Your First Job

[Arthur Little]

:anerikke: ... probably not a thread for those of you who already had a pre-planned vocation mapped~out in one or other of the graduate professions.

Mine was [unexpectedly] as a lowly insurance clerk (1961-67) at the Perth Head Office of a worldwide organisation formerly known as 'General Accident Fire & Life Assurance Corporation Ltd', referred to locally as the 'GA' or 'GAFLAC'. - later, merged with Commercial Union ... in turn, absorbed by Norwich Union and, ultimately, Aviva.

How about yours???

[grahamw48]

Already had a Saturday job there, then

16-18 was Trainee Manager at a large Pet store plus Provender Merchant in York, much to the annoyance of my parents. Learned customer service, buying and selling, typing invoices and statements (we had 500 customer accounts), and accounts to trial balance for the business.

[fred]

My first job was to pack the freshly printed control knobs on a washing machine into card board boxes.
I was not however by any stretch of the imagination..A Knobjockey.

[Arthur Little]

My first job was to pack the freshly printed control knobs on a washing machine into card board boxes.
I was not however by any stretch of the imagination..A Knobjockey.

:laugher: ... classic, Fred!

[Michael Parnham]

My first job was in 1957 as an apprentice mechanic at a Roots Group dealers greasing and spraying Humbers and Hillmans was the very first thing I was taught to do on my first day, and the first car I did was a Hillman Californian! :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[Arthur Little]

My first job was in 1957 as an apprentice mechanic at a Roots Group dealers greasing and spraying Humbers and Hillmans was the very first thing I was taught to do on my first day, and the first car I did was a Hillman Californian! :xxgrinning--00xx3:

:cwm25: ... did the foreman send his apprentice mechanic out for a tin of "elbow grease", by any chance, Michael? :icon_lol:

[Michael Parnham]

You must have been the brightest boy in the class when you were at school Arthur :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[andy222]

My first job was spring making. In the days of manufacturing.

[gWaPito]

I worked for my much older cousin as an apprentice paint sprayer and panel beater. ..from the summer of 76.


My take home pay per week after no tax and stoppages amounted £11.

Appreciation of money was learnt from an early age.

Qualified aged 21 in 81...I promptly gave it all up for a life on the road.

[Arthur Little]

You must have been the brightest boy in the class when you were at school Arthur :xxgrinning--00xx3:

Alas ... not always bright enough to avoid getting caught on one occasion while scribbling down a rather :cwm24: dubious :joke: ... as the [female] teacher was able to :ReadIt: - even though it'd been written in pencil.

[Arthur Little]

Alas ... not always bright enough to avoid getting caught on one occasion while scribbling down a rather :cwm24: dubious :joke: ... as the [female] teacher was able to :ReadIt: - even though it'd been written in pencil.

Oddly enough ... the teacher I've mentioned is still very much ALIVE - albeit, now in her nineties and confined to a :wheelchair: ...

[gWaPito]

Fat slob union bosses priced British workers out the market. .they didn't look to the horizon. ..they didn't see the take up of pauper basket case countries like our new enforced European brothers waiting in the wings rubbing their dirty little hands ready to pounce.

[Arthur Little]

Oddly enough ... the teacher I've mentioned is still ALIVE - albeit, now in her nineties and confined to a :wheelchair: ...

... a BIG change from when she taught ME in 1957 - at which point, she drove a canvass~topped sports car :drivingx: back and forth to the school I attended.

[grahamw48]

Fat slob union bosses priced British workers out the market. .they didn't look to the horizon. ..they didn't see the take up of pauper basket case countries like our new enforced European brothers waiting in the wings rubbing their dirty little hands ready to pounce.

I refused to buy a Foreign car, on principle.

If Brits hadn't bought them the foreigners wouldn't have had a market, and we'd have had time to sort out the trade disputes etc.

But, it seems we really like doing ourselves out of jobs. :NoNo:

[Jamesey]

I can't remember my exact first job, but I used to do all sorts of things when I was 14 or 15, including helping local farmers with their hay making and cider making, mowing lawns for old ladies, washing cars.... all sorts! I did anything I could to get some extra pocket money.

