In reply to Gemma:

Hi Gemma, I am a big fan of Countryfile and like seeing horses in fields but would never ride one. I will reference your examples in my blog. Let me know if you would like to contribute to my podcast. Thank you

In reply to Matthew:

Hi Matthew, thank you for this vivid and insightful response. Your church experience reminded me of The Sopranos quote about the Mafia: "I mean, what happened to this thing? For God's sake, we bend more rules than the Catholic Church." I love that you stood up to a bully. Bullies do seem to pop up in warehouses a few years after school. Would you be happy to contribute to my podcast? It will shared on podcast platforms and my website watchingworkingliving.co.uk/

In reply to Gemma:

Gemma - thank you for liking my question. It will be the first podcast of my new website watchingworkingliving.co.uk/. I have produced plenty of internal podcasts for the civil service. I will reference your examples in my blog. Would you like to contribute to my podcast?

In reply to Paul Carter:

Sure, I'm happy to be referenced, preferably anonymously! I've never participated in a podcast - could we set up a short call for me to understand how it works? Could be a great learning experience for me.

In reply to Paul Carter:

Many thanks, Paul! I'd be delighted to take part in your work.

One of the big things for me about getting the weekend jobs was that I was at an independent school a long bus ride from home. While the school community was quite diverse I largely only mixed with people from my own kind of background as all my sports and clubs were school-based.

We were not a wealthy family by any means, especially after school fees paid, but it was an eye-opener to be around people who lacked the privileges I had. I think I developed a sense of empathy & understood the value of education and opportunity a lot more.

I will always remember Zombie and Speedy (aka Derek & Avril) the Motorcycle Club (possibly even Hells Angels) members I worked with. To see two leather-clad bikers packing all sorts of felt, wool and wood to make up craft kits at John Adams Toys was quite a thing!

I had several jobs at 16 as I had to pay rent, so I had no car, and my clothes were from a charity shop. I mostly attended evening classes so that I could work more hours. A few of my first jobs I didn’t enjoy much, but at 18 I got a job in a video store. It was a small franchise of three shops and by far the best job I ever had.

I got to choose what played on the TVs in the shops, as long as it was rated U or PG. I put on everything from Labyrinth to Lawrence of Arabia. I used to love getting to know the locals and recommending films for them, as well as watching previews of new releases and getting to take films home for free. Most of the time I worked by myself and was very proud to have the responsibility of a keyholder position, but I loved my colleagues too.

Sadly, it was during the decline of the video store era. The film companies stopped offering rental periods, downloads became widespread, and one day I went into work and was told it was my last day – the store was going into liquidation. We were all in tears.

Something that has always stayed with me from those years is the low pay across all my early jobs. There was – and still is – an assumption that young adults are financially supported by their parents. At the time, both the Student Loans Company and EMA (Education Maintenance Allowance) assessed eligibility based on parental income, which didn’t reflect my situation at all. I found it frustrating that I was paid less purely because of my age, even though I was working just as hard, and in many ways needed the money more. It saddens me that this remains the case today, and arguably even more so, with recent changes to Universal Credit and PIP for people under 22. It has made me very sensitive to the unfairness of age-related pay differences.

That is nothing at all like my memories.

Brought up by a single mum, who had to go out to work. My first job whilst at primary school, was strawberry picking for a couple of £s in the late 1950,s in Norfolk. My mum decided to return to Yorkshire and we lived in a horrid row of victorian houses just outside Whitby. At school once we were asked how much pocket money we were given each week.. Compared to the rest - I got no pocket money, nor did my brother. So to save my embarrassment I lied and made a figure up.
I got a paper round and saved up enough money to go on my first school trip to Scotland. It was on that trip that I discovered I was car sick - or bus sick if you're pedantic.
Then I graduated to a school holiday job in bakery. I got 16s for getting up at 6am, walking into town and making bread and stuff. Decent money too 30/s I think. But then the school inspector found out and prevented the company from employing me. I then discovered that I could hunt out empty Coke bottles and return them to a shop for money. This was stopped when a shop keeper noticed we were returning more bottles than we were buying.

I wanted to do something in wildlfife conservation and later I had dreams of being a Radio Officer in the Merchant Navy. I ended up being offered a scholar ship at a Merchant Navy college, but neither my self or my mother had the means to support me whilst living away from home so there was no real point in trying to get into a university anyway. I left with one GCE.  School sold me the lie that  I was thick and, as one teacher said, "You'll end up sweeping the streets..

I ended up as a radio operator in the RN. Never regretted joining and I've been to the most remote islands in the world and places you probably never have heard of. I represented the navy in a NATO competition in Belgium, I also discovered that I was quite motivated and found learning new stuff interesting. I left eventually after discovering I was also sea sick.

