How Old Were You When You Got Your First Job and What Was It?

Wendy's - 15.

IMHO every kid should spend a little time working in a fast food place and/or waiting tables (did that in college).

I was 14 and worked at Topsy's, a local popcorn and candy shop. It was pretty awesome and I got to eat all I wanted! Haha! For an on-the-go highschooler it was a dream! Free snacks and slow enough to do my homework every night! The funny thing is my husband had the exact same first job as me...a match made in popcorn heaven! (it was at a different store and I didn't know him then, but it has to be kismet). I did babysit before that for a few years but I don't count that.

When I was 14 I scooped ice cream and made shakes at a local ice cream shop for a short time, and right after that I was a cashier at the grocery store which I did until I was out of college.

I was 15 (i lied on my application to say i was a year older) I was a carhop at a Sonic dr in . For those of you not in the south its a drive in burger, ice cream joint that these girls come out on roller skates to bring you your food. The tips were great for someone that age. I worked there almost 3 years at 5 days a week.

I was 12 - I went into an office and filed TONS of paperwork and shredded even more confidential documents. I would literally spend a whole 8 hour day shredding stuff sometimes! I got paid minimum wage which at the time was something like $4.25. BUT, I was kind of the assistant to the President of the companies assistant, and so I got to go on this AWESOME weekend trip to Squaw Valley all expenses paid and be a "babysitter" which really only was sitting with the kids of the attendees during their meals so that the parents could do their own dinner plans. SCORE!! I have had a job ever since except for a 3 month period when I was unemployed about a year and a half ago, and the time off I took for maternity leave, but technically I still had a job, I was just on disability. ; )

9... helped my mom who worked at a local mother's day out, got a check and everything
15... telemarketer. hated it!
16-18... dry cleaners
17-18... photo lab tech
18... glamour shots

also, like Tracy from about 12-16 I babysat as well, and we had newspaper routes with the family.

By 5 years old I was "helping" with our family business. My folks were (at the time) flipping and/or designing and building homes. My sister and I got to weed, clear rocks out of the field, paint, clean, go on trips to the hardware store, help with simple construction (holding tools, measuring, helping with simple installation of sprinkler systems/electrical systems/plumbing), look over blueprints (not that that was a help, just fun!), etc.

By 8 I was helping with administrative work (reading numbers while mom typed 'em in, calling the power company to shut off/turn on power at a house, price checking light fixtures, etc.) 11-12 I babysat for a pair of twins who lived down the road. 13 years old I bused tables for at my friend's family restaurant.

My first "on the books" job was at 16, when I was the assistant editor of our community college newspaper.

My first job was when I was 14 at Weinerschnitzel--yep, I was a weinerdude (or dudette)
When I was 15 I upgraded to a yogurt shop in the mall and stayed there all through high school.
Those were the days......

16 - Baskin Robbins (I got some good arm muscles scooping that ice cream!)

What was your first job, Denise?
Thanks, Denise.
And do you like Sonic?

FUN! I'm going to mix up my answer a bit, though.

10 (5th grade) - modeling teen/young adult clothes (I was 5'7 and a b cup... CK and the like... next time you sigh at a model realize a LOT of us were tarted up 10 & 11 year olds)

11 (6th grade) - babysitting for $, and starting couture modeling (see above, 5'8-5'10)

12 & 13 (7th/8th grade) - working student (traded barn hours for riding time/lessons), and babysitting, and modeling (BY 13 I was 6 feet tall, and 123. So I did a lot of couture work, and did exercise riding at the local racetrack since I put the horses at 6lbs over saddleweight, and had the height/muscles to control them )

*14 (9th grade) - wood fired pizza in a 4star italian restaurant, and babysitting, dropped modeling for the next 6 years, kept being a working student at a stable

**17 (graduated from HS) - USMC

* First job I had to do my own taxes on
** First "adult" job

15, and it was at Six Flags Great Adventure.

Photolab tech 15 1/2 worked there until I was 25.

First cash job was baby-sitting and I was 11. When I was in 7th & 8th grade (ages 12-14) I baby-sat a first-grader every day after school and all day during the summer. I also was hired to do some landscaping for that family.

My first paycheck job was at Burger King and I was 14. I couldn't wait to work!

I was 17 and its at macys clothing store. It sucked!! I never could get that register right!

15: CVS for 2 weeks (hated it!)
16: Chuck E Cheese for a year and a half (loved it!)

