I Got My First Job - Celebrating My First Paycheck

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around participants sharing their experiences related to their first jobs and the significance of receiving their first paycheck. The scope includes personal anecdotes, reflections on early work experiences, and varying perspectives on the value of money earned from these jobs.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses excitement about their first job washing dishes and receiving their first paycheck of $120, unsure of how to spend it.
  • Another participant reminisces about their own first job at a young age and reflects on the passage of time since then.
  • Several participants provide estimates of what $120 could cover, including food, rent, or educational materials, highlighting different budgeting perspectives.
  • Some participants share their own first job experiences, ranging from tutoring to working in a library, and discuss the challenges and rewards of those roles.
  • There are questions raised about the nature of the dishwashing job, with some participants suggesting that dishwashers typically handle such tasks, while others defend the role's importance.
  • Humorous anecdotes about past jobs are shared, including experiences in construction, telemarketing, and fast food, illustrating the diversity of first job experiences.
  • One participant mentions feeling spoiled for not having a "real" job, contrasting their situation with those who have had various job experiences.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the significance of their first jobs and the nostalgia associated with them, but there are varying opinions on the nature and value of different types of work. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the specifics of the dishwashing role and its perceived importance.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about the financial implications of their earnings, and there are differing views on the responsibilities associated with various jobs. The discussion reflects a range of personal experiences and cultural contexts regarding early employment.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in personal finance, early employment experiences, or those reflecting on their own job histories may find this discussion relatable and engaging.

Gale
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I just thought i'd share that I've got my first job ever! yeah yeah, i know i should have had one years ago, but i never needed one. my parents pay for everything. So now i do dishes at this local inn, and i just got my first paycheck, $120! wooo... actually i don't even know how much money that really is. i don't know how i'll even spend it. I never really spend money, and when i do, i never pay attention. But yeah... wooooo I'm a workin' gal!
 
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Originally posted by Gale17
I just thought i'd share that I've got my first job ever! yeah yeah, i know i should have had one years ago, but i never needed one. my parents pay for everything. So now i do dishes at this local inn, and i just got my first paycheck, $120! wooo... actually i don't even know how much money that really is. i don't know how i'll even spend it. I never really spend money, and when i do, i never pay attention. But yeah... wooooo I'm a workin' gal!
Congratulations! mmm... I try to recall - when I've got my first job... it was a long time ago... I was only eleven years old... the assistant of the geodesist.
 
Congratulations!

$120... that's about enough to keep you fed for one to two weeks, depending on how often you eat out. Or a weeks worth of rent in a shared house. Or halfway to that new leather biker jacket you've been eyeing. Or a chemistry textbook. Or 1/20th to 1/50th of a semester tuition at a state school. Or...
 
120 bucks? It's all in how well you budget. On one hand you could eat for a month on that if you stretched it. On the other hand I haven't paid my cell phone bill yet:wink:

I remember my first check(not counting my paper route when I was 12). it was 80 bucks- a fortune at the time. that was when minimum wage was 4.25 an hour-back back in the ancient, mythical days of yore, where kings and queens ruled the fair land-in other words the 80's.

I think I saved my money and bought a stereo. My how things have changed!(or have they? But if you want to buy a car, you can get a cheap one for about 10 grand- start saving now
 
Congratulations! I remember I got my first job when I was 15, that's to tutor a 13 years old student maths. I stopped tutoring this student when I was 16 to prepare for public exams and started tutoring her again last year. I was also a private tutor of a 10 year old kid last year for 2 months. I nearly failed in a few tests in school last year because I didn't have enough time for studying due to the tution jobs! I didn't even have time to do homework!

If I have $120, I'll use it to buy books (An A-level biology textbook, Introduction to Elementary Number Theory and Graph Theory), or subscribe to scientific american and discover. Of course, I'll buy one or two CD's.

If I have more money, I'll buy a digital camera (at least 5 million pixels, has good zoom in and out functions and other cool functions), upgrade my computer and buy a pair of high quality binoculars. I'll find jobs after my public exams in April next year and will save up for buying all these.
 
Congratulations
 
"So now i do dishes at this local inn'

Uhmm, don't we have dishwashers to do this?

Gale17, have you been keeping information from us? Are you really a dishwasher?
 
