What was your first job, fellow GenXers?
Mine was babysitting for a single mom and business owner down the street. She had a three-story modern house with a fake stream running through the top level. She paid me well for the time, I think $1.75 an hour at 12 years old. I remember walking home with money in my pocket and liking that feeling of accomplishment. Soon I had four families hiring me. I need a dose of that kid confidence!
c dh
47
03/12/24 at 11:13PM UTC
Babysitter and I was really successful. Everyone in the neighborhood new to call my Mom and hire me. In 1980, I made 4.50/hr at age 13.
Les Mitch
74
02/13/24 at 7:59PM UTC
I joined a state program for summer work at 14... cleaning schools. Did that until I joined the army at 17.
Honestly, gave me a new respect for those 'janitorial engineers' and a good helping of humble pie. But I had good money and able to buy things most teens couldn't think of.
Anonymous
01/20/24 at 5:08PM UTC
I worked at Wendy's.
Leann Tipton
10
01/09/24 at 6:39PM UTC
I worked at a smoothie place in the food court of a mall at 16. It was fun. I learned how to scoop ice cream. My parents made me quit because I was paid under the table. I worked at Sonic as a carhop at the end of high school and the next year. I did not wear roller skates. I was paid $5.15/hr and took home tips.
Anonymous
12/18/23 at 9:03PM UTC (Edited)
I was 12.
It was picking strawberries. Then at 14, I was babysitting and working with my grandmother on Saturdays cleaning cabins. At 16, I got 2 jobs. McDonalds and then K-Mart. At 19, I was working in a bank during the day and bartending at night. Most of us were pretty much grown at 12! I made $2.00 per hour babysitting 2 kids, usually overnight. The serious jobs came later. Right before I moved to where I live now, I was bartending 4 nights a week and working during the day as an office manager for a small start-up company. Things were a lot easier in that day and age!
Laura KellManager, HR & Payroll
249
09/29/23 at 2:02PM UTC
Mine was at age 12, babysitting the neighbour's kids - $1.00/hr, but they usually paid me $5 an evening! I did that picking up various "clients" through most of high school. My first paid job was in a grocery store.
Teena Jones
198
09/29/23 at 9:04AM UTC
Community clean up I worked less than 3 days on the crew and my allergies got the best of me. 13 years old.
Brandy Sunshine
7.25k
09/22/23 at 11:45AM UTC
First "under the table" job? Babysitting. A flat $5 for a whole night, no matter the number of kids. That lasted until I caught a stomach bug babysitting my cousins. First taxable job? Wendy's. I think at that time, minimum wage was like $3.15/hr or something like that.
Anonymous
09/24/23 at 5:47PM UTC
Amazing! $3.15 an hour.
Anonymous
09/22/23 at 10:44AM UTC
Paper girl............. my dad worked for the newspaper and all us kids at some point had our neighborhood's paper route. We would even have to collect the money for it. Remember rolling the papers with rubber bands, no weather protecting plastic bags / paper mailboxes to put them in back then. You WALKED up to every house porch to deliver FREE of fear of confrontations! The filling up my paper bag, still have it, and walking after school, or Sat/Sun mornings. On Christmas Eve, it was a family affair and my dad would put us in the station wagon and drive us to get it done faster. REMEMBER how thick those papers were?????? No idea how much CHANGE I made because my dad just let me spend it and he paid the accounts back. When it was raining??!!! You got wet, no whining, none of that, you.got.wet. Mostly spent my fortunes at my friends corner table store of candy, his family owned a pharmacy. Ahhh, like yesterday.
Anonymous
09/24/23 at 5:49PM UTC
So great. And candy was so cheap then.