But I don't know what kids that age do these days. I can't imagine them loading a trailer with hay bales and riding on top of it back to the barn!

The work was great for me. At that young age, it taught me the value of money and that you need to work for a living.

It's a pity that more of today's younger generation haven't learnt that lesson.

[grahamw48]

Kids on farms still do it, just that things are more mechanised now. :smile:

I used to drive a tractor and trailer on the road at harvest time, when I was 13 years old, perfectly legally. :biggrin:

My boy started working on Saturdays when he was 16, and on til he left school with his A levels at 18. He was also working evenings at Dominos Pizza by then though.

Both of my Filipino stepkids had jobs as soon as they could legally work (paper rounds at 13, I think it was...then working in shops).

[GraceAdam]

Aww my very first job is looking after of the adults with learning disability (wake night), it's a challenging job but working with them is such a great feeling :)

[Arthur Little]

Aww my very first job is looking after of the adults with learning disability (wake night), it's a challenging job but working with them is such a great feeling :)

That's an extremely worthwhile occupation ... I doff my :coucouchapeau: to you for rising to the challenge, Grace.

[tone]

My first job was a right blower..

Only lasted a day - I was late - got caught speeding cos I missed the bus and had to tackle my dad and borrowing his car, working in a photography shop.
The guy who owned it was a :xxaction-smiley-047 and didnt offer much training or help, I lasted a day was given a £10 and told not to bother coming back..

Put me off working for life..

:doh

[Arthur Little]

Having, for the most part, been based in warm, cosy offices throughout MY working life ... I sometimes look back and realise how fortunate I was, compared to the harsh outdoor conditions my dad endured - particularly during the bitterly cold winters of the early '60s (notably in February 1963) - when, as a middle
aged man, he'd to battle his way through :freezin: weather - complete with heavy chains fixed to the wheels of his van and a shovel on board - in order to ensure his customers living in remote, outlying rural areas received their regular grocery deliveries.

[Arthur Little]

Put me off working for life..

:doh

That's the spirit, Tone! Joking apart ... it's really good to see you back here posting again. :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[sars_notd_virus]

My first job was with PNB (Philippine National Bank) as a file clerk and also with Mc Donalds (service crew) and also some weekends at my uncles optical clinic (greeting patients) ..I am a busy teen at sixteen:smile::xxgrinning--00xx3:

Oh btw, if i can remember it right i was paid 6pesos an hour during those years :grosyeux: hahaha at least i can afford to buy my own pair of Levis jeans , give my mum some ''little'' cash from my salary and the rest goes to my savings :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[lordna]

:anerikke: ... probably not a thread for those of you who already had a pre-planned vocation mapped~out in one or other of the graduate professions.

Mine was [unexpectedly] as a lowly insurance clerk (1961-67) at the Perth Head Office of a worldwide organisation formerly known as 'General Accident Fire & Life Assurance Corporation Ltd', referred to locally as the 'GA' or 'GAFLAC'. - later, merged with Commercial Union ... in turn, absorbed by Norwich Union and, ultimately, Aviva.

How about yours???

My first job was as an apprentice electrician earning £4 19s 11d a week which i did until deciding to study electrical engineering at a higher level.

But the interesting bit is I gave up that career to go into computers and this eventually led me to work for Commercial Union as a programmer/analyst. I lived through the mergers with GA, then Norwich Union until AVIVA also made me redundant in 20002. Coincidence!

[andy222]

Fat slob union bosses priced British workers out the market. .they didn't look to the horizon. ..they didn't see the take up of pauper basket case countries like our new enforced European brothers waiting in the wings rubbing their dirty little hands ready to pounce.
I disagree. Are there Renaults, Peugeot and Citroen cars on our roads? The french workers were paid more than our workers and had longer holidays so I really dont know what your talking about. The fact is the french and germans invest in their products whereas we rely on foreign investment that is the problem.

