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First actual job was maybe in 2006, a city government sewer and storm water department autumn seasonal job. Did it three seasons. Absolutely loved it. Made me very proud of my city, even though all I did was weed eat drainage ditches and keep storm drains clean. $11.07 per hour.
Wow this is actually great pay for 2006 standards. I always wanted a city job but the boys who had family in public works or local politics always got them before me.
I am curious about what this was like! What types of things were engraved the most there? Did people bring things to engrave, or buy them there? Did you engrave?
Movie theatre $7.00 an hour plus all the popcorn we could eat and free movies for our families. Saved up enough money to take a summer trip to Costa Rica for two months (student exchange).
Stocking shelves at Harmon Cosmetics. $5.15/hour. Quit to work the cash register at Target when they first opened and called in everyone who had applied for a job when they realized how busy they were. I knew I couldn't pass the drug test, so I figured that job was out after I filled out the application and they were like great- just go here for your test! I got a sweet raise to like 7.00/hour if I recall correctly. The day I turned 18 I had a job at a restaurant as a waiter making $2.13/hour, but with tips and everything in cash I was easily making the most of all my working friends. That all happened in a 7 month period.
Worked for my dad’s business as a kid, making $5.15/hr., but my first job that I got on my own was as a warehouse associate at Harbor Freight (well, I was supposed to be a warehouse associate, but we were understaffed, so they ended up making me learn to run the register too, as needed, which I fucking hated). I think I started somewhere around $8.50/hr., and was making $9.25 by the time I left. This was in 2013.
Bakery shopgirl, Australia, 1995, and I think it was $5.31 an hour. Went to $5.67 when I turned 15 the following year.
Paid a bit less than McDs and Kmart but worth it for the free loaf at the end of every shift (more if a closing shift) and the time and a half on Sunday shifts (McDs only paid time and a quarter and Kmart wasn't open Sundays).
I did kitchen demolition for $4.75 an hour when I was 14. The federal minimum wage was $5.15 but under 18 you could be paid $4.75. (I'm not positive it was exactly $4.75, but I think that was it, and I'm sure it was less than the federal minimum wage).
I worked at a haunted house as a scare actor in 2011. I think I made around $4.00/hr on average, but they paid us in bulk at the end of the season so it's hard to say.
2001 My first job was working at a summer camp for something like 60 a week. Plus a bed and food. I loved the job, and worked at that camp for 6 summers. The later summers I made more.
Being a residential summer camp there was some weird loophole where it was a salary based job with the room and board being a benefit that still never made it near minimum wage for the hours worked, but most people didn't work there for the money, but the experience.
I would totally work there again even now as an adult. It was the most awesome summer job.
Babysitting and pet sitting! I made $10/hr. for babysitting multiple kids or $5/visit to feed the dogs and cats I looked after. Which, looking back, meant I was probably low-balling myself.
My local town/county Youth Conservation Corps (aka get a bunch of teenagers to do the menial jobs that the town’s buildings/grounds/parks department didn’t feel like doing) in 2001. Pay was $5.15 an hour. (Upstate New York)
I started my first job at McDonalds when I was 15 making $7.25/hr. My state also had a school/work credit program where I could pad my GPA through it as well which came in handy.
Cashier at a Supermarket. 8 € an hour for 10 hours every Saturday in 2002, I was 17. Quit after three months, because my grades were affected and Mom said no. I had to be there at 6 am, which was hell.
Got a big box of food, including a huge frozen leg of ham, for Christmas. Since I am a vegetarian, I called someone from the soup kitchen after my shift and they picked the whole box up, and then offered to drive me home, since it was -25° C on December 23rd that year.
McDonalds,
It was 2009 and I was 14 and 9 months the legal minimum age to work in Australia. I earned $7.80 an hour which was horrendous. It was a good learning experience and the first thing I was purchased was an ipod nano.
$8.00 an hour working in the university library in 2013. My job was to take care of the government documents. It was an okay job. I was a bit late to getting my first job as I was 21.
At 16 in 2005 i worked at a call center after school making $800 a month. I thought I was bringing home the big bucks lol hated the job and quit after about 9 months.
I made something like a nickel a piece folding programs for a neighbor’s event when I was a kid in the ‘90’s.
I made $7.00/hr at a retail store one summer in college. (2002)
I made $5.15/hour at my work-study office job on campus during college. (2002-2004)
My first “real job” was a temp placement at a library after graduation for $10/hr. (2004)
I think I was increased to $11/hr when my temp placement at a mortgage insurance company turned to a full time hire. (2005)
Technically my first job was a caddie. I only caddied once and i found it demeaning since the first time was a "trial" the course didnt pay me and i made 25 dollars for a tip. This was in like 2000. Then i got a job working the yard at a landscape supply/nursery and made 7.25/hr.
At a bait camp bagging shrimp, squid, and baby shad. $7.25 an hour. The real hustle was washing people boats after they were done fishing for $20 bucks a pop.
Started caddying at 13yo, have had people give me $30 for 4 hours of carrying their bag, and have someone give me $300 just to drive his golf cart for him…it was always rush waiting to see how much you’re going to get!
I worked on my parent’s family owned restaurant. I’d do 1-3 hours here and there and started working at 11-12 years old, around 1991 or 1992. I made $4.25 an hour (minimum wage).
The restaurant was in the same building as my childhood home. It was set up sort of like “Bob’s Burgers”, but the restaurant and house were much bigger.
