Was that a job where you felt grown up, maybe even on your own to some extent? Were you proud to be among the employed, getting a regular paycheck or pay envelope at the end of the week or month? Can you recall what that job was, what you actually did, and where you worked? Can you remember your boss's name, and what you liked or disliked about him or her?
How did you feel when you were told that you were hired? Did you feel proud, or perhaps a little intimidated? Were you self-conscious about being the newcomer? Were you the youngest employee? Or were you nervous about being able to learn all the things the job required? Did you feel that you could make it?
These questions are intended to help jog your memory. It may have been quite a few years since you got that first job. Most people feel it was a special accomplishment. And it was.
Some of you got that first job while you were still in high school. For others it could have been immediately after graduating from high school, or perhaps from college.
Did you take the job because you really needed the money? Or were there other reasons? Did you need the work experience for some other objective? Or were you forced into the job by family pressures?
Maybe that first job was in the military. Lots of young men, and some young women, got their first job in the armed services. A lot depended upon the times and what was available elsewhere. Was the military your choice, or were you drafted?
Your answers these questions sometimes reveal a lot about who you are, where you've come in life and how much you have accomplished over the years. For some, that first job had little lasting significance on their lives. Yet for others it was the turning point which to greater or lesser extent determined a great deal.
Some of you may look back on these matters with satisfaction, knowing that your first job was really important. That job may have turned your life around, and given you a whole new perspective.
For others, this exercise of looking back may be a little disappointing, even painful. You may, on reflection, view that first job as a bitter disappointment, something you wish you had never done.
It's interesting to consider the "what-might-have-been's" or the "what-should-have-been's". Of course there's not a whole lot one can do now, yet some like to ponder these things.
Do you?