real job- how old

blably
blably Posts: 490 Member
in Chit-Chat
we were chattin about that the other day, and lets say 90% of people my age dont have a regular job they have monthly or just some contract jobs for a month or over the summer....

i wondered how old were you when you started your first reaaaalll job :) what field was it? u still work in that field?
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Replies

  • kawickham85
    kawickham85 Posts: 62 Member
    14. I was a cashier in a grocery store.

    I dont get what you mean by "real job". If you are doing some sort of work on a regular basis and getting paid regularly for said work, then congratulations, you have a real job.
  • Cp731
    Cp731 Posts: 3,195 Member
    tumblr_inline_mfo9cjp5o71rvlca1_zps5fbb6bb1.gif
  • NormInv
    NormInv Posts: 3,303 Member
    was 18, still in the same field.
  • Ladyinwaiting4
    Ladyinwaiting4 Posts: 202 Member
    21 years old working for Chick Fila

    my most favorite job was working as a teacher aide for a daycare.
  • BleedsCoffee
    BleedsCoffee Posts: 247 Member
    15. I worked for Tim Hortons!
  • blably
    blably Posts: 490 Member
    14. I was a cashier in a grocery store.

    I dont get what you mean by "real job". If you are doing some sort of work on a regular basis and getting paid regularly for said work, then congratulations, you have a real job.



    hmmm dont know how its where you live but here you have students jobs and well the real deal.


    because once you work as a students you dont have to pay tax (atleast untill a set amout of € earned) you dont need to pay for healtcare etc.

    once you get employeed you have to, plus other things.
  • backpacker44
    backpacker44 Posts: 160 Member
    I doubt 90% of 22 year olds don't have jobs, and if that's the case the world is doomed.

    I was 17, and I still work in accounting.
  • Eleanorjanethinner
    Eleanorjanethinner Posts: 563 Member
    I was 24 and I've changed careers several times since then. I was a bit later than my friends as I changed my mind several times about what to study at Uni so I didn't graduate 'till a couple of years later.

    By real job, I mean full time career type thing, not part time stuff while studying. (Or short term full time while studying).
  • crista_b
    crista_b Posts: 1,192 Member
    I was 23, working as a project manager in a translation agency (exactly what I want to do as a career). Right after graduating from university at 22, I spent about a year in France teaching English, then moved back to the States and got my dream job immediately. :smile: Still doing it 2 years later, just for a different company.

    ETA: I've been working full-time during the summers and part-time during school since I was 15, but I don't consider those "real" jobs (fast food, serving, retail, daycare teacher).
  • Willowana
    Willowana Posts: 493 Member
    15, I went to work with my mother as a silversmith. I stayed in the jewelry industry until my early 20's, until most jewelry making went overseas. Then I became a bookkeeper for several years, and that sort of rolled into executive administrative work.

    --Also should mention, at some point several years ago, aside from administrative work, the companies I worked for also had me doing a lot of the marketing and creative design work, which if I could do life all over again, I might have started this sooner. I really enjoy it.
  • marcvandenberg
    marcvandenberg Posts: 190 Member
    20
    had many jobs at the start until i found this one.
    Now 17 years with the same boss
  • thehka
    thehka Posts: 74 Member
    Hey I'm 22 and don't real job. I am not doomed because I'm in my last year going for my degree which I never thought was possible when I was in high school :I A lot of us are still in school, which I think is great. Now if those 90% aren't in school and don't have a job, then yeah, THEY'RE doomed. Let the ones going for our goals have the real jobs :p
  • blably
    blably Posts: 490 Member
    I doubt 90% of 22 year olds don't have jobs, and if that's the case the world is doomed.

    I was 17, and I still work in accounting.

    we were talkin about people we know, this and two close by towns, but actually thats the case in the whole country, there just are no jobs
  • kaylabrose
    kaylabrose Posts: 71
    16, waitress, still do it, love it,
  • Railr0aderTony
    Railr0aderTony Posts: 6,803 Member
    Had many Part time jobs throughout High school but my first "Real" Job was at 21 after Tech School graduation. I assume that by Real Job you mean one where you are taking care of your own needs and not living at your Parents?
  • blably
    blably Posts: 490 Member
    Had many Part time jobs throughout High school but my first "Real" Job was at 21 after Tech School graduation. I assume that by Real Job you mean one where you are taking care of your own needs and not living at your Parents?
    yeah thats what i ment but couldnt find the english words for it other than ''real job''....sorry :)
  • MommaChocoLatte
    MommaChocoLatte Posts: 389 Member
    The company i work for right now was my first job where federal taxes were taken out of my checks. I have been in this position for 3 yrs now. Ages 34-present.