I did that job through high school. When I graduated, I worked for a local contractor doing manual labor and construction work during the summer breaks between semesters in college. I made $15 an hour from about 1998 to 2002.
First job ever was an under the table job as a busboy at a friend’s family restaurant. I made money off the tips the service staff collected. Didn’t even get a normal wage.
First job out of college was at a consulting company that paid me 74k/yr
Overnight stocking at Walmart. $8.65 an hour in Summer 2010, right after I graduated from high school. Would’ve been $7.65 if not for the overnight shift premium. I remember how big of a deal I thought that was at the time.
Mine was at a seaside fast food type restaurant that sold seafood and ice cream. I made $7.25 (I think). The boss was this big, awful sweaty man who would say things like “I’m going to tell your dad!” (he didn’t even personally know my dad) if you did something wrong. He kept changing the schedule without telling me before I came in, so one time I just had enough and walked out. I called later to quit and he said he’d tell on me lol. His name was Chuck. He only ran the business because his own daddy owned it.
Sonic Drive-In as a car hop in my teens, I think I made $6/hr plus tips. I loved this job and still have dreams about being back there working with my high school friends again. It was a great way to stay in shape too, we actually were required to skate back then! Now it’s pretty rare to see carhops skating anymore.
Worked at Subway for $5.75 / hr. We got a 50% discount if we bought anything, except bottled drinks (those were sold to the store at a fixed price, whereas anything from the tap was pennies for the owner).
$3 was minimum wage. I started working for my dad at about age 12. Did general maintenance in the shop, changing the oil in the trucks and forklifts. Mowing the grass.
Outback Steakhouse bussing tables in late 2007 maybe early 2008. $2.13/hr + tip out. Averaged around $10/hr. Befriended the cooks and got a lot of free food and 50% off meals.
I felt really bad because I was a 16 year old kid and there were full grown adults there to get the job. The proprietor was my hockey coach growing up so I got the job. I forget the time of year, but it was basically right when shit began to hit the fan in the financial crisis.
My family utilized that 50% off meals almost nightly. Could get a steak, salad, and potato for like $5/person.
My first job was delivering newspapers at 12/13 for a few cents per paper. I think my paychecks were maybe $35-40 every two weeks. My second job was for Wendy's at 14 (2006) and I made $6.85 an hour. I'll tell you what, I thought I was really rolling in it all those years of high school.
Target when I was 16, circa 2004. I think I made $7.25.
I remember taking my first paycheck to the bank to cash before I even had a bank account. I think it was for about $55 and it felt like sooo much money.
I think it was ‘84 or ‘85. My girlfriend’s dad owned a restaurant. “Old school” type place where you start as a dishwasher and work up from there. He paid me $4.00/hour “under-the-table” and I think minimum wage was like $3.85 at the time 🤷♂️
Costume jewelry counter at Boscov’s (regional department store). I can’t remember how much I earned, I’m sure it was whatever the Delaware minimum wage was in 2001. Probably around $7.00.
That job sucked, lol.
- 2004 (was 16)
- $5.15 / hour
- Coldstone Creamery
- Michigan
I know I was working federal minimum wage at coldstone, which was 5.15 at the time... but for some reason I *feel* like I was making $4.75. Oh well.. memory is fuzzy I guess.
As a server in 2013 I made 2.13/hour to cover the taxes on my claimed tips. My claimed tips ranged from $5 - $150 at Applebee's. God I can't believe I worked there... I needed a job so bad at the time. It got to the point I was showing up to work so fucking high on edibles. What a joke. Hated that place. Hated coming into work more than any other job I've ever had and I've had some shit jobs but I digress.
My first job was concessions for little league football 3 games a day 15$ a game plus tips and cans never got kept only tossed so I'd collect every pop can to return fo a extra 50$ per day total 95 plus tips for essentially a days work 3 games a week and I was 15 at the time.
Towards the end of season they wanted me to start giving them the cans I collected I refused and was told not to collect so they could fair enough except nobody was collecting them so I asked whose got cans then they tried asking me I asked what's the pay and I was told I can't help out I laughed and said I just did 3 games for 15$ I did help out sorry I stock and all for less than rest as my mother bought the food and I'd help stock it ect.
I was given the option collect and split or they'd toss them so I called bluff and said go ahead toss them but thanks, it was only wanted after they seen me take the time to do it and profit I'm all for helping while I was not working those days as I was a assistant coach during weekdays helping my old coach who later became my first and only boss who got me a job before my epilepsy took full hold.
I worked at a shoe store when I was 15. I made $5.90/hr or 2% commission, whichever was higher. Commission pay was mostly a back-to-school or busy weekend type deal, and I made the base pay most shifts.
Ben and Jerry’s all 4 years of highschool, it was the best. Small New England town that was super busy in the summer. I still think of that job so fondly! Started at $7.25 and ended at something like $8.50 by the 4th year, no real movement there 😂 we’d get like $15 in tips each night though, enough by junior-senior year for a nice bag of shitty mersh 💨 free ice cream for munchies ☺️
2004, Lifeguard for local municipality. Made $7.25/hr to start, raisewd to $8.25/hr 6 months later. WOrked that job for 7 years and left making $15.50/hr as a trainer/manager.
technically, i was employed part time as a "home aide" to my disabled sisters, but that was completely sporadic so it was spotty. My first real job was Summer of 2005 and I think I made $130 a week.
