I wore many hats through the years...my kids ask if I had every kind of job. In this order...just to say that when a better opportunity came along I tried it! Don't ever give up, there's always something else to try; & until you've done it, you never know what you'll like. The good thing is, I wouldn't hesitate to go back to ANY of these jobs, except fast-food...last choice. I worked about a year at most of these jobs at least 20 hours a week, starting @ 13; I was ambitious then, & just tired now. :shock:
Fast food worker
Upholstery worker- sewing miles of piping & tear-down.
Music store- instrument sales
Bank proof operator -encoding checks-probably doesn't exist anymore, since computers. LOL
Bookstore clerk
Highway Dept. -roadway survey taker; yes, annoying when you get caught in one of these. Summer, but led to a full-time job @ twice the pay.
Land Surveyor- transit, staking out center-line for new highways
Water quality testing- lakes & rivers
Soil testing- for compaction, roads & bridges.
Residential home developer- construction inspector, for the company.
Draftsman for highway dept.- computer (CAD)
Draftsman for local surveyor- residential loans, part-time
Pizza Delivery - bad economy -2nd job
House cleaning for others - bad economy -3rd job
Civil (Field) Engineer- career - 10 years. Hydro-electric/Geothermal Powerhouse construction.
Wife/SAH Mom/Volunteer/Home-school teacher/Scout & Sports mom too. Caring for my family has been the toughest job of all, but most rewarding.
Twenty years as the designer/draftsman/buyer for my husband, who has been a home-builder.
I make the point to my kids, don't just quit looking if you want a job, knock on every door; within reason. I offered to work for free for a week for one of these jobs (during a bad economy), & the guy said yes...I said if he didn't like my work ethic, I would just walk away. I worked there a year, until I graduated college, along with the Pizza delivery & house-cleaning to pay the bills. Someone told me that wouldn't be legal now...it probably wasn't legal then either, but it worked out fine.
Of course I am also old enough to have lived when kids could work young without any issue...like 10-year-olds with paper routes, babysitting under 12, cutting grass, & shoveling snow. Those are things my friends & I did all the time for spending money; my kids wouldn't have had these opportunities today. Hope a few of you still live where that's possible, safely. It was good life training.