    When I was 18, I worked as a shampoo girl for a summer. Paid under the table.

    Then from age 19-34, I was a stay at home mom. I worked contract jobs in between those years and also ran my own business out of my home.
  • tvanhooser
    tvanhooser Posts: 326 Member
    I was 17 when I started working in a little bookstore. Worked there for about 3 years till I transferred from jr. college to the university. But unless you count volunteering in our church bookstore, no, I am not in the same field. I taught for a while in public schools, did some afterschool programs, clerical/admin for a few years and now I homeschool my kids and write articles for various clients.
  • BigBrunette
    BigBrunette Posts: 1,543 Member
    I got my first "student job" when I was 17. I started full-time employment when I was 23. I began my "career" at age 25. Twenty years later, I'm still in that field (fundraising communications). I've been with my current employer for 15 years.
  • kms1320
    kms1320 Posts: 599 Member
    18, I was busting tractor trailer tires at the truck stop. Very physical and kind of dangerous, but it was great for the college football offseason.
  • DalekBrittany
    DalekBrittany Posts: 1,748 Member
    First paid job was working as a stock girl at JCPenneys. ****ty pay, ****ty hours, ****ty managers. When it was Christmas season we were all told we would be working every day, and they instead cut me back to 2 days per week. When I put in my two weeks, they completely took me off the schedule, never even gave me hours, and then blacklisted me from the company because I put in my two weeks and then never came back... :huh:
  • Sharonks
    Sharonks Posts: 884 Member
    I had babysitting/fast food/cashier/waitress jobs in high school. My first real job was at 17, I became a file clerk and worked my way up in the admin world. I guess in a way you could say I still do office work so I'm still in the same field. At 47 I'm also a senior getting my accounting degree and currently work full-time as an accountant/business manager for a trucking company. I have been on my own since I was 15 years old.
  • czardastx
    czardastx Posts: 127 Member
    15 years old worked for 7 years in a conveniece store.

    22 years old worked for 6 years in the microfilm / microfiche field

    28 years old to now (17 years) working in law enforcement
  • ThoseLittleCats
    ThoseLittleCats Posts: 180
    15 as a cashier, an no
  • traceytwink
    traceytwink Posts: 538 Member
    18 and still working in the same field
  • 2stepscloser
    2stepscloser Posts: 2,900 Member
    Started working when I was 15... Worked at Subway and in retail up until college, then got a more professional job. Different field now.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    I was 12 when I got the type of job that required a Social Insurance Number - serving meals in a retirement home. Before that was babysitting. I didn't have to pay tax or anything because I didn't make enough.
    I had many more jobs through the following years that weren't student jobs (I never got fired, just moved around, some overlapped). Most I don't think I had to pay tax on (student jobs here are summer positions funded through government)
    I started my career at 25. Tax sucks.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    I started working in a department store when I was 18 and pretty much had a steady job ever since. I went from that to working in a bookstore to bartending to working as a grocery store cashier/bakery clerk to working in a place for wayward teen girls. Then I finished college, worked as an AA for a friend of my aunt's, then medical records in a neurologist's office, then a very short stint for a foreclosure attorney (that was hell) then journalism. I worked for two newspapers over five years and then got a job with the state when I've been for six years.
  • TheBaileyHunter
    TheBaileyHunter Posts: 641 Member
    Started babysitting for money at age 9

    My first real job was at age 12 as a taxi cab dispatcher.
    At 14 I was a hotel desk clerk for two hotels
    Then at 15 I was doing both those jobs plus waitressing and babysitting...and school.

    After I moved out at 16 I worked as a waitress, then in a market research firm. Ended up going from a telephone surveyor to head of western operations with that one by time I was 19

    Only time I haven't worked full time outside the home is when I was raising my kids.

    Work is just what I do.

    ETA: I still work in the marketing field, but have moved to different areas of it over the years.
  • SMarie10
    SMarie10 Posts: 956 Member
    I worked all thru high school (beginning at age 16) Thru my college years as a cashier at a grocery store. It was a great job and when I left (in the early 80's) I was making $8.00 and hour, which wasn't chump change in those days. Today I work as a business analyst, but have been at my profession at the same company for 20+ years.

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