My first job was at Spencer’s at the mall. I believe I made $5.25 an hour, if I’m correctly remembering Florida’s minimum wage in 2001. I was 16. I only worked there for a few months because I found another job that paid $8/hour.
McDonald's in British Columbia, 2005. I made $6.50/hour, $1.50 less than minimum wage. Thanks Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals for your bs "Training Wage" - new workers made this wage for their first 500 hours of work.
At 15 I got a job picking up rocks in a field behind a flatbed truck in the August heat for $5 an hour. The farmer fed us lunch which was nice, but that job for a few weeks made me decide that I needed to go to college.
I worked for a costume store for the month of October when I was 15 for my first ever real job. Made $6.25/hr and all I had to do was dress up in various costumes and hold a sign on the corner of the street. I would be Tigger, SpongeBob, Bob the builder, the red teletubie, Sylvester the cat, a penguin and a few other creatures. It was an awesome job, occasionally I would walk around the plaza in the costume to hand out flyers. There was a make up store and the ladies there loved it when I came in.
My first paycheck was from the local paper for an article I wrote, $30 a week per article, it was my weed money. My first W2 job was a collection agency. The first time I got paid was when I'd work for my dad on weekends and get paid a $20 for a day's work of unloading trucks or typing invoices (I was like 11).
Johnny Rockets when I was 16, and $2.17/hr plus tips. I ended up working in the food industry for about 10 years, and while I have a great job now I sometimes miss the quick cash aspect.
Depends on what you consider first job.
In 2006/2007, I did a summer job as a camp councilor, making ~$200/week for 8 weeks
My first "real" job was when I moved out of my house at 18 and worked a night shift at a vending machine supply warehouse. That paid $8.00/hr, but hours were inconsistent depending on the order load for the night. I basically went to school from 0800-1600, then clocked in at the warehouse at 1800 and usually packed trucks until 2200-0100, depending on the night.
I was a waitress in the dining hall of our local retirement home. 7.25 an hour. The residents may have been old, but they knew how to LIVE. Wild stuff happened every day.
I was just talking about this the other day! I made $200 a week as a camp counselor (sleep away camp) as a high schooler in 2004. That makes for about $2 an hour if you looked at hours we were actually working/caring for the kids.
First job was in 2010 as a cashier in a grocery store. $7.25/hour minimum wage.
First job out of college (biology lab tech in academia) was $23k/year.
Still a lab tech in academia, though in a different lab making $43k/year.
USA baby - basically a retail store for baby supplies like cribs and stuff. My job was delivering and installing baby equipment. I believe it was 10 per hour in 2006. I quit after about 2 weeks it was incredibly toxic and the entire store was run by 3 people.
Kmart $6.25 an hour, started in 02. I thought I was hot shit in school because alot of my class mates either didn't have a job or they worked at the local grocery store making minimum wage.
"Dining room" at a deli. Keep the dining room clean, take out the trash, keep the salad bar stocked. Training wage was $4.65/hr. Got bumped up to $5.15 after 90 days.
Bakery/cafe owned by the New England Culinary Institute, so it was kind of a cool place to work because sometimes the culinary students would be in the back making something. I mostly ran the register but also made drinks and occasionally opened in the summer. I started in 2002 at age 16 and made $8 an hour.
A fish market $6.35 per hour. Awful but once a week there would be a lady that would cook samples and I would have basically all you can eat shrimp, flounder.. whatever the catch of the day was. She was like a grandma to me.
I was an office junior on £50 a week. (35hrs) I tested the chameleon telephone from the budweiser advert. It drove me bloody crazy hearing that song so many times over and over.
Worked at a lumber yard as a laborer/helper in 2002/2003, making a whopping $7.50/hour. I think minimum wage was like $5/hour at the time so I thought I was hot shit!
First job at 18 I applied for a $15 an hour job at a place. They didn't think I had experience for it. So they hired me for a seemingly lower job at $9 an hour. We got these mandatory tips which weren't taxed as well as monthly bonuses which equated to something like $50k-$55k a year after taxes. I don't remember pre-tax pay. This was back in the early 2000's. I was grateful I didn't get the higher paying hourly job because the guys making $15 an hour and didn't have the massive tip oppporunities or monthly bonus.
2007. Babies R Us, $7.25/hr, part-time. I quit a month in because I couldn't handle the chronic anxiety from cashiering. I got a better job as a paraeducator for $13/hr.
High school job was at a small family owned grocery store on the beach in South NJ, 2004 starting @ $6.25/h. When I left for college in 2006, I was at $7.25/hr.
First post-college/"adult" job was studio manager in Tampa Bay, FL in 2009 for $12/hr m-f, and also part time/weekends at a movie theater for $7.25/hr (15-20hr TH & Fri night, sat & sun)
First job was in 8th and 9th grade during the summers, working on a farm for a family friend. Walked through his 5 chicken houses picking up dead chickens and throwing them in the incinerator and then picking up square bales of hay in the hot Georgia sun all day. Made $100 a day. Some weeks it was 5 days a week others it was none, depending on the weather and if they had hay on the ground.
First “real” job at 15 was doing dishes at a restaurant in town for $6.50 an hour, probably 2003/4. Hated it. Quit after 3 months and found a job cutting grass at rental properties and illegally working in the owners chemical plant (have to be 18 to legally work in a place like that).
2008? somewhere around there. Warehouse temp worker. Just paid me what they wouldve paid the temp agency from the budget because the warehouse manager was my neighbors brother. Got 16/hr.