LOL When I was about 5 or 6 Ms. Annie the lady that owned the neighborhood store would pay me a quarter for every gray hair I found and plucked. Oh, and I would get a dollar for a 15 min shoulder rub. She was a good family friend. :) I started doing babysitting at 12. My first real job was when I was 16. I worked as a cashier at a grocery store.

16, cashier in a grocery store...
i dont count babysitting when i was 12 because the boy i babysat was 10 and we got in more trouble than anything else...lol

well besides babysitting when I was 9, I was 16 when I worked at McDonalds

My dad started a used furniture/appliance business when I was 5. I always had to help with that, cleaning appliances and later driving deliveries.
At 12 started some babysitting.
At 16 went to work at Lerner Shops as a cashier.

I started about 8 as a farm hand. Then at 18 i got my first real job waiting tables at a Chinese restaurant.

I was 11, summer of 1985, de-taseling corn; It last for about 3 weeks in the summer for about 10 hour days starting at 5:30 AM... When you get a couple hundred dollar paycheck that age, you smile very big... I would NOT do it now, and not for how much I did it then for...

My first real job was at 16 at CVS. It paid 25 cents more than minimum wage so I thought I had it made. I hate to date myself and tell you that was $3.30 per hour. But I have fond memories.

15 years old, sophomore - Dairy Queen

16- Sporting goods store.

I was 12 and worked in a restaurant the served fried chicken and jojos. The owner was a total nazi and used to make me scrub the corners of the bathroom with a toothbrush. talk about child labor!!!

13 yrs old Babysitting

Then at 15 I was lucky enough to get a job at our local auction first selling jewelry then in the food stands.

It felt to make and have my own money! :)

I was 16 and started working at a movie theater.

I did babysit starting at 12, but I dont know that I considered that a real job.

I was 16. A wknd receptionist at a real estate office. 1.75 an hour was minimum wage.

When I was 11, I started sitting for family. By the time I was 14 I had about 4 families I sat for that were not family. At 16, I started working in a bank in operations on weekends only while babysitting on weekends and summer.
I once worked at a retail store when I was 18 and that was awful because the boss was just totally cynical about everything. When I got engaged she talked about how awful marriage is and how I had bankers hours because I went to work as soon as I finished my classes for the day (college freshman). That job only lasted about 4 months.
Earlier this year my daughter had a job walking a dog for a few months to earn money for a camping trip. She is 12.

My first paid job experience was working at the MN State Fair in a family friend's cotton candy booth. My responsibilities? Hold the bags that the cotton candy was to be put in. I think I was probably about 12 yrs old and was paid something like $15/day. I thought i was RICH!!

My first real job was bussing tables at a very popular steak house in the Twin Cities. I started the day after I turned 15 and worked there throughout high school, moving to the kitchen and then later becoming the hostess. Fun times! My first glimpse into the world of grown ups ;-)

During high school I also worked in the Kosher kitchen of a Jewish nursing home, where we helped to get the nightly dinner trays out to all the dining rooms, and then cleaned up like CRAZY afterward. Let me tell you, there is NOTHING nastier in a kitchen than half-eaten gifelta fish which has been dipped in borscht.

Worked 2 summers at my uncle's stock brokerage firm in downtown Minneapolis. I worked in the compliance department, and since they had the space, I got my own office with a great view of downtown. My mom who works for the same company had a cubicle....haha, it was pretty funny that I got to play grown up like that.

College years:
I was that annoying college kid whose job was to call alumni and beg them to give donations. Not a great job for my personality, as I had anxiety before making each call and PRAYED they wouldn't answer the phone.

Worked at The Gap's Michigan Ave store during the Christmas shopping season. Fun, but BUSY and they MADE us dance....humiliating for me.

Spent 3 years working at my sister's in-laws' day care. Made me certain that I was meant to be a high school teacher, not early childhood ed.

15, full time summer job babysitting an eight year old girl, I got paid $50 a week (in 1983.) All the money I earned went to pay for cheer uniform and camp.

Age 10, Delivering Newspapers
Age 16, Office work in a doctor's office. Filing, typing, answering phones. That lasted 6 months until I was "laid off" (when the office manager decided it would be a great job for her daughter to have) After that I cashiered at a run down mom and pop drugstore (think the movie clerks...)

I used to walk my neighbor's dog every day after school, starting in 6th grade.

I was 16. I got a full time job waiting tables at a truck stop after school. It was interesting to say the least!

babysitting -12
working at local grocery store - 15

I was 16 - Los Angeles Times...selling newspapers via phone...oh yeah...(not!) but I could walk there and the money was good...apparently I did good!

