Month: December 2010

First Job – Greg Meyer

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Today's story is from Greg Meyer who is on my team at Gist and leads our Customer Experience group. Check his personal blog – Information Maven for thoughtful posts and great pictures.  Also, his wife makes awesome donuts!

The first job stories continue to find their way to me and I continue to share them here.  I hope you are enjoying them as much as I am and if you have one to share, please send it to me.  Also, be sure to read my first job story.

Washing dishes
From Greg:

My first job (at age 15) was at the Night Kitchen, a bakery near my house which needed a dishwasher.  I thought it would be easy (nice short bike ride away, extra treats when done) and not too hard to do well — much better than the idea of being a dishwasher in a restaurant.  

I have never hated sticky buns as much as I did after scrubbing muffin tins, cookie sheets, and bread pans.  And my hands never really got clean after hours of contact with dough.
 

My takeaways?

Having a system helps – a lot.  After seeing the same muffin tins and bread pans, I figured out the best way to scrub them so they got clean.  

Understanding the workflow of the operation also is key to finding the right solution to the problem – in this case, knowing to start with the dirtiest burnt pans and soak them while cleaning the other cookie sheets later.  

Finally, learn to appreciate the labor and love that go into a product.  I can now fully understand the end-to-end process of making bread, muffins, and other goodies, and I save the dishwashing for home.

Thanks Greg!

First Job – Matt Heinz

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Here's another great first job story to start your week.  This one is from Matt Heinz who runs Heinz Marketing here in Seattle.  He is a great guy and if you have needs in the areas of sales pipeline development or marketing effectiveness, give him a call.  

From Matt:

Grocery_storefront

My first job was a courtesy clerk at a local food market.  It was a small family-owned market in the middle of the town I grew up in.  I could walk there after school, and bike there in the summer, so it was a relatively easy job to get to.

My job was varied.  In addition to bagging groceries and helping people get bags to their cars, I was in charge of stocking soda, dairy, beer, chips and occasionally produce.  I also cleaned everything, broke up boxes, mopped up (the whole store) every night after close, etc.  There was a hierarchy of kids doing my kind of work there, and I was always at the bottom rung – hence why I always got stuck with mopping and other crap jobs.

The market had two managers.  One liked me and the other hated me.  The one who liked me was this old Italian guy, and I think he still works there.  On a busy summer day when beer and soda was flying off the shelves, he'd yell (from wherever in the store he was), "Matt, we're getting BLASTED!".  I'd dutifully come running with reinforcements of whatever was low from the back.

I'll never forget the one night we were closing down, and the old Italian guy was taking the tills from the cash register up to the safe.  The market was small, and one story except for a small store room and office up these rickety stairs in the back.  So the manager heads up the stairs, takes a few steps, then there's this enormous bang followed by the sound of change rolling everywhere.  Following a few moments of what can only be described as "Profanity 201" education, I was called up to chase after loose quarters for what felt like forever.

I eventually worked there long enough to take a turn behind the meat counter.  I want to take this moment to apologize to anyone who had to cook or eat the chicken breasts I attempted to split for customers on request.

Thanks for sharing this Matt!  If you have a first job story you'd like to share, send it to me and I will post it.  Also, check out my first job.   

Merry Christmas!

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Mitch Miller was always part of Christmas mornings growing up and sharing one of the songs here that is Christmas to me – Must Be Santa.  File it in the strange but true Christmas memories file along with Elvis singing Christmas songs…

Merry Christmas everyone! Hug your children, kiss your spouse/partner/special friend, tell your Mom & Dad you love them, and do something selfless for someone today…and everyday thereafter.

 

First Job – Ron Ward

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More first job goodness today.  I love receiving and reading these and hope you do too.  Today's is from Ron Ward who is a college friend now living in Columbus, GA. This is a great one because it will make think about Summer while most of us are dealing with cold, snow and rain these days.  

Sprinkler


From Ron:

My first job, I mean very first paid position was as an assistant/errand boy for the grounds and maintenance department at the school I attended when I was 13.  It was summertime, and since I lived about a block from the school grounds I was perfect for the job.  Duties included lugging these heavy brass sprinkler heads around to the football, baseball and soccer fields.  These things were 20" tall and at least as wide and were shaped like a T with a short side.  The bottom of the T would be pushed down into the sprinkler fitting that is flush with the turf under a hinged metal cap.  (As I sit in the stands watching football games now I wonder about those metal hinged caps on the surface of the turf and when some player is going to land on one.)  The trick was to open the water valve by twisting this steering-wheel sized knob beside the field you wanted to water, then traipse out with the sprinkler heads to the fittings.  Finding these fittings was a challenge sometimes…imagine me in cut-off shorts and soaking wet t-shirt on hands and knees picking through the grass for a brass cap the size of a deck of cards.  Anyway, holding the sprinkler head in both hands like a short po-go stick I'd guide the base down into the fitting making sure it hit home, then rotate it about half a turn like a giant keg tap and BOOM!!
 
