first and worst

jennifer over at pen of jen has given us something to write about. your "first and worst' jobs. so here it goes.

i was hired at k-mart as a cashier at the age of 15. i can't say this was the worse, but probably a close second. i think it was mostly because of my age. not only did i have to get used to working in the real world, but i always felt lonely. there wasn't many kids working there that were my own age. i'd go to work and do what i was hired to do and that part was fine. but i never socialized with anyone. being the social person that i am, i needed more interaction. i quit after three months and got a job with a small independent drug store. i liked that a lot more.

the worst job i had would probably have been a dream job for almost anyone else. it was with hughes aircraft (which is now raytheon). my job was to input data that i collected from different stations. i'd have to travel (by foot) to a few different buildings and then several places within the building i worked in. i then would go to a dinky little room where i'd sit in front of a computer and input a bunch of raw data. again, not too much interaction with anyone.

i learned a lot about myself during this job. what i like and don't like. what motivates me. what keeps me motivated and satisfied. from then on, i knew what i would want and not want in a job.
i learned that i need to know what the big picture is. at hughes, i was just a tiny bolt in a bigger machine. i never knew what any of the data meant or what the end result looked like. i also learned that i need accountability and to be kept busy. no one really watched me or i didn't need to be anywhere at any given time. as long as the data was within a certain time frame, i was doing my job. i found myself with large amounts of time where i had nothing to do. i started taking advantage of this in ways that i'm now not proud of. it didn't take long before i realized i didn't like how i spent my days. i quit right before christmas. people thought i was crazy because hughes gave their employees two weeks off at christmas. i was also making very good money. but all of that didn't make it worth staying. i was miserable.

i've had many jobs. i realized at some point that i enjoy the challenge of a new job. i enjoy going in to something, figuring it out, and making it better in whatever way is needed. but once i have achieved that, i get bored and most of the time, find that it's time for me to move on. i don't know if that's good or bad but i know that's how i'm wired.

fortunately, i haven't had to work since my kids were born. i've been blessed to be able to stay at home with them. i've had some part time jobs in the last 19 years but they were very flexible and they were the type where i went in, organized, and got out. i am currently a youthworker and i did work part time for a church for a bit, but i would have done the same thing for no pay. i prefer for my ministry to be done on a volunteer basis.

so there you go. my 'first and worst' jobs. plus so much more =] i'm looking forward to jen's next one.

***************
link of the day:
http://www.seatguru.com/