Dad's assistant in woodshop ages 4-9 :)
Paid extra chores and neighbor's chores 9-12.
12 and up babysat ALL the time.
14 started washing dishes at Ramstein Air Base Officers club and worked my way up through the ranks of prep cook, and busser until I was old enough to "serve on the floor" at 16. Simultaneously I was a grocery bagger at the Base Commissary and Belgian Chocolate Sales Girl in a boutique and still babysat throughout high school.
Then on to waitressing, textile design and fashion design until "taking a break" at 35 to have kids.

I was 14 and a bus person at a local mexican restaurant. I didn't last long!

I was 17 yrs just graduated high school. Wasn't allowed to work when i was in school. I worked on a military base at a place called FRANKS FRANKS. It was a hotdog place. Met lots of cute GI's. ; )

First real & paying job was paper route at 10yo. At 12yo, I became a mother's helper and at 13yo, had 3 other young ladies under me and an actual mother's helper business, haha.

Oh gosh, I had a paper route at age 10! Then I started work as the world's worst waitress at age 14 ;)

I started my first real job on my 16th birthday. I worked at the daycare at our church helping in the 2 year old room.

I was 12, and got paid to hand out samples of Jelly Belly's for advertisement.
Yum, yum!

I used to cut grass in my neighborhood when I was 13 & 14 years old.
Then I started my first job when I was 15. I worked at a grocery store.

I was 16 years old and worked in the nursing home. I worked in the kitchen, I had to bring the cart with the trays of food up to the residents and came back to get them when they were done. Also had to wash dishes and peel potatoes. I remember sweating my butt off. lol. I saved the money and bought a nice ten speed and clothes for school.

I babysat a lot and worked in my church nursery, which paid for my own phone line in my room! When I was 16 I worked at little caesar's pizza..I still love that crazy bread! Then another ivar's family restaurant on the beach at 17, then the limited from 18-26, and two chiropractic offices since I was 19 (still at O. of them!).

We have a sonic an hour or more away now, can't wait till they bring them into Seattle finally!

I was 15 and it was a summer job for my mom's friend who owned a limosine service at our small local airport. Our counter also had the parking lot fees paid there, before they had the machine installed out in the parking lot. They had to bring their ticket to our counter to pay for the parking lot to get out. So I did that and answered phones for the limo service. I couldn't take reservations. I took the messages only and then the owners who call people back. I could give prices and info but no reservations. I worked there for nearly 3 months over the summer. I did end up quitting though as my mom's friend was a bit harsh. I was 15 after all and did want some time off to have fun with my friends once in a while and she didn't like that idea at all. I just wanted a day off here and there as I was getting paid under the table. So she basically said, "You want time off, fine!" and cuz my hours way back to nearly nothing to spite me. She and my mother got into an argument over it and I just quit. She shorted me on my last pay, again to spite me. But I did earn a lot of money over the summer and bought my own school clothes, backpack, school ring, book fees to start high school and all that. Even Adidas sneakers, lol. That was back in 1980. My mother never bought me a thing, not even shampoo so it was a big deal for me to actually have something.

Our 16 year old was suppose to get his first summer job this year but circumstances have stood in the way. He did apply to a local grocery store for stock and said they weren't hiring. We'll find something for him. Kids need to learn responsibility.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

I was 12, and I served food from the kitchen at our local American Legion's weekly bingo. Not on the books, but my first actual paying job.

My first "real" job was at Taco Bell at 16. Prior to that (and after too), I did a lot of babysitting.

First "actual" job was 12, (before that did babysitting) as a helper in a photo studio in Indiana at a hotel (you know, those cheesy old time photos where people dressed up in 1800s clothing) -- loved it!!! Wish my kids could get jobs at that age, but seems difficult in my area to get a job before the age of 18 around here.

worked with my step dad as clean up on construction job sites starting when I was 7, babysitter around age 10, and when I was 13 at an area bakery (worked under the table.)

I started babysitting as a mother's helper when I was 12 and began catering at 14 (even though I wasn't supposed to be hired until I was 16...) My mom didn't like us working during the school year, so I worked on weekends. I picked up jobs every weekend and summer I came home from college and worked 4 jobs between college and grad school to begin paying on my student loans.

I've always worked. In our house, if we wanted anything above and beyond what my parents could provide, we had to earn it ourselves. All four of us have a strong work ethic and I'm very grateful for that.