The water coming out of the business-end of that sprinkler head was like hot fire.  It would take the hair, and skin with it, off the inside of your thigh if it was pointed at you when engaged.  Once seated and running, these giant sprinklers would hammer away with their weighted arms swinging in time with one another.  Whack whack whack whack.  The amount of water laid down on those fields was immense and the thirsty grass would almost reach up to catch the deluge as it fell each night.
 
Vivid memories of this experience have to do with the sensations and sounds of that summer long ago.  I don't remember what I got paid, only that I got paid enough to buy some cassette tapes (The Police's Ghost in the Machine was one, I know for certain) and a Sony walkman (the pimped out yellow "waterproof" SPORTS model).  What I remember most is the sound of the whacking sprinkler heads on those hot July nights.  There was a variety of bird, big and dark grey that would fly over the fields and eat insects.  Their call was a high whistle that in those wide spaces above the large fields had an echoing effect.  I remember I had access to the maintenance departments white Ford work truck and I would load my sprinkler heads into the bed and drive down to the football field to start watering.  I guess that was the first time I ever drove a vehicle, let alone a work truck. 
 
Today, I am the master gardener in my own home and I specialize in sprinkler maintenance and operation.  Each spring and fall I do the work of inspecting, cleaning, adjusting and replacing heads in my residential grade RainBird automatic sprinkler system and I will stand there all afternoon watching the ballet of water to the clickclickclick beat of the heads.  My wife thinks I'm nuts.
 
I only worked that job one summer but it had a big impact on me.  My first fist fight took place on the job that summer, too.  My 14th summer I went away to a boarding school to try and get my grades up to snuff, and by the time of my 15th summer vacation I was good for nothing anyway.  At 16 I was working at a local members-only dinner club parking cars and waiting tables but I'll save that experience for your post about "Worst Jobs."

Great story and nicely written!  Do you have a first job story you'd like to share? Send it to me and I'll post it here.  Also, be sure to check out my first job.

 

First Job – Fraser Suyetsugu

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Fraser

Here's another first job story from a friend here in Seattle - Fraser Suyetsugu. Fraser is a great guy and Salesforce.com master who has helped me many times with questions related to it and customer relationship management (CRM) as a whole.  You can also follow him on Twitter @Frasuy and be sure to check out all the First Job posts.

From Fraser:

1st job – was a paper route carrier starting at the age of 13 I believe. Peddled the (defunct) Journal American and Seattle Times through the Lake Hills and Chevy Chase neighborhoods by 6:30 am. The other half of that job was a ‘collection agency’. Back then you had to chase down your customers and collect their money or you didn’t get paid. Did that job for almost 4 years I believe. Shoot, if they had a 401k I could plan my retirement a couple of years earlier.

2nd job – courtesy clerk and stock boy at the (defunct) Overlake Market which is now a Goodwill center in the Overlake area. Great job since it was customer facing and I was making bank ~$6.00/hr. Who-hooo!  I remember learning about unions because I was mad that some of my paycheck was siphoned off to pay member dues. I am pretty sure that was my first “real” job since you had to be 16, had to fill out an application and interview. It was the big time!

There are many others along the way but those are the two that ordained me to the working/responsibility world.

Great stories and the second one about a newspaper route.  My guess is that you won't hear too many of those in the future given the changes to news delivery and consumption.

If you have a first job story you'd like to share, send it to me and I'll post it here. Be sure to read about my first job too.

First Job – Dave Fauth

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I continue to get great stories about first jobs and wanted to share another today. I met Dave Fauth through my work at Gist and we've gotten together on my travels through Washington, DC and a couple of events including the most recent Defrag conference in Denver.

I always enjoy our discussions and he shared the following two jobs with me:

The first job I had was working on our farm growing up. We never got paid for it but we always had to show up. It didn't matter whether it was raining, snowing, cold or hot, you had to show up and work. Some days you would be working until 10 or 11 at night but the job had to get done. Once the job was done, we had time to play baseball or go over to our neighbors to play wiffle ball. I remember my dad saying that if you want to get off of the farm, you need to study and do well in school.
Lessons learned:
  • Work is hard. 
  • Show up.
  • The job needs to be done before you can go off and enjoy what you want to do.
My first paying job was as a cadet at the US Merchant Marine Academy. We went out to sea on US merchant vessels for about five months during my sophomore and my junior year at school. We were paid $480 a month or as we liked to say, $16 a day, $2 an hour. I worked alongside the regular engineers and when there was work to be done, we worked some long days and nights. I remember joking that when we were working over 16 hour days, we were getting paid less than a dollar an hour. There was a ton to learn and it was a lot of fun. Since we worked hard and since we didn't have a lot of money, the officers that we worked for took care of us in port. We didn't have to pay when we all went out to eat or drink. They knew we had put in the effort and that we didn't have the money that they did. (Dave is on the right)

Dave_Fauth
 Lessons learned:
  • You don't know everything. While some of the work was mundane and it seemed like anyone could do it, there were a lot of things that I needed to learn. Listen, watch, and do and you will learn a lot, especially from those that have spent a lifetime doing whatever work you are interested in.
  • Take care of those that are working for you. Get to know them. Be generous when you can be. 

