Yesterday, while chatting over coffee with fellow business women, our conversation turned to first jobs.
One of us had been a wool classer (no, I didn’t know what that was either), one a check out chick and one had her first job at IKEA, where she stayed for 14 years.
My first job, started during my first year at uni, was as a waitress at Pizza Hut.
It turned out to be the best first job an introvert like me could have had.
Yet it wasn’t without its rude shocks. A few weeks after I started, my manager set me down in the booth and told me that my performance wasn’t up to scratch. I wasn’t friendly enough to the customers and I wasn’t smiling enough.
Looking back on it now, I can try to see it as the normal sexist bullshit that I’ve copped all my life – “Smile!”, “It hasn’t happened yet!”, “You look so pretty when you smile”. But, no. This was a front line customer service job and I needed to win over my customers and make them want to spend money.
After this talking to, I went home embarrassed, angry and humiliated. I cried as I told my parents what had happened and got a pep talk that sometimes we have to do what we don’t like, do what doesn’t feel normal, just to be successful in a job. I had the option to quit, or to persevere, take the lesson on board and keep going.
Of course I kept going.
I marched back into that restaurant and I SMILED! I started chatting to customers, I asked if they wanted dessert and I never stopped smiling.
As a result, I started getting more shifts, I won competitions for onselling desserts, I got to work behind the drinks bar and I was taught how to close.
Strangely, despite how much it pushed me beyond my comfort zone, I really enjoyed this job. Mostly, because I was good at it. Also, because, perversely, I enjoyed the constant customer contact and making people happy. For someone who hates small talk and talking with strangers, this was really odd, but because I had a clear role and a script, I found it really easy, once I got over my own self-imposed barriers.
I know now that persistence is one of my strengths. As a ten year old, I taught myself to ride a bike in one day. At 21, I taught myself how to drive a manual car in a couple of days. As an extremely shy introvert, I spent years becoming very good at public speaking. And, at 19, I became a very good waitress.
What about you? What was your first job and what did it teach you?
*Image by Cat Farrah, from I ate this, here in Ballarat
My first job was selling women’s underwear in a department store. I was good at it, and they wanted to keep me – but it taught me (oh so clearly) that retail work was NOT for me.
Oh, wow, I don’t think I’d ever be brave enough to do that. I’ve never worked in retail, but have started applying for part time retail work now. I don’t think I’m cut out for it either.
My first job was working on a farm, it was hard work but gave instilled a joy of working outside and the knowledge that if you want anything in life you have to graft
Farming is such hard work. I think it would instil an amazing work ethic in anyone.
My first job was working in a fish and chip shop. I was 15, I worked super hard and they screwed the system to underpay me. I learned that better opportunities are always possible!
Bastards! Not a fair way to treat a 15 year old. Would make you really suspicious of all future employers. Glad that better opportunities came around.
My first job was working on an outside market selling clothes, I loved it but wasn´t keen on the cold weather and rain. It also taught me to be more extrovert and give a great service.
No, working out in the weather would have been hard, but the market would have definitely brought you out of yourself, just like my waitressing job did for me. Thanks for sharing.
Wow, pizza waitress! Cool.
I used to have a very stuck-up face back in my school days. But I’m much more positive now and I smile a lot more. I realised also that I put in more effort to smile when I meet people even if I might not always be having a good day. I wouldn’t say I’m being a fake because I do it with the genuine desire to connect with people.
I’m just 22 and what I do now isn’t really a job, I think. I’m giving private tuition teaching maths to kids. It taught me a LOT about patience.
Being a tutor is still a job. And a great one. Having patience with kids would be so hard for me. I struggle with helping my own kids with their homework. Maybe it would be easier with somebody else’s?
Great post. We can always learn so much from our first jobs.
My first job was as a kitchen hand in a busy restauraunt and didn’t finish work until 1am. It was hard, the pushed you like crazy, but it taught me to persevere. It also taught me the value of money – suddenly you realised that X (item you really want) equals x amount of hours at work. Great learning process!
That would have been really hard work. And yes, I loved finally having my own money in my first job. Really learned to value work as a source of it.
My first job was at McDonald’s. It taught me great customer service skills I will say that, but it mostly gave me plenty of reasons why I shouldn’t eat McDonalds! x
LOL, I think I will encourage my children to get their first jobs there, just to put them off Maccas for life.
My first job was working as a 15 year old at K Mart. I worked every Saturday and that job taught me the importance of looking after customers and how to deal with difficult customers.
Yes, dealing with customers, especially difficult ones is a great skill to have in any job.
My first job was in school holidays in the office where Dad was one of the bosses. It was assisting in the mail room. Going to Sydney’s GPO to collect and post the company’s mail. Doing deliveries of documents by hand to the big banks and other offices. Most of what I did as a 15 year old was on foot and throughout the city of Sydney. It taught me the names & directions. (Some are one way) of streets and how to public transport for some of the jobs I needed to do. I love how much of my knowledge of Sydney has stayed with me and is of great assistance each time I go into the city now.
Sounds like a great job with benefits. I did my work experience at Monash Uni at one of the offices. I had no idea what I was doing and stuffed up most tasks, which then had to be redone by professionals. Strangely, in later life I became quite a good office administrator.
My first job was as a deli chick at woolies. I got sacked for spending too much time wandering around chatting to people and I learned that I talk way too much 🙂 xx
That’s hilarious, Sonia 🙂 It wouldn’t be a job I could handle.
my first job was working in my dad’s Tandy store selling computers. I was really crap at it.
I so get where you’re coming from D!!! I was so shy as a child you wouldn’t believe it, so it was a huge upheaval when my family moved from Melbourne to Gippsland when I was 16. I had to leave my intimate social circle to live in a tiny lakeside town where I didn’t know anyone and couldn’t bear to start a new school. I surprised even myself by volunteering my artistic talents to the local Primary School. Within a short time I was writing and illustrating story books, running the library, publishing the school magazine and running a maths games program…among many other things. (Those were the days before needing a qualification to be a classroom aide) I was there for two years and the supportive environment gave me a huge boost. I’m so proud that I have largely overcome my shyness…I wasted a lot of my life hiding from life.