My First Job: Whatever You Do, Be Happy Doing It

My very first job, at age 13, was delivering milk to the local residents of our small town on a Saturday and Sunday morning – early! I did it not because I wanted to drive my own milk float one day, but to pay the rent for my horse Taffy. Working for my rent all those years ago was a good start to my working career because it taught me a few lessons that are important in all parts of life, particularly in getting my first real job.

1. It’s important to stop and chat to your customers occasionally, even if it’s just about the weather. They appreciate your taking the time.
2. No matter what events have happened out of your control, there will be disappointment if you don’t deliver. If the snow was bad in winter, the customers really appreciated the extra effort I made to get their milk delivered.
3. There are always late payers, but if you mention it in passing before you take any kind of formal action, you might just get paid quicker.
4. It taught me the importance of budgeting, being able to afford to keep my horse.
5. You need to be happy and enjoy the position you are in.

Even though you could buy milk from the supermarket, most folks in the town wanted to get it delivered. They didn’t mind spending the little extra because they valued the service we provided.

It was a great very first job, sharing a flask of hot chocolate and marmalade sandwiches at the halfway point, before finishing off for the day at the depot.

So when I got my first real job, working in retail at Marks & Spencer, I already had some experience of not only dealing with other employees, but customers too.

My personality was definitely suited to being a milk lady, chatting to others and being friendly, and you might think I would have been a perfect fit for a retail store position but it backfired: the environment was way too formal for me. I now had to call my new boss by his surname and not his first name. I don’t really like such formality in the workplace and after I had been there a few weeks, I thought it time I called Mr. Wood the much less formal “Tim”. Big mistake. Don’t try this yourself if you work in such a formal organization! It made me realize I just didn’t fit in so when an opportunity came up in another town, I took it.

When someone left, it was customary for the HR department to put a farewell message for them on the main noticeboard and so as no one had put anything up for me on the day I was due to finish, I did it myself. I really didn’t fit in, did I? You can still get in big trouble on your last day of work, let me tell you.

During my early jobs, I learned many lessons about respect, conformity, being friendly and being myself, but more importantly, about being a good fit and happy in your role.

I do hope you follow my posts in the future.

My latest book “Start with Hello” (Wiley) is out now and talks about how to meet more people you don’t currently know. You can get a complimentary sample of a chapter from here. You might also be interested in The Say Hello Project, which took place recently.