[Ako Si Jamie]

My first job was at 14 working as a kitchen porter in a holiday camp.

[mickcant]

My first job was a temporary one at a lampshade factory in 1959, for £2.54 a week they said I would be spot welding but it turned out to be bending little bits of wire U shape, to make little hands that were then spot welded to a figure on matchbox holders, thousands of them, they were for the Woolworth stores.

I left there after a few months then worked in a Brewery for 10 months :hubbahubba:

Then started training as a plant fitter.
Had many jobs in my 49 years of work, mostly as a mechanic, 10 years as head mechanic for our local ambulance service.
The best job "Retirement" and I consider I have worked hard for the state pension and any benefits I am entitled to.:furious3:
Mick.:smile:

[gWaPito]

I disagree. Are there Renaults, Peugeot and Citroen cars on our roads? The french workers were paid more than our workers and had longer holidays so I really dont know what your talking about. The fact is the french and germans invest in their products were as we rely on foriegn investment that is the problem.
The Unions wanted top dollar for second rate work. .the cars coming out of Longbridge Oxford and Swindon were rubbish. ..the French and Germans cars were and still are quite the opposite. .. admire Graham's loyalty but, if we'd all done likewise we'd still be driving car's where the windscreens popped out driving over a kerb. ..my first father in law only bought British cars. ....the times I remember him in his garage with best part of the engine spread over the garage floor while mother in law was ranting and raving at him to get the car fixed now....the cars were an embarrassment.
Even the film industry made fun of the unions. ..do you remember the carry on film. ..the one about making toilets. ..those days are long gone, thank Goodness.

[stevewool]

my first job was a market gardener, all weathers but in the fresh air all day stuck that for 4 years

[fred]

The best job "Retirement" and I consider I have worked hard for the state pension and any benefits I am entitled to.:furious3:
Mick.:smile:.

I left there after a few months then worked in a Brewery for 10 months :hubbahubba:

Then started training as a plant fitter.
Had many jobs in my 49 years of work, mostly as a mechanic, 10 years as head mechanic for our local ambulance service.
The best job "Retirement" and I consider I have worked hard for the state pension and any benefits I am entitled to.:furious3:
Mick.:smile:

Good luck to you Mick!!
You deserve it mate!! Enjoy.

[andy222]

I have already said the french were paid more than our workers and had more holidays. We are back on the topic of privatisation. Does it really work?. Well thats why the french and germans are better than us because their governments look after them. They have both got up to date technology in their car plants something the government invested in.

[Arthur Little]

My first job was as an apprentice electrician earning £4 19s 11d a week which i did until deciding to study electrical engineering at a higher level.

But the interesting bit is I gave up that career to go into computers and this eventually led me to work for Commercial Union as a programmer/analyst. I lived through the mergers with GA, then Norwich Union until AVIVA also made me redundant in 2002. Coincidence!

Indeed, a coincidence ... :iagree:!

During MY time with General Accident, I was one of hundreds at Head Office who sat an "Aptitude Test" to determine whether or not they'd prove to be suitable candidates for training as future Computer Programmers. Alas, I wasn't considered. :NoNo:

Can't remember the exact criteria (as nearly half a century has elapsed since I "tried my hand" ... but I do recall the examiners setting their sights on applicants scoring an 'A' pass (of which, I later heard, there were comparatively few) or at least a 'B'. Like the vast majority, I'd been graded 'C' which didn't qualify.

So ... well done on [I] your commendable achievement. :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[grahamw48]

One of York's bigger employers was 'Yorkshire Insurance'....later to become 'Yorkshire General'....later to become Norwich Union....later to become Aviva.

Blinkin takeovers ! Hardly time for the damned paint on the sign to dry ! :NoNo:

Rowntrees, after over a hundred years, taken over and becomes Nestle.

Leave our local companies alone !!! :mad:

[tone]

That's the spirit, Tone! Joking apart ... it's really good to see you back here posting again. :xxgrinning--00xx3:

Thanks Arthur! Much appreciated!