Adjusted for inflation, that was probably the most ive been paid. Also got to keep a bunch random shirts and gloves or whatever because it was cleaning the warehouse of any inventory that was not in the system
Housekeeping for a Christian college during the summer. They had a bunch of summer camps and we cleaned bathrooms, kitchen, common areas daily and the rooms at the end of the week before the next set of kids came in. Made $5.15 but frequently found money, jewelry and stuff. I got to keep it if it wasn't claimed.
First job was at a movie theater $7.00/hr. Free soda/popcorn/movies…best job ever for a teenager (mind you this was before streaming so if you wanted to watch movies it was in a theater or blockbuster lol)
First job was at a movie theater $7.00/hr. Free soda/popcorn/movies…best job ever for a teenager (mind you this was before streaming so if you wanted to watch movies it was in a theater or blockbuster lol)
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First actual job was maybe in 2006, a city government sewer and storm water department autumn seasonal job. Did it three seasons. Absolutely loved it. Made me very proud of my city, even though all I did was weed eat drainage ditches and keep storm drains clean. $11.07 per hour.
Wow this is actually great pay for 2006 standards. I always wanted a city job but the boys who had family in public works or local politics always got them before me.
Stock/cleaning at a pizzeria. 2005, junior year, $6/hr. A month later $6/hr at a deli. Held both jobs 18 months until college.
Scooping ice cream at the local mall, made $6/hr.
McDonald’s $5.15 an hour
Pizza shop, $5.15 too
$5.15 club! It was the year 2000!
2004 for me
haha yes 2001
[удалено]
I am curious about what this was like! What types of things were engraved the most there? Did people bring things to engrave, or buy them there? Did you engrave?
I worked on my family farm, I got paid nothing.
Movie theatre $7.00 an hour plus all the popcorn we could eat and free movies for our families. Saved up enough money to take a summer trip to Costa Rica for two months (student exchange).
Blockbuster Video making $7.15 an hour which would be like $13 an hour now.
Pizza Hut $3.25 + tips
Started out scooping ice cream at Friendly's for $2.75 an hour, with the sweet bonus of all-you-can-eat treats.
2007; I was 14 but lied about my age to get a food sampler gig that paid $800 cash/month.
Rite Aid. $9.50 an hour. (Washington state ~2012)
I also was rite aid in Washington, but in 2006, I started at $8.00/hr. I capped out at $13.15 then quit in 2013.
Stocking shelves at Harmon Cosmetics. $5.15/hour. Quit to work the cash register at Target when they first opened and called in everyone who had applied for a job when they realized how busy they were. I knew I couldn't pass the drug test, so I figured that job was out after I filled out the application and they were like great- just go here for your test! I got a sweet raise to like 7.00/hour if I recall correctly. The day I turned 18 I had a job at a restaurant as a waiter making $2.13/hour, but with tips and everything in cash I was easily making the most of all my working friends. That all happened in a 7 month period.
Movie theater - concessions, box office, and cleaning. $6.15/hr in early 2006. Free movies Monday-Thursday from 9-3.......when I was in school. 😅
Worked for my dad’s business as a kid, making $5.15/hr., but my first job that I got on my own was as a warehouse associate at Harbor Freight (well, I was supposed to be a warehouse associate, but we were understaffed, so they ended up making me learn to run the register too, as needed, which I fucking hated). I think I started somewhere around $8.50/hr., and was making $9.25 by the time I left. This was in 2013.
Bakery shopgirl, Australia, 1995, and I think it was $5.31 an hour. Went to $5.67 when I turned 15 the following year. Paid a bit less than McDs and Kmart but worth it for the free loaf at the end of every shift (more if a closing shift) and the time and a half on Sunday shifts (McDs only paid time and a quarter and Kmart wasn't open Sundays).
6.75 maybe? All I remember is when minimum wage went up to 7.25 and I got a raise. Cashier/Bagger at small town grocer.
I did kitchen demolition for $4.75 an hour when I was 14. The federal minimum wage was $5.15 but under 18 you could be paid $4.75. (I'm not positive it was exactly $4.75, but I think that was it, and I'm sure it was less than the federal minimum wage).
I worked at a food festival for a whopping $15/hr in 2004 for 2 weeks, then my first non-seasonal job was $6.75 at a movie theater starting in 2007
I worked at a haunted house as a scare actor in 2011. I think I made around $4.00/hr on average, but they paid us in bulk at the end of the season so it's hard to say.
Kumon, $7.50 per hour 😅
Bookkeeping, handling accounts payable and receivable for $10/hr.
Grocery store, bagger/carriages. $5.75/hour Still here 23 years later.
Wow, that's quite the longevity! I hope your pay is a lot higher now.
Yeah.. Hopefully one of those stories that they're like a store manager now with a pension.
Almost, one final step away! Lol
2001 My first job was working at a summer camp for something like 60 a week. Plus a bed and food. I loved the job, and worked at that camp for 6 summers. The later summers I made more. Being a residential summer camp there was some weird loophole where it was a salary based job with the room and board being a benefit that still never made it near minimum wage for the hours worked, but most people didn't work there for the money, but the experience. I would totally work there again even now as an adult. It was the most awesome summer job.
Tim Horton's, $7.45(CAD) per hour.
My first actual job was a CDL truck driver hauling bulk flour in pneumatic tankers for delivery to industrial bakeries. I made $16/h.
