First Job

First Job – Gary Palgon

/ Robert Pease / 1 Comment

Another great first job story today this time from friend and former co-worker Gary Palgon from Atlanta.  Gary and I worked together on a couple ventures while I lived in Atlanta including nuBridges where he is currently Vice President of Product Management.  I love receiving these stories so please keep sending them to me and I'll keep posting them here.  Read my first job story.

From Gary:

My First Job

If you ask my mother what my first job was, she’ll tell you it was to make my bed every day before school in exchange for my weekly allowance.  But let’s be real, I don’t really count that job and I never did a very good job at making my bed.  My reasoning, of course, was why make it if I’m just going to climb back in it at the end of the day! To be perfectly honest, I still don’t do a very good job at it though I do at least try since it makes my wife happy!

Lendl

First Real Paycheck

My first real paycheck came in 1977 from the City of Miami Beach, Florida for working at the Junior Orange Bowl Tennis Tournament.  While I was only 10 years old, I had to wear many hats.  My job consisted of (1) picking up trash around the bleachers, (2) cleaning the lines on the clay tennis courts before a match and (3) working at the tennis counter storing and retrieving tennis bags for the tennis players.

None of it was very exciting since I had not interest in tennis at the time, but looking back at it many years later, I came to realize I was actually interacting with the future stars of the tennis world.  The winners of the tournament in 1977 were Ivan Lendl and Anne Smith.  Other famous-to-be players whose bags I stored and whose spectators’ trash I picked up included Yannick Noah and Andrea Jaegar from what I remember.  According to their 60th anniversary story, “The 1977 final developed into one of the most dramatic in Orange Bowl history as Lendl, two points from losing in the second set, outlasted Noah 3-6, 7-6, 6-3”.  What I difference I must have made in making it a memorable year!

Second “First Job”

While I’m quite sure I was offered the job again the following year, I found other things to keep me busy.  It wasn’t until my first summer during college that I returned to my hometown in Miami and started my second “first job”, this time working behind the counter in a sub shop, Subs $1.29.  This job I remember a bit more clearly given I was 19 years old. Personally I think I did a pretty good job of being helpful to the customers, making their sandwiches on-demand after spending several hours before the store opened to prepare the goods.

I learned a lot about how many businesses operate, though they are not necessarily how business should be conducted.  First, there were only four subs on the menu for $1.29 and a plain cheese sub was one of them – my first exposure to marketing! While the owner had all these fancy tins of olive oil displayed, I remember being asked to fill the fancy bottles we used on the sandwiches with Mazola oil in the back – while not necessarily bad, this was another example of deceptive advertising in my opinion.  And then there was the canisters of Coke syrup which were delivered in a non-descript truck out back for pennies on the dollar – obviously shorted from the distribution center so someone else along the way could earn some extra cash on the side.

Jobs from that point forward

It was not long after that I decided to take control of my career path for the remainder of college and picked up some computer programming jobs and later assisted a small company in selling software to small businesses.

Lots to learn from my first jobs. And no more picking up trash or deceptive retail advertising for me with my “second jobs”!

Thanks Gary!

Do you have a first job story?  Email me and I'll post it.

First Job – Shane Mac

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Happy New Year everyone!  Continuing my series of posts on first jobs with one today from Shane McSimov (ShaneMac).  Shane is on my marketing team at Gist and is pretty much a rock star (literally).  You know anyone who has sung the National Anthem before a motocross event?  Check out his work and many pursuits here and follow him on Twitter @shanemacsays.

These first job stories are great and if you have one to share, please send it to me.  Also, be sure to read my first job story.

 

Corn

From Shane:

First jobs always bring back some great (and not so great) memories. My first job was none else than good old detasseling. I would say it was a great and horrible experience at the same time. Here's a few different observations from the experience.

What was great?

Learning to be an early bird ain't so bad. Getting up at 4 a.m. when I was 13 helped set a pattern in my daily routine and actually made me realize that I am a morning person. I learned that between the hours of 4-7 a.m. I can get more done and have better focus than any other time. I had never been up before 7a.m. prior to this job.

Off at 2 p.m. Starting so early in the morning do have some benefits too. I was done by 2 o'clock everyday which was awesome for someone who loved playing sports and doing other things outside of my job.

Three dollars an hour! I still remember getting paychecks for 2 weeks of work that were around $200 and thinking that I was rich. It is amazing how times change but still was awesome to have some cash and buy all those things I thought I needed.

What wasn't so great?

Wet, cold and bugs. I can still remember wearing 5 layers with a rain coat over all of them. It was cold and wet from the dew in the morning but by noon would be humid and in the 90's. I really don't remember the details but one word sticks out from it: Miserable. Peel off layer after layer each pass through the field which then exposed you to little mites and bugs that would attack in swarms. It reminded me of a horror film.

Three dollars an hour! I don't even know how this was legal! 🙂

I was basically a human machine. I know, I know, I was 13 and I have to put in the time. I get it. But really, it seemed like something that could have automatically did the work I was doing without a problem. I held my hands above my head for hours pulling the tassels at the exact same height, in the exact same fashion, over and over and over again. Phew, I am glad I don't do that anymore although it was a good shoulder work out.

Some final thoughts…

All in all, it was a great first job. It was hard work and taught me a lot about discipline. 

Any experience is better than no experience and I am always a fan of learning by doing and getting my hands dirty. I just hope I never have to do this one again! 

Picture from Flickr 

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.   

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.