGROUND.

 

[MossRoad]

I WORKED WITH THE SAME UNION PEOPLE AS THE CINCINNATI ENQUERIER AT ROSENTHAL IN BLUE ASH OHIO. TV GUIDE WAS PRODUCED BY AS MANY AS 15 COMMERCIAL PRINTING COMPANIES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY WITH ALL DATA FOR THE NEWSPRINT SECTION BEING TRANSMITTED START PRINTING ON THURSDAY. THE REST OF THE COLOR AND INSERTS BEING SHIPPED IN DURING THE WEEK MOSTLY FROM RANDAR PENNSYLVANIA. TV GUIDE HAD AS MANY AS 22 SEPARATE PEACES BEING GATHERED INTO A PERFECT BINDER(GLUE BACKBONE) IN STRIPS OF TWO BOOKS AT 12,000 PER HOUR X2. WITH INLINE INKJET MAILING STACKING AND SHRINK WRAPED.WE WOULD FINISH UP ON MONDAYS. IT WAS A 6 DAY WEEK PLUS ALL THE OVERTIME YOU COULD STAND. MANY MANY SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS. 2.2 MILION A WEEK!!!! MOST COWORKERS HAD A FARMING BACKGROUND.

Ha! I toured the Cincinnati Enquirer printing plant in Cincinnati looking at packaging equipment and conveyor systems back in the early 90's.

I have family in Sharonville.

Small world.

 

[mark02tj]

First job was a paper route from ages 11-15. Forty years later I still say it was the hardest job I ever had. Seven days a week in ALL weather. The first day I had my route was April 3, 1974 - a day that had tornadoes throughout the Midwest. One of the worst was the "Xenia Tornado" that hit around 4:30 in the afternoon - right as I was getting started. Xenia was just a few miles west of us and all I could hear while I was on my route was the sound of sirens heading over that way. I also delivered during the blizzard of '78.

If we went on a family vacation, I had to hire a sub to carry the papers. That came out of my pocket. And if the sub messed up, you caught heck from your customers. If you were sick, oh well - people still wanted their afternoon paper.

Went from there to learning to repair lawn mowers (a guy on my route repaired them out of his garage) and then on to a sandpaper factor and into a tool & die shop. Went back to college in '83 and got an accounting degree. Worked for a few years after graduation with one of the international accounting firms (PriceWaterhouse-Coopers) and then started my own firm with a friend. Transitioned out of traditional accounting and tax work into accounting systems consulting which is what I'm still doing today (when I'm not on TBN or GTT :laughing.

 

[bunyip]

First job was a paper route from ages 11-15. Forty years later I still say it was the hardest job I ever had. Seven days a week in ALL weather.

That's why I joined the church choir, it paid more than a paper round and you got to stay inside, if you got lucky you could get two weddings on a Saturday and that was like a lotto win for us, normal routine wasmorning and afternoon service on Sunday and a midweek choir practice which went for about two hours, for this we got about $2 a week and a wedding was another $1, big money back then, when I started my apprenticeship I got about $10 a week full time.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

First job? Paper route as a kid then I was in a magnet porogram where we learned how to remodel houses. That turned into a pile of life skills. After an early graduation, I went into Army aviation for AH1s but mostly worked on UH1s.
Then I went to Dunwoody for a two-year associates degree working as an auto-tech while going through business school.
Did that until I broke my back motorcycling (but could still feel my toes) and fell into business to business selling computers and networks and it was a great way for a younger person to earn a living!
Eventually, I became a sales manager, but then Y2K came along and broke that business model, so I went back to school majoring in pastoral studies.
Realized I don't suffer fools and so I didn't become a pastor, but kept that kind of thing as a hobby.
Taught myself investing, day trading, options, and basically how markets work and then I fell into real estate and eventually got my broker license.
Roll forward, I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up but I continue to dabble in real estate and enjoy making YouTube videos.