How important is your first job?

Mikoid

You're fresh out of college, eager to get on the lower rungs of the corporate ladder. I wonder how important my first job was in the context of my career. Ten years from now, I wonder if I'll look back and tell myself, "I should've taken that OTHER opening elsewhere!"

Does my first job really matter? What should one consider when making that initial career choice?

seven

YES, definitely.

The first job would define the course of your emplyment or if you choose to be self-employed, it would be the tollgate of your future.

I think that the first thing that one should consider is wheteher he or she would be happy doing the job. Would you imagine yourself having trauma in your first job. That would definitely not make you want to go on.

I know it sounds unlikely to happen, but it is very important to at least like your job, to be able to have a real good springboard. Hey, if you like your job in the first place, you are definitely gonna be good at it and who knows, that job might just send you to GOD knows where. I mean it could keep you going and eventually have your own place on top.

That is just what I think....

And eventually I may wanna do that ....

IF I graduate?!?

Hope I would....hmmmmmm...

big_gurl

i guess first jobs are important in a way,coz this is where you would realize on where part of your chosen field you want to expand and improve.it could be the same on how important is your first paycheck be.

nix

I'm really not so sure a first job should be so important. Most people I know are just taking their first jobs as a springboard to a good masterals education. In context with getting a masterals degree, then a first job can be considered invaluable. But for most people, experience lang yan. In fact, I know a number of people who are already in their third job now, after just a year and a half out of college.

Ira

*Bump*...the topic's alive again!

batang uliran

And now, it's in Campus and Career talk where it fits better.

Ira

I think each and every job, no matter how measly, is important. Whether you are using it as a stepping stone for a better-paying one, or maybe to tide you over while searching for something in another field, it's the first step. How you perform here will matter, even if you move somewhere else.

mparaz

I haven't had a "second job", so I can't really say... I've been at my first job for more than five years now! Long, isn't it?

Ace McStar

Definitely, It will serve as a springboard for your career!

Gilbey

first job is important because that determins your career path.. tingnan mo si mparaz... dehins pa rin alis sa first job... nix... as you said.. it is for experience etc etc or for masteral but whatever your first job is - it determines the next step...

dahil iyon ang may experience ka.... the next one would be influenced or determined by the first one.... thus you should be choosy also with your first job...

phreax

I dont think it is important. And definitely it would not define the course of your employment. You still have the choice. You might change career in the future because you feel you dont like your job now. Or you think you're not lucky with your job and may start your own business. What really matters is how do you like your job now?

ASuL

yosi tayo...

KuyaDanny

Moved to Career Climb.

rowboat

it's important as a stepping-stone, and as the first place where you'll get your out-of-school training. if you treat your first job as your "first school outside of school," then you can make the most of your first job, gaining the skills you'll need later on.

remember, a lot of people eventually end up in careers that have nothing to do with college courses. so learn as much as you can in your first job ... because it can open so many windows of opportunity later on.

workaholic

The first 3 jobs don't determine your career path. I know a lot of people who've switched careers in their 30's. What a first job does is: break you into the corporate world, get you the experience you need, and fill the gaps in your resume. Still, you have to do well. What you learn and the habits you acquire in that first job will serve you in good stead later on. And first bosses can become mentors and gurus who would, years later, give you good recommendations to other bosses.