I ended up back at home and like many people who lived locally I ended up in Teesside labouring for a scaffolding company, travelling an hour each way every day until I was 'promoted', sent off to an industrial training college and became a paid up scaffolder. I became a shop steward and took part in a number of strikes. I eventually joined another company as a supervisor/line manager. I hated scaffolding and working in industry, but at 23 it enabled me to afford an old banger, although I still hadn't got my driving licence. I still lived at home.  Dreaming of a flat or house was for others.  Moving on I worked at Europe's biggest oil terminal in the Shetlands. This paid me enough money to buy my first house with cash. (£15.000), passed my driving test and got a car. I left hom

But I wanted better and vowed never ever would I do a job I didn't like or where it involved being at the bottom of the hierarchy and treated like a number.

I returned home after 3 years and I never did another job I disliked or where I got my hands dirty.  Every job since 1980 I've thoroughly enjoyed and for the last 25 years I've been self employed doing whatever took my fancy one of which lead me being paid to represent Ireland, in a conservation event in Holland., 

I won't bore you with any more but I did end up at Uni - OK, - it was a Polytechnic then!!! did my DPM and ended up as a Personnel/HR Manager, but got bored/fed up with that and then did.....................etc.,
Life goes on and I love it!

Find  a job you enjoy and you'll never have to work again.

David

In reply to Gemma:

Gemma, being a podcast guest is rather like a Teams meeting where everyone wants you to succeed.

I have done quite a few and they are good fun. Some podcasters may have general rules and may suggest technical suff like a preference for external microphones but nothing too serious.

Give it a try

In reply to Steven :

Great question, and great answers.

I started working weekends and holidays age 14 in the family bakery, progressing from the bakery earning cash in hand (making pastry cases and sweeping up) to the shop (selling all sorts: baps, bread, sausage rolls and iced fingers) when I was old enough. It was great and really helped me with mental arithmetic, especially each time the prices would rise. I didn't earn much but was able to buy records and clothes. One weekend, I did a stint in my friend's parents' clothes shop and realised how much easier it was to work in a clean environment without flour, sugar, dust etc. So much more pleasant and faster to tidy up after a long day!

I became a student and progressed to pub work. I adored that job - sociable and fun. Again, I benefited from my honed mental arithmetic skills. I hated smelling of beer and fags though.

The very best job title I had one Christmas as a student temp was 'International Courier Dispatch Clerk' for a Marketing Research company. I was simply employed to type out address labels and stick them to parcels containing questionnaires to be posted globally. The original post holder was on holiday and on day one I realised that the total work required was about 1.5 hours in a 7 hour working day. I was retained and ended up training new temps. It was tedious and I was grateful to return back to Uni and my regular bar work!

Even now as a fully fledged adult, I volunteer - formerly in our local community cinema and since in a non-clinical role for a medical charity which supports music festivals. Fun work like that is definitely a great antidote to a lifelong career in HR!!

Em.

In reply to Emma Doherty:

Thanks Em, it would be great to get an audio recording of your experiences. If you are happy to contribute to the podcast, can I message you to arrange the transfer of audio.

In reply to Matthew:

Hi Matthew, please can you email me at watchingworkingliving@gmail.com and we can then agree how you will provide the podcast audio contributions. Thank you

In reply to Heather:

Hi Heather, I loved going to the video shop as a teenager. Your comment about low pay is important to include. Can I use it in my blog? Would you be happy to contribute an audio recording for my podcast?

In reply to David Perry:

David, thank you for sharing your story and your service in the forces. You have lived an interesting life.

In reply to Paul Carter:

I worked for a builder too, in Ireland - by the time he sacked me 6 months later I knew enough to build a two story extension to our house. I did everything myself from the foundations through to the plumbing for an additional bathroom and the roofing. One of the most useful skills I ever learned.

What a great question and a chance to look back.

My first job was working as a 'Saturday girl' for a retail store and I used to sub in on any department that was short staffed and rotate around. Similar to my business as an interim now.

I then went on to be an usherette at a seaside theatre and then worked in a pub. I learned such a lot from all of those jobs - communication skills, persuading skills, how things worked, how to deal with tricky customers and work with colleagues as well as interviewing skills to find the job. I also found work via networking which is also similar to today.

I keep in touch with some but not many of the people I worked with largely due to geography and because I am not on Facebook which tends to be the place where people catch up with people.

I used to say my bar job was the best job I ever had. it was a real learning experience - my maths skills improved hugely from the mental calculations and my social skills, which I thought were great improved too as you can get some sticky situations when people have alcohol inside them. It also helped me to avoid student debt.

Some of the clients I have worked for do recruit younger people especially as cheaper labour and I'd like to hope they try and train and give them a good experience for their formative careers.

I had to work so I am biased but I definitely think it's a good grounding and made me more employable when I graduated. I still think the entry at that stage was a shock but it would have been worse if I had no experience at all.