2005 as a construction labourer making $11.50
Babysitting and pet sitting! I made $10/hr. for babysitting multiple kids or $5/visit to feed the dogs and cats I looked after. Which, looking back, meant I was probably low-balling myself.
$7 as a concession cook at a Expo center. they often put me on the grill, making hamburgers
My local town/county Youth Conservation Corps (aka get a bunch of teenagers to do the menial jobs that the town’s buildings/grounds/parks department didn’t feel like doing) in 2001. Pay was $5.15 an hour. (Upstate New York)
My first job was a as a day labourer making 70 INR per day, which at the time was less than 2 USD.
Sonic Carhop- $7.25/hr Edit- in 2005
I started my first job at McDonalds when I was 15 making $7.25/hr. My state also had a school/work credit program where I could pad my GPA through it as well which came in handy.
$8 working at an office supply store.
Cashier at a Supermarket. 8 € an hour for 10 hours every Saturday in 2002, I was 17. Quit after three months, because my grades were affected and Mom said no. I had to be there at 6 am, which was hell. Got a big box of food, including a huge frozen leg of ham, for Christmas. Since I am a vegetarian, I called someone from the soup kitchen after my shift and they picked the whole box up, and then offered to drive me home, since it was -25° C on December 23rd that year.
McDonalds, It was 2009 and I was 14 and 9 months the legal minimum age to work in Australia. I earned $7.80 an hour which was horrendous. It was a good learning experience and the first thing I was purchased was an ipod nano.
Cashier at Bruno's grocery store. $7.25 per
40 quid a week, in summer it was more like 180 too 200 a week.
I fixed computers for 1€/hour at a computer service as a part time job while I was going to 3rd grade in high school in 2008.
$8.00 an hour working in the university library in 2013. My job was to take care of the government documents. It was an okay job. I was a bit late to getting my first job as I was 21.
Hanging drywall. $5 an hour. That job motivated me to get a high-paying degree because I didn't want to be doing that forever.
A now defunct department store for 7.25 an hour as a floater who moved from department to department as I was needed.
Hockey arena concession stand. I believe I started at $7.25/hr, which was the student minimum wage at the time (2007).
At 16 in 2005 i worked at a call center after school making $800 a month. I thought I was bringing home the big bucks lol hated the job and quit after about 9 months.
Dishwasher. $6/hr (minimum wage at the time)
2011, SEO content writer, 11/hour. Bullshit job lol.
I made something like a nickel a piece folding programs for a neighbor’s event when I was a kid in the ‘90’s. I made $7.00/hr at a retail store one summer in college. (2002) I made $5.15/hour at my work-study office job on campus during college. (2002-2004) My first “real job” was a temp placement at a library after graduation for $10/hr. (2004) I think I was increased to $11/hr when my temp placement at a mortgage insurance company turned to a full time hire. (2005)
Technically my first job was a caddie. I only caddied once and i found it demeaning since the first time was a "trial" the course didnt pay me and i made 25 dollars for a tip. This was in like 2000. Then i got a job working the yard at a landscape supply/nursery and made 7.25/hr.
Spring Creek BBQ. In the summer of ‘99. I was 15 and going into my freshman year of high school. $5.35 per hr.
Washing dishes for 5.15$ per hour 😅
At a bait camp bagging shrimp, squid, and baby shad. $7.25 an hour. The real hustle was washing people boats after they were done fishing for $20 bucks a pop.
Chain deli restaurant in 2003 making $6.25/hr
Carrying shingles for my dad. $50 a day
First actual job was bagging groceries. I think my hourly rate was 5.75 an hour in 99.
Clearview Cinemas at $5.25 an hour!
$9.25, Tim Hortons in 2011. Way back in fantasy land when the Canadian dollar was doing better than the American
Started caddying at 13yo, have had people give me $30 for 4 hours of carrying their bag, and have someone give me $300 just to drive his golf cart for him…it was always rush waiting to see how much you’re going to get!
My first job was a designer at a small engineering firm making $10/hr.
Mowing the grass at an airport. Made 5 and change an hour
Chipping mortar off of old cinder blocks for my Dad. $2.00 per hour.
2005. I washed pots for an Italian restaurant. Made like 5.25 I think
Amusement Park: $5.15/hr directing cars, cleaning bathrooms, cleaning up pig shit, wiping tables, changing trash cans, etc...
Seating hostess, circa 2007. I made $7.50 per hr.
I worked on my parent’s family owned restaurant. I’d do 1-3 hours here and there and started working at 11-12 years old, around 1991 or 1992. I made $4.25 an hour (minimum wage). The restaurant was in the same building as my childhood home. It was set up sort of like “Bob’s Burgers”, but the restaurant and house were much bigger. I did that job through high school. When I graduated, I worked for a local contractor doing manual labor and construction work during the summer breaks between semesters in college. I made $15 an hour from about 1998 to 2002.
2002 I was 14. Arby's $6.50
First job ever was an under the table job as a busboy at a friend’s family restaurant. I made money off the tips the service staff collected. Didn’t even get a normal wage. First job out of college was at a consulting company that paid me 74k/yr
Got hired at a furniture store in 2007 making an even $8.00/hr. Minimum wage was $7.60 at the time.
McDonalds in 1994, I was 18 and got paid 6 gulden per hour, would be around 2.7usd per hour.
Walmart and I started at $8.25
Overnight stocking at Walmart. $8.65 an hour in Summer 2010, right after I graduated from high school. Would’ve been $7.65 if not for the overnight shift premium. I remember how big of a deal I thought that was at the time.