First job? Repairing crash-damaged cars in my dads garage, and that for a girly girl at 14 :)
 
My first job was selling TV Guide over the phone, about 23 years ago. I lasted 2 days. I completely lost heart after selling a 99 year old man a 5 year subscription.

Njorl
 
  • #10
Originally posted by Njorl
My first job was selling TV Guide over the phone, about 23 years ago. I lasted 2 days. I completely lost heart after selling a 99 year old man a 5 year subscription.

Njorl

I hate telemarketers. Good thing I am on that national do-not-call list.
 
  • #11
Originally posted by dduardo
I hate telemarketers. Good thing I am on that national do-not-call list.
Is that thing finally working than? What I heard, couple of months ago, that people were putting their name on the list and the number of calls trippled :P
 
  • #12
Congrats,btw,I work in a pizzeria and also wash dishes sometimes, apart of my habitual task that is deliver pizzas :smile:
 
  • #13
first job, hired at the city library shelving books for 15 hours a week at $3.65 an hour...i had more play money then then i do now...
 
  • #14
Yeah congratulations...my first job was a clerical assistant in a hospital when i was 16. I helped my mum and other secretaries do all the filing and photocopying and monkey work (eg lifting boxes). Not a very glamourous job, but i got paid ok £4 an hour which is around $6 an hour i think so that is cool. But that wasnt contracted, that was when they needed me i went in
 
  • #15
"So now i do dishes at this local inn'

Uhmm, don't we have dishwashers to do this?

Someones still gata load/unload/inspect the dishes, keep track of dish inflow/outflow to ensure an adaquate supply of dishes at all times, and maintain the dishwashing units. On top of all that, you've still got the silverware to deal with! Actually sounds like a very demanding position. Definitely worthy of the $120 salary.

Id say it's a keeper... until the time you want something a bit more stimulating, like my job:
promotional piece regulatory officer
 
  • #16
Originally posted by Gale17
I just thought i'd share that I've got my first job ever!
Good for you, Gale.
My first involved chopping bush with a machette. I received one or two second-quality boards from a saw mill operation (more bark than board) per week, depending on how much I got done.
 
  • #17
Just board? Not room and board? :wink:

Njorl
 
  • #18
oh well, I've babysat and tutored too, but this is my first pasycheck and taxes job. so yeah, I'm awesome. heh, i didn't realize i'd get so many replies to this thread... rather amusing seeing all yall reminiscing bout your old jobs.
 
  • #19
My first job was working construction. Working construction blows. Currently I am unemployed but looking - most jobs at my college were filled before I even got here.
 
  • #20
Wow, I've never had a "real" job. Not for lack of looking, I've just never been hired. (I've been to more interviews than I can count)

I feel so..spoiled now, or something.
 
  • #21
Gale,

Same here. My first job was washing dishes part time at a restaurant in Plymouth, N.H. I was 14, it was summer, I was rich.
 
  • #22
My first job was back in the '70's as a pinsetter for a bowling alley that didn't have the automatic pin machines. You haven't lived until you tried to avoid 250-300 pd drunk guys lobbing bowling balls at you as hard as they can while you are stooped over trying to set-up pins. Then I get fired for lobbing balls back out at them. Oh well.
 
  • #23
Oy!, my first real job was at Burger King; Because i was quite small at the time(5'8'' 125 lbs.), They would send me up into the tube playground thing where children reported that they had seen other children's feces... Luckily all of the reports were unfounded, but the fact that I had to crawl on my hands and knees in hot, smelly, enclosed playground equipment was detestable enough...


mmmm, good old days...
 
  • #24
Originally posted by Mattius_
mmmm, good old days...
LOL, that reminds me of my good old days, when I used to go around putting childen's feces in those tube playgrounds at fast-food restaurants.

- Warren
 
  • #25
LOL, that reminds me of my good old days, when I used to go around putting childen's feces in those tube playgrounds at fast-food restaurants.

Doh!
 
  • #26
Way to go Gale. It fells good, doesn't it. I quess I was around eight years old when I made my first buck. My best friend and I got a lawn mower and grass clippers and went door to door asking for work. Finally, this wonderful old lady took pity on us. After about 15 minutes of work (lawn was small and really didn't need cutting) she gave us each a dollar and a coke. This is twice as much as we asked for. Every now and then I think about her; remembering the nice thing she did.
 

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