What My First Job Taught Me

Real Responsibilities

Working in retail meant that I was being in contact with customers all the time. When you are representing the company you have to conduct yourself appropriately to make sure you give a good impression. You also have to care and see to the needs of all the customers to make sure they are happy while being required to complete certain things on each shift so you have the added responsibility of getting these done in time. The longer I had been in my job, the more important tasks I was given to do, and being responsible for these meant people were relying on me. I found being made responsible for things in my part time job made me much more responsible for life in general and has definitely benefited me in preparation for my future career.

To Be Organised

I started my first job when I was completing my A-Levels so I had to make sure I had myself organised. I did shifts two evenings during the week once I'd finished school for the day so had to make sure I was on top of everything so that I could still get to work on time while having enough time to complete all my school work. I had to get the correct balance so that I'd still have time to do things myself outside school and work, while still having time for things such as seeing friends and family. 

Managing Money

Even though I was getting more money coming through my job, it didn't necessarily mean I had all this money extra. Generally you live to your means so if you have more money, you will have more things to spend it on. Even things such as upgrading my phone to get a better one which meant a more expensive contract would mean I had to make sure I'd have enough money to pay this every month. Moving forward a year and I had moved away to uni and moved stores to keep my job while I was there. I was immediately given a lot more things to pay for, be it rent, food, bills, travel and uni supplies. Although I had my student loan, the majority of this went straight onto rent so I never really saw much of it so had to rely on the income from my job. I did have some help from my parents in my first year to help me get used to paying for all these different things, but I still had be on top of my money management.

Ability To Approach People

When you are in a job where you deal with customers on a daily basis, never-mind all your collegues, you are forced into a position where you have to interact with people. You can't be shy all the time as you often have to approach people to ask if they are okay or ask your manager for directions. Even though this may be a little daunting at first, once you have done it, I found it was a real confidence booster. I definitely noticed a difference in my confidence when I was in school and doing other things, and meant I was more confident when it came to moving away to uni with people I had never met before.

Positive Aspects For Future Jobs

All of these things I've talked about so far have benefit me through general life. Thinking about it for the future, they are all things that will help me when going into a full time role to start my career. A lot of people get their first job when they are 16 with some, like myself, doing it part time alongside studying. Even though I was doing something that I knew wouldn't be my career, it still helped me so much and gave me so many positive things to take away from it. If you are thinking about getting into your first job and wonder whether it's worth it, I'd say go for it. Even forgetting about the money you'll receive, the experience and benefits you will get can help you both in the present and future, which can only be a positive thing.