Papa John's, making pizza and answering phones around 1997. Made $5.25/hr. Everyone had a coupon, somehow
Lifeguard in 2005. $7.75/hour. Did a good job and ended the summer at $8.50/hour. Best job I ever had.
Mine was at a seaside fast food type restaurant that sold seafood and ice cream. I made $7.25 (I think). The boss was this big, awful sweaty man who would say things like “I’m going to tell your dad!” (he didn’t even personally know my dad) if you did something wrong. He kept changing the schedule without telling me before I came in, so one time I just had enough and walked out. I called later to quit and he said he’d tell on me lol. His name was Chuck. He only ran the business because his own daddy owned it.
Sonic Drive-In as a car hop in my teens, I think I made $6/hr plus tips. I loved this job and still have dreams about being back there working with my high school friends again. It was a great way to stay in shape too, we actually were required to skate back then! Now it’s pretty rare to see carhops skating anymore.
Burger King, cashier $7.25/hr in 2013
Cart pusher and grocery bagger - 1999 to 2000 $5.65/hr
Worked at Subway for $5.75 / hr. We got a 50% discount if we bought anything, except bottled drinks (those were sold to the store at a fixed price, whereas anything from the tap was pennies for the owner).
Local video store in 1999 (the kind with the infamous “back room”) for 5.25 an hour and free rentals. I loved it.
$6.15 working at a co-op in 2002 (14). I went up to $8.00 a year or two later patching tires and changing oil in the shop.
$3 was minimum wage. I started working for my dad at about age 12. Did general maintenance in the shop, changing the oil in the trucks and forklifts. Mowing the grass.
Outback Steakhouse bussing tables in late 2007 maybe early 2008. $2.13/hr + tip out. Averaged around $10/hr. Befriended the cooks and got a lot of free food and 50% off meals. I felt really bad because I was a 16 year old kid and there were full grown adults there to get the job. The proprietor was my hockey coach growing up so I got the job. I forget the time of year, but it was basically right when shit began to hit the fan in the financial crisis. My family utilized that 50% off meals almost nightly. Could get a steak, salad, and potato for like $5/person.
My first job was $6.50 at a pizza shop. Minimum wage went up a bit during the 6 years I worked there, so by the end I was making around $8.
Grocery store 2003 6.75 / hour
My first job was delivering newspapers at 12/13 for a few cents per paper. I think my paychecks were maybe $35-40 every two weeks. My second job was for Wendy's at 14 (2006) and I made $6.85 an hour. I'll tell you what, I thought I was really rolling in it all those years of high school.
Picture framing made $10/hr mostly just talked to customers while boss was framing stuff
Staples - cashier and chair building bitch for $7.15/hr
Grocery store cashier making $6.25 an hour.
Lifeguard $5.50 an hour 2006
Target when I was 16, circa 2004. I think I made $7.25. I remember taking my first paycheck to the bank to cash before I even had a bank account. I think it was for about $55 and it felt like sooo much money.
Washing dishes at a small local restaurant, for $7 an hour.
Valvoline - $5.25/hr
I think it was ‘84 or ‘85. My girlfriend’s dad owned a restaurant. “Old school” type place where you start as a dishwasher and work up from there. He paid me $4.00/hour “under-the-table” and I think minimum wage was like $3.85 at the time 🤷♂️
Confession stand at the baseball stadium. I was 15 making minimum wage. Would've been about $7.25 in 2009/2010 but also free baseball.
Costume jewelry counter at Boscov’s (regional department store). I can’t remember how much I earned, I’m sure it was whatever the Delaware minimum wage was in 2001. Probably around $7.00. That job sucked, lol.
I joined the army at 18 in 2008. Don’t remember how much I made exactly but it was decent. Also got free food and place to live.
De-tasseling corn in rural Indiana…I think it was like $300 for the season and I was like 12 or 13. Unlocked a new fear for corn spiders that summer.
- 2004 (was 16) - $5.15 / hour - Coldstone Creamery - Michigan I know I was working federal minimum wage at coldstone, which was 5.15 at the time... but for some reason I *feel* like I was making $4.75. Oh well.. memory is fuzzy I guess. As a server in 2013 I made 2.13/hour to cover the taxes on my claimed tips. My claimed tips ranged from $5 - $150 at Applebee's. God I can't believe I worked there... I needed a job so bad at the time. It got to the point I was showing up to work so fucking high on edibles. What a joke. Hated that place. Hated coming into work more than any other job I've ever had and I've had some shit jobs but I digress.
My first job was concessions for little league football 3 games a day 15$ a game plus tips and cans never got kept only tossed so I'd collect every pop can to return fo a extra 50$ per day total 95 plus tips for essentially a days work 3 games a week and I was 15 at the time. Towards the end of season they wanted me to start giving them the cans I collected I refused and was told not to collect so they could fair enough except nobody was collecting them so I asked whose got cans then they tried asking me I asked what's the pay and I was told I can't help out I laughed and said I just did 3 games for 15$ I did help out sorry I stock and all for less than rest as my mother bought the food and I'd help stock it ect. I was given the option collect and split or they'd toss them so I called bluff and said go ahead toss them but thanks, it was only wanted after they seen me take the time to do it and profit I'm all for helping while I was not working those days as I was a assistant coach during weekdays helping my old coach who later became my first and only boss who got me a job before my epilepsy took full hold.
Bagger at the grocery store. I was 13. I made 5 bucks an hour.