[Slip]

First job after school was a Christmas job in Ratners jewellers... it was crap.. but at the time it was £125 per week which in 1990 was quite good..... plus once I gave my Mum £25 I had £100 to waste on beer and women

[grahamw48]

You were lucky.
My mother used to take half of my wages, and another third went on trainfares to get to work. :cwm3:

[Arthur Little]

First job after school was a Christmas job in Ratners jewellers ... it was crap.. but at the time it was £125 per week which in 1990 was quite good..... plus once I gave my Mum £25 I had £100 to waste on beer and women

:yikes: ... coincidentally, when my daughter was in her 5th & 6th Forms at Perth Academy - a few years earlier (circa mid to late 80s) - she ALSO worked with Ratner's the Jewellers, albeit in a
part time Saturday job! :smile:

By contrast, though, :icon_rolleyes: she enjoyed working there.

[Arthur Little]

:anerikke: ... as it happened, the youngest of my former boss's three sons was a Trainee Manager with Ratner's at the time.

:yeahthat: ... although this fact had no bearing on my daughter's temporary student employment. :NoNo:

[Michael Parnham]

You were lucky.
My mother used to take half of my wages, and another third went on trainfares to get to work. :cwm3:

Yeah, my mum used to take £1 off me for board that left me with ten shillings for the week!:anerikke:

[Arthur Little]

Yeah, my mum used to take £1 off me for board that left me with ten shillings for the week! :anerikke:

Ah ... but then ... you could buy a lot with 10/- in those days. :smile:

[Michael Parnham]

Ah ... but then ... you could buy a lot with 10/- in those days. :smile:

I think petrol was about 1shilling and 3pence per GALLON!:drivingx:

[grahamw48]

The first gallon of petrol I bought (for my motorbike) in 1967, cost 5/- .

Petrol has always been roughly the same cost as a pack of 20 cigs. :)

At that same time I used to work 8 hours in a shop on Saturdays (Burtons Tailors 'measure book boy') for £1.

[grahamw48]

I started full time work at 16 in 1968.

My take home pay was £7 for a 5'/2 day week, out of which I gave my mother £3.50, then -£2 for train fares, leaving me with the grand total of £1.50 a week to blow. :cwm3:

[grahamw48]

I started full time work at 16 in 1968.

My take home pay was £7 a week, out of which I gave my mother £3.50, then -£2 for train fares, leaving me with the grand total of £1.50 a week to blow. :cwm3:

I later topped that up by working at the local zoo all day Sundays, for another 25 bob, which paid for my driving lesson. :smile:

[malditako]

luckily hired as a full time accounting staff doing accounts payable and auditing at affiliated company while still at university.

[Rosie1958]

My first job was working for the Inland Revenue in the self employed taxation department. Whilst still at school, I also worked in a shop selling fabrics, fortunately I was in soft furnishings as I hate sewing and dress making :thumbsdown:

[fred]

My first job was working for the Inland Revenue in the self employed taxation department.

:cwm25:

[grahamw48]

I wasn't going to say anything Fred. :icon_lol:

[Rosie1958]

Erm ...... what's wrong with that guys? Some one had to do it! :Rasp:

Anyway, I'm not alone as Terpe is also ex Inland Revenue too :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[han]

My first job in the Philippines was a cashier in a convenience store.
Then here in the UK- I just started at Salmon Factory. :biggrin: and this is my first job.

[MissAna]

my first job was a Company Nurse in a private energy company in the Philippines. :smile: i loved that job lots of happy employee, not bad salary and there's lots of free food :biggrin:

[mickcant]

my first job was a Company Nurse in a private energy company in the Philippines. :smile: i loved that job lots of happy employee, not bad salary and there's lots of free food :biggrin:

Free Food, that would keep me happy :xxgrinning--00xx3:
Mick :smile:

[jlags90]

I was a Laboratory Assistant for almost two years while I was completing my degree. That was how I met David online since I had unlimited internet access:icon_lol:. UK wise, I work behind the bar:ReadIt::ReadIt::ReadIt: part-time.:cwm25: