How I Got My First Real Job

The Tale of the Office Helper

By Zach Swaser

My job history is brief, because I have never had a real job before starting college last August. It’s not because I have never wanted one; I have just not been offered a job, or even an interview for that matter. I applied to countless stores and businesses near my house and was unsuccessful. Plenty of my peers in high school were also looking for jobs, so there was a good amount of competition. At 16, I was sure that I would be able to find a job, but that wasn’t the case. When my senior year began to approach, I frivolously began applying to all of the same stores and even ones in the surrounding cities. Again, my attempts failed and I began to feel angry and discriminated against because I was a high school student and was not yet 18. So I went on jobless and without a car all during high school, which I didn’t like at all.

Before I knew it, I was packing for college and it was time to start looking for a job in Bemidji. The first week of school I applied for four different work-study positions on campus. I was confident about finding a job now that I was no longer a minor, which I think is a growing discrimination issue because of the rising rate of unemployment and more adults applying for entry-level jobs. I was in quite a hurry because I heard from many new acquaintances that positions filled up fast. I had filled out two applications in the Technological Studies Department on one warm sunny August day, one at the request of Prof. James McCracken who had seen me filling out the first one in the main office. I departed with fantasies of finally getting a job.

About a week later, I received a phone call from Prof. McCracken saying that he would like to meet with me to discuss the possibility of me working as an officer worker for him. I excitedly agreed to meet with him and proceeded to call my mother to tell her the good news. After a short meeting a few days later I was ready to begin working.

The first day I toured the building and found out where all of the odds and ends were located and did some filing. The building, Bridgeman Hall, is one of the newer buildings on campus. The tile and overall look of the building are sleeker then most of the other brick buildings on campus, but it does have that paper smell and boring white wall color like most offices. My duties include filing paperwork for Prof. McCracken, answering the phone and taking messages, making copies, creating spreadsheets, and other little assignments and errands. I also frequently prepare envelopes and mail them for Prof. McCracken. It is dull work but there are the days when I finish working and get to do homework for pay so the job has its benefits.

Now, a few months of working later, I can say that I do not have the worst job by far and I enjoy the normal ease of working in an office. I also can say that getting a job when you are a minor is extraordinarily more difficult than once you turn 18. If I would have kept my options open or looked around a little more before accepting this job I think that I could have found one that I enjoy more, but for now money is money.