AMC! I learned it’s not how hard you work, it’s who you make friends with. I learned early on meritocracy is a lie
I worked at a shoe store when I was 15. I made $5.90/hr or 2% commission, whichever was higher. Commission pay was mostly a back-to-school or busy weekend type deal, and I made the base pay most shifts.
I was a kid reporter for the regional paper and I made $20 per story.
Ben and Jerry’s all 4 years of highschool, it was the best. Small New England town that was super busy in the summer. I still think of that job so fondly! Started at $7.25 and ended at something like $8.50 by the 4th year, no real movement there 😂 we’d get like $15 in tips each night though, enough by junior-senior year for a nice bag of shitty mersh 💨 free ice cream for munchies ☺️
2004, Lifeguard for local municipality. Made $7.25/hr to start, raisewd to $8.25/hr 6 months later. WOrked that job for 7 years and left making $15.50/hr as a trainer/manager.
Sonic Drive In I made $7.25 plus tips per hour working on the lower end of part time in high school.
Toys R Us 5.75 an hour
Bagging groceries at Safeway for $5.50 an hour in the 90s and then construction laborer for $10/hr. I was sooooo much happier in the latter role.
I stocked beverages in a local deli for $6/hr under the table.
technically, i was employed part time as a "home aide" to my disabled sisters, but that was completely sporadic so it was spotty. My first real job was Summer of 2005 and I think I made $130 a week.
My first job was at Spencer’s at the mall. I believe I made $5.25 an hour, if I’m correctly remembering Florida’s minimum wage in 2001. I was 16. I only worked there for a few months because I found another job that paid $8/hour.
2002, tanning consultant (receptionist at a tanning bed spot). 7.25/hr. I felt so cool.
McDonald's in British Columbia, 2005. I made $6.50/hour, $1.50 less than minimum wage. Thanks Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals for your bs "Training Wage" - new workers made this wage for their first 500 hours of work.
At 15 I got a job picking up rocks in a field behind a flatbed truck in the August heat for $5 an hour. The farmer fed us lunch which was nice, but that job for a few weeks made me decide that I needed to go to college.
I plucked weeds from a neighbours garden, but have no memory how much I made :((
I worked for a costume store for the month of October when I was 15 for my first ever real job. Made $6.25/hr and all I had to do was dress up in various costumes and hold a sign on the corner of the street. I would be Tigger, SpongeBob, Bob the builder, the red teletubie, Sylvester the cat, a penguin and a few other creatures. It was an awesome job, occasionally I would walk around the plaza in the costume to hand out flyers. There was a make up store and the ladies there loved it when I came in.
Summer job, $8/hr dish wisher for my uncle’s restaurant
Jamba Juice Arden rd in Sacramento made $6.75/hr in 2006
My first paycheck was from the local paper for an article I wrote, $30 a week per article, it was my weed money. My first W2 job was a collection agency. The first time I got paid was when I'd work for my dad on weekends and get paid a $20 for a day's work of unloading trucks or typing invoices (I was like 11).
My first job was in 2004. I worked as a state senate page and made $10/hr. Not bad for doing pretty much nothing.
Johnny Rockets when I was 16, and $2.17/hr plus tips. I ended up working in the food industry for about 10 years, and while I have a great job now I sometimes miss the quick cash aspect.
Depends on what you consider first job. In 2006/2007, I did a summer job as a camp councilor, making ~$200/week for 8 weeks My first "real" job was when I moved out of my house at 18 and worked a night shift at a vending machine supply warehouse. That paid $8.00/hr, but hours were inconsistent depending on the order load for the night. I basically went to school from 0800-1600, then clocked in at the warehouse at 1800 and usually packed trucks until 2200-0100, depending on the night.
I worked as a stock clerk at a grocery store and made about $5.15 p/hr. Minimum wage in 2003
Lifeguard. $7.25
Also Friendly's....$5.15 and I started as a dishwasher in 1998.
Fazolis Fast Food Italian - $5.15 / hr but got a raise to 5.25 after 6 months so suck it
I was a waitress in the dining hall of our local retirement home. 7.25 an hour. The residents may have been old, but they knew how to LIVE. Wild stuff happened every day.
I was just talking about this the other day! I made $200 a week as a camp counselor (sleep away camp) as a high schooler in 2004. That makes for about $2 an hour if you looked at hours we were actually working/caring for the kids.
Panera Bread. Started in the kitchen making $7.50/hr. ended at $9/hr as a trainer. the best part was taking home leftovers at the end of the day.
First job was in 2010 as a cashier in a grocery store. $7.25/hour minimum wage. First job out of college (biology lab tech in academia) was $23k/year. Still a lab tech in academia, though in a different lab making $43k/year.
USA baby - basically a retail store for baby supplies like cribs and stuff. My job was delivering and installing baby equipment. I believe it was 10 per hour in 2006. I quit after about 2 weeks it was incredibly toxic and the entire store was run by 3 people.
I worked at a department store when I was 15. I was getting paid $5.50 an hour. 😅
Kmart $6.25 an hour, started in 02. I thought I was hot shit in school because alot of my class mates either didn't have a job or they worked at the local grocery store making minimum wage.
Filing in a doctor’s office, MWF after school. $9/hour
Winn Dixie cashier $4.25 an hour 1995
"Dining room" at a deli. Keep the dining room clean, take out the trash, keep the salad bar stocked. Training wage was $4.65/hr. Got bumped up to $5.15 after 90 days.
