That First Job

Who remembers going out trying to get their first job? Actually, if I remember my first ever job and I do not think it really counts, but it was when I was 11 going on 12 when I would help my dad care for several yards for I my job was to trim the sidewalks and weed the gardens and, in the Fall, raking the leaves and there were a lot of leaves for the owners of the yards. Anyway, I took over cutting those yards the next year and continued doing those for the, I believe, almost 20 years or so. Like I said really do not think that really qualifies as a first job.

Getting that first job is hard to get when you graduate from high school and it you really do not know what you want to do with your life. That is why one should go to college and if that is not for you at least some sort of technical training. I always heard when starting this particular job hunt, one does not want a good job, but a first job to get at least some experience doing something and to earn social security one day in the future if that would be possible.

Do not know if this counts, but my first real job out of high school was enlisting in the Navy to become a Hospital Corpsman, but falling while marching in cadence foiled that future, and helped me to decide to go to school. I studied the business courses in high school and thought I wanted to work in an office, so I went to a small business school and began my study in accounting and office skills. When I finished that schooling, it turned out that were so many that office clerks were a dime a dozen and one it seemed had to be at the head of their class to get jobs.

I went back to cutting lawns for several years and in between my sister needed help particularly during the summers to watch my nieces and nephew which was fun when they were infants and young children and I had to figure out how to keep them 'entertained'. I thought I like this and wanted to become a teacher, but I knew then I had to go to college for that, but after graduating no teaching jobs were open unless you knew someone. I did become a substitute teacher for a Head Start program (preschool) and it was fun and in a way lead me to become a writer for I liked writing lesson and unit plans and creating study guides, tests, and quizzes for various subjects and even creating activities.

Working as a substitute is fine, but one needs something more stable and that lead for me to become a nurse beginning as nursing assistant and then a practical nurse and still further down the line in becoming an activities director on as needed basis while going to graduate school and getting my advanced degrees in education and now becoming a writer in my various fields and finally at the age of 62 years of age getting my perfect job even though working as a nurse/activities director was fun for the most part even after working for almost 17 years, I believe, writing is what I am supposed to do with my life and if I had not had trouble finding that first job I would not be able to do this last job.

So, if there are any first-time job hunters out there keep the faith and just try to settle for any job that comes along even if it is something you really did not want to do for one of my jobs was cleaning offices for the professors when I first started college at night and going to school. One day you will make yourself a success and do what you are meant to do.