What was your first job?

Tell us about some of your first jobs and has anyone ever worked for a place that no longer exists?
I mostly worked for some Italian bakeries starting when I was 11 years old into my mid teens. I worked for a Woolworth's I remember it had a little lunch counter which I thought was so odd but was the coolest thing ever. It's sad it no longer exists.

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HootyTheNightOwl

Right out of school, I did an NVQ in a variety of charity shops St John Ambulance, British Heart Foundation, Scope and Help the Aged... British Heart Foundation is the only one on the list that still remains.

My first real paid job was at an (18+) amusement arcade. That's changed it's name since I worked there - so I'm not sure if it's in the same hands or not and I'm not going back to find out.

LaLumieri · 51-55, F

@HootyTheNightOwl those are some really great things you've done. What an awesome resume so fun so cool and so great

HootyTheNightOwl

@LaLumieri It's not much use to me now, though... I can't work retail anymore and I need a job in IT where I can sit down.

My experience with that NVQ has put me off wanting to ever take another because of the way that I was bullied by my training provider and some of the shop managers and staff. They even went as far as calling me a "Tramp" because my hair would look untidy after I had been crawling on my hands and knees under hanging stock and didn't have a brush or the time to brush my hair after that.

I was also forced to see a dentist to "correct the colour of my teeth" which were discoloured by medication that I took to control my asthma at some point over the years.

As a deaf person who has issues with dentists after one would rub his genitals against my hand (in the presence of my mother) while carrying out the work on my teeth, you can imagine how I must have felt walking into a room, by myself, to see a male dentist that I couldn't hear or understand because of a thick, foreign accent to attend an appointment I never wanted in the first place.

I only went because they bullied me so much that I just wanted it to stop. I was just 18 at the time and the only people I saw were those that were bullying me - there was no "If you have issues with your training, contact Jane Doe". I eventually went to the office one lunchtime the day after the assistant manager I trained accused me of shop lifting from Help the Aged and told them that I am not going back... they either finish the course with me that day or they wasted 10 months putting me through that.

They finished the course with me - but they weren't happy. The laugh of it is that I could have applied for and gotten that job of assistant manager and saved myself the hassle of being accused of shop lifting... but I felt that I was too young and needed more experience than I had at the time. I wish I'd listened to my manager.