My #first7jobs
This is an interesting one as i am writing this from memory alone. I have never been the type of person to stay working for a company for very long attend a school for very long or stay focused on one particular project for an extended period of time.. as history shows below. But when creating my own projects it isn’t just a job but part of the lifestyle for me. so hopefully including some of my own projects and roles for other companies this will help explain this.
- Secondary school tuck shop cartel
I was about 11 when my brother, his friend and his brother had a sweet shop selling sweets and other items to school mates during breaks and lunch.
The key lesson i learnt during this time is demand and supply are the fundamentals of any business.
We were the only other seller of produce at our school beyond the school itself and this allowed us to dictate price and have alot of fun.
2. eBay electronics seller.
Beyond selling DVDs, second hand clothes and things i saw little value in, i ended up trading Smartphones; brand new, second hand and refurbished. this was 2005/07 so it was mainly Blackberry phones.
This taught me my second crucial business lesson, you only need 2 buyers to increase your price.
3. River Island, Sales Advisor (or associate, or assistant… who knows).
I was walking through Brent Cross shopping centre whilst shopping with my Girlfriend at the time. Spending my eBay cash which had dried up since blackberries were not as popular after the launch of the iPhone. I mainly help set the store up, track item stock for JIT Delivery and Serve customers on the sales floor. I later left due to a fallout with my boss when i refused to answer any questions asked by them just to avoid yet another meaningless argument, i was only 17 at the time.
The Crucial business lesson i learnt here is communication is key, having people know the information to do their job is important but letting them know why they are working and working for you is even more so.
4. Leafleter for my fathers company.
This was before i entered University to do my Computer science and design degree, all i had was IT A level and enthusiasm. which i required in droves for the task of handing out leaflets for PC recycling and cleaning. I rang 100’s of office bells, spoke to many receptionists and walked tens of miles in the sun figuring out ways to get past the secretary and then for the managers to agree on our plan. I feel everyone should be in sales at one point or another in their career.
The Key lesson i learned was that people who can take no 100 times and strive for a yes love the process and people who live for the yes love the result. they are worthless on their own!
5. TM Lewin
I got this job whist practicing my new found ability to see past and through people trying to deflect my persistence
I walked in asked for a job, waited an hour for the manager to show up, convinced her to give me a proper interview after a 30 min chat and got the job the week later. I had no tailoring experience but i was still taken on.
My Key take away is that patience is only good when its for what you want.
6. Harrods
I managed to land a job at Harrords, the first job i got by only applying online. I applied for a summer long internship, got it but to my dissatisfaction it was a ‘Porter’ job. The job wasn't bad and it was a giant company, infact the only store in the UK at the time to generate £1BN in sales, mainly through the help of their new online service.
I was let go the second the sale died down, but in my two weeks there i worked on their online fulfillment system a very prehistoric one now.
I learnt that its better to start at the Top of a small organisation than at the bottom of a big one.
7. Clothing designer, supplier and retailer.
It was 2011/2012 and the whole UK was gripped by Olympic fever. I was in my First year of University and the town was going crazy when the Olympic torch passes through it. Then and there i decided there was a market for my interest in clothing design and Olympics and designed 6 London 2012 T-shirts. The timing wasn’t good there was less than a year to design, print and supply these t-shirts. By Easter i had the designs ready and prototypes printed so i used my previous experience and went to Oxford Street in London showing the Shirts and Prototypes to Street vendors on the street. the first day i was rejected as i had no credentials and my designs had had used the Olympic logos so vendors could not buy them. that night i changed the ones that had the logo and ended up with 4 shirts which i managed to take a small £500 order from a vendor. it wasn't a lot but it was enough for me at the time.
Key take away, Timing is of Paramount Importance. Every product has its day and creating is just as important as finding that time to execute.
Honorable mentions, these two didn’t get in as it was only 7 but my first two could be considered not real jobs. So here are an extra two!
8. Microsoft
At Microsoft i was doing UX testing and Customer Interaction for the Windows 8.1 Launch, promoting all Microsoft products. Xbox, Office 365, Skype and etc. As a Entrepreneurial Computer Science Student there are less than a handful of companies that can be considered ‘better’. I learned a key skill which many developers don’t, i learned how to talk about tech, software and UX in English.
Key Takeaway, you need to know your product inside out and explian it in a rlateable way.
9. Wooju
My First start up experience!!!! Wooo!! If you have ever worked in a start up, you know how hectic it is. At the same time you know how rewarding and exciting it can be, Wooju was no different. they were part of an early cohort of the Microsoft Ventures Accelerator and fortunately for me i was able to learn tonnes there from mentors, talks and the network as a whole. The team was small and many member worked remotely so i usually attended accelerator talks, events like Web Summit and Tech Crunch Disrupt with the CEO.
The key take away is put yourself in the greatest position to learn what you can, i got lucky but it available to everyone if i could do it!
Sorry about the extra two if that disrespected the tag for you, i feel that the first two jobs will be important to some and the last to will be important to others.
Let me know what you think!! udavid@risetapp.com
