Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How much did you make at your first real job?

Besides working for the family the first job out of the house that you were required to show up at a certain time for was at a cedar mill. A fence builder leased a building and made a fencing product he called grape stakes. 7 days a week 12 hrs a day at $2 an hour cash I made quite a bit of money for a 14 year old kid. Saved it to feed my hogs between litters.

Yes, I did a bunch of chit work before starting the 40 year technician job at 13 or 14K (don't remember exactly) in 1981.

Never quit working some kind of side job either. Some of that was charity work, intended or not.

Went to work for Phillips 66 two weeks out of high school in 1979. First day (union job) you started as a laborer around 6 bucks an hour, day two as a general helper for a dollar more and the third day as an operator helper with another dollar bump. Grossed 334.24 my first week, still have the pay stub.

Really wanted to be a Texas game warden and picked up an application in 1980, they started out at 9K a year while you were in training and bumped to 11k after graduation. After looking at my gross of 14 K for 6.5 months at the plant I decided that didn’t make sense financially.

Retired last May two weeks shy of 42 years.

R27.00 (About $38.00) a week in 1978 as an apprentice auto technician in Durban, South Africa.

2.35 an hour

My first job was in the summer of 61', working at a drug company filling orders
for pharmacies at 15 yrs. old. Made minimum wage of $1.25 per hr.
That was $50 per week, $40 per week after taxes.
I spent every nickel, every week on Sue.
We were married in 64' and we are still married 57 yrs. later

40 and found

$1.60 an hour, bought a new 700 BDL at a Gibsons with my first check $134. plus tax.

Hanco: I remember getting my first "raise" - to $1.25 an hour.
I worked hard for that money.
I was 15 - 16 years old (1962'ish) and was working in the mint fields of eastern Oregon right alongside the Mexican migrant workers hoeing weeds in the mint fields.
Bought a car and an 870 Remington with the money I saved.
You haven't worked til you've worked alongside a couple dozen Mexicans hoeing weeds in 100 degree+ temperatures for 12 hours a day.
Taught me some VERY important "things", those summers I did that work!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

My first real job I made $4.75 an hour to start as a lifeguard. That was almost twice the minimum wage at the time and I thought I was set for life. It was a great job. When most kids my age were flipping burgers I was at the pool or the beach living the good life. There were perks to that job that I didn’t fully comprehend at the time. 😉

$2.75/hr working for a farmer in high school. Large hay operation that was 90% automated.
$4.50/hr in 1984 working at a local floor tile factory. $7.25 when I left there five years later. Barely kept the household afloat while my new bride was attending college 60 miles away during the week. Luckily, I had bought a house for 10k when I was 18 for a rental property. The elderly renter moved to an apartment just when we needed to move in.