Awesome stuff!  Thanks Dave!

Want to share your first job?  Email me and I'll post it here.  Also be sure to read about my first job here.

First Job – Michael Barry

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I received some great feedback on my First Job post and appreciate the kind words.  Glad I was able to take a few folks for a trip down memory lane.  I was fortunate to receive a few first job stories that I will share over the next few days.  If you have one you'd like me to share, please send it along and I'll post it.

The first one is from Michael Barry, one of the best friends I have and a fabulous attorney who lives in Atlanta.  Here's his bio and you can follow him on Twitter here.
From Michael: 
"Delivering a weekly neighborhood newspaper in Defiance Ohio. I was 9 or 10 at the time and recall having the stack (seemed like 1,000s, but am sure it was only 50 or 70) dropping off at my house on Sundays and spending Sunday afternoons bundling the papers with rubber bands and then putting them into plastic sleeves to hang on the doors.  I had my bicyle rigged with various bags so I would not have to circle back home more than once to re-fill. The hardest part of the job? Customer service.  We were required to hang the papers on the front doors, not just toss them into the yard. It was a pain – starting and stopping at every house – but I learned later that my neighbors appreciated my attention to that detail. When we moved and I had to give up the route, my replacement just tossed it into the yard and never hung the papers on the door. (And boy did the neighbors complain!) A reminder that its often the details that set us apart. Some things never change.
 
I was saving $$ to buy a new bike. A huffy dirt bike. It was awesome."

Thanks for sharing this Michael!

First Job

/ Robert Pease / 2 Comments

  RCP_LP_van

What was your first job?  The first thing you ever got paid for when you were a teenager?  You probably haven't thought about it in a long time so take a moment and think back to the first time someone paid you for doing something.  Cutting grass, flipping burgers, babysitting, or the like?

The truth is we all had a first job at some point in our lives and that first job is a critical piece to what makes us tick.  How?  The lessons learned, experiences gained, and ability to apply what on the surface seem like unrelated experiences is unmistakeably telling about someone as you evaluate them for a job, promotion, vote, award, etc.

One of my long time favorite intervew questions is to ask this.  It takes the interview beyond a resume and business environment (in my case) and puts it into an unexpected place for the person being interviewed.  I am no longer asking about the amazing accomplishments they are representing, I am now asking about something from their youth that they were unprepared to discuss and probably hadn't thought about for a very, very long time.  Thus, you get to the real person.

I have heard stories about everything from fast food and lifeguarding to detasseling corn and working in a funeral home.

The answer of what is not as important as the second part of the question – what did you learn from that experience that you apply every day today?

I have seen people completely freeze on this question which shows a lack of critical thinking and creativity.  I have heard some arrogant and unfortunate things like how stupid co-workers were or how demeaning the work was as well.

The ones I like the most hit on work ethic, accountability, and learning.  Those are the people I want on my side.

My first job?  I did some grass cutting in the neighborhood but what sticks out is the time working for Leggett & Platt in their Georgia operations.  My Dad led a business unit and my brother and I worked summers doing a variety of odd jobs around a textile mill and operations (also one Christmas break when I needed new tires for my car).  I worked with some amazing, hard working, and genuinely decent people.  Some were brilliant and others couldn't read but were brilliant in their ability to fix just about anything.

Unlike many of my peers at this stage of my life, I have worked on a shipping dock, driven a fork lift, cleaned up untold amounts of garbage, textile debris, hydraulic oil and other identified things.  This doesn't make be better than anyone, just different.  I understand distribution because I have gotten dirty doing it – not just writing it on a Powerpoint slide or saying it.

The pictures here are of me when I was 18 or 19 and had responsibility for making deliveries of industrial wiping products – rags.  Big and durable ones.  The kind that are used to clean wheel axles or drill bits or just about anything else.  I delivered 25 and 50 pound boxes just about everywhere.  I got lost a lot and had my fair share of harrowing experiences jockeying for a slot at a receiving dock with trucks much, much larger than me.  This was a major step up in responsibility and type of work after many summers in the shop and on the floor…and when there were no deliveries to be made I was right back there.  As you can imagine, I was always working hard to make sure there were deliveries…

RCP_LP_vanfull

What was your first job and what did you learn that you apply everday?  Share it with me and I'll post it here.

 

 

It’s not just about the technology

/ Robert Pease / 1 Comment

I have been wanting to create an animated video with Xtranormal for some time and finally got around to trying one out.  This is a really easy and clever way to produce animated clips with a script you write.  It is still a bit clunky in translation but that adds to the entertainment. 

Here's mine on the startup sales pitch to a business focusing on how it works vs. what it does and value delivered. 



This technology will only improve as time goes on making creating something like this easy for anyone and the end product polished like it was done by a professional.