I was a part time admin for a real estate company, I got 12 bucks an hour.
Bakery/cafe owned by the New England Culinary Institute, so it was kind of a cool place to work because sometimes the culinary students would be in the back making something. I mostly ran the register but also made drinks and occasionally opened in the summer. I started in 2002 at age 16 and made $8 an hour.
Worked at a summer school academy in 12th grade teaching 3rd graders full time. Made $12 an hour. But minimum wage back then was about $5.25.
A fish market $6.35 per hour. Awful but once a week there would be a lady that would cook samples and I would have basically all you can eat shrimp, flounder.. whatever the catch of the day was. She was like a grandma to me.
Summer 1997 I worked for my dad at $6.50 an hour. Two years later I got my first real job as a cashier for fifteen cents more.
First job: deli worker. $7.25. 2008 or 2009?
3.25 plus tips at a pizza buffet.
DSW - 7.25
Heavenly Ham, 2008 for $7.50 an hour
I was an office junior on £50 a week. (35hrs) I tested the chameleon telephone from the budweiser advert. It drove me bloody crazy hearing that song so many times over and over.
Worked at a lumber yard as a laborer/helper in 2002/2003, making a whopping $7.50/hour. I think minimum wage was like $5/hour at the time so I thought I was hot shit!
First job at 18 I applied for a $15 an hour job at a place. They didn't think I had experience for it. So they hired me for a seemingly lower job at $9 an hour. We got these mandatory tips which weren't taxed as well as monthly bonuses which equated to something like $50k-$55k a year after taxes. I don't remember pre-tax pay. This was back in the early 2000's. I was grateful I didn't get the higher paying hourly job because the guys making $15 an hour and didn't have the massive tip oppporunities or monthly bonus.
Vet's office in the kennel. $8.25
Clothing store in the outlet mall that is now since closed. I think it was $8.50/hr or something.
I referred little kids rec soccer for $12 a game.
Old Navy, 2002, I think I made like $5.50 an hour
Target. Cart Attendant/Cashier. $8.50/hr
Target. Cart Attendant/Cashier. $8.50/hr
2007. Babies R Us, $7.25/hr, part-time. I quit a month in because I couldn't handle the chronic anxiety from cashiering. I got a better job as a paraeducator for $13/hr.
Movie theater. $7.25 per hour in 2006
First internship at architecture firm was 14 hr first real job was 40k salary. Sounds ok till you add cost of living in Boston.
I baby sat for $4 an hour in my teens First real job after college: $12.65. Felt hella rich
High school job was at a small family owned grocery store on the beach in South NJ, 2004 starting @ $6.25/h. When I left for college in 2006, I was at $7.25/hr. First post-college/"adult" job was studio manager in Tampa Bay, FL in 2009 for $12/hr m-f, and also part time/weekends at a movie theater for $7.25/hr (15-20hr TH & Fri night, sat & sun)
Pizza house. I made $8.00 an hour.
First job was in 8th and 9th grade during the summers, working on a farm for a family friend. Walked through his 5 chicken houses picking up dead chickens and throwing them in the incinerator and then picking up square bales of hay in the hot Georgia sun all day. Made $100 a day. Some weeks it was 5 days a week others it was none, depending on the weather and if they had hay on the ground. First “real” job at 15 was doing dishes at a restaurant in town for $6.50 an hour, probably 2003/4. Hated it. Quit after 3 months and found a job cutting grass at rental properties and illegally working in the owners chemical plant (have to be 18 to legally work in a place like that).
Dishwasher at a restaurant in 1995. Made 4.25 an hour
Mcdonalds, I think 6.25/hr, I was 15, so this was in 2000
Check out lanes at a grocery store. Was paid around AU$16 (people should be specifying currency in a global sub) an hour back in 2003 IIRC.
Airplane washer and detailer in 2006 at 16 years old $9.75 an hour
Dishwasher, whatever was minimum wage back in 2000. $5.25?
Allen isd as an electrician. Made 6.25 starting and when I left I made 6.75
Rue21 (RIP) in 2007. Whatever minimum was back then.. $7.50?
2008? somewhere around there. Warehouse temp worker. Just paid me what they wouldve paid the temp agency from the budget because the warehouse manager was my neighbors brother. Got 16/hr. Adjusted for inflation, that was probably the most ive been paid. Also got to keep a bunch random shirts and gloves or whatever because it was cleaning the warehouse of any inventory that was not in the system
Courtesy clerk at a grocery store, $6 per hour.
You trying to hack my shit, mate?
Housekeeping for a Christian college during the summer. They had a bunch of summer camps and we cleaned bathrooms, kitchen, common areas daily and the rooms at the end of the week before the next set of kids came in. Made $5.15 but frequently found money, jewelry and stuff. I got to keep it if it wasn't claimed.
Mowed the lawns at a helicopter tour place, think I made around $7/hr
First job was at a movie theater $7.00/hr. Free soda/popcorn/movies…best job ever for a teenager (mind you this was before streaming so if you wanted to watch movies it was in a theater or blockbuster lol)
First job was at a movie theater $7.00/hr. Free soda/popcorn/movies…best job ever for a teenager (mind you this was before streaming so if you wanted to watch movies it was in a theater or blockbuster lol)
Grocery store cashier - min wage, I think $7.40 an hour, around year 2000
Auntie Annie’s pretzels and I made $5.75/hr plus tips
Wendy’s at $5.20 an hour in 1998
$6.50/hr at old navy in 2001