What Your First Job Teaches You and How That Makes a Fun Icebreaker

Most people get their first job when they are high school students or college students. Sometimes not even until they are recent graduates trying to set out on their career path. At the time of your first job, you may not have previous experience to outline in a resume as you search through job opportunities and attend job interviews. However, once you land that first job this is a great way to build skills and gain valuable experience to utilize in your next position.

Whether it is your dream job or an entry level job, your first job provides you with many takeaways, good and bad. You form opinions about work, coworkers, and values. What you want out of a job and what you have to do to keep that job. Moreover, you learn how you maneuver work conflicts, build relationships, and engage with a team of strangers to build a bond.

My very first job was as a summer camp counselor. The manager of the camp was my softball coach and I was one of her best players. When I found out about the camp, I asked her in a very professional manner if I could work there for the summer. She asked me if I submitted the application with my resume. I learned then that in some places it wouldn’t matter who you know, there are still proper channels. I ended up get hired and had to deal with 5 year olds and 15 year olds. Being 18 myself, not a lot of respect from the older groups. We worked in the scorching summer heat, running and entertaining, while making sure no one passed out. Showing leadership abilities, I got assigned more responsibilities and that angered a few of the more senior counselors.

My first job taught me so much about workplace dynamics, taking control of situations, and overseeing large groups while combatting tight time frames. It also taught me that despite the hectic and challenging work environment, I enjoyed what I did. So I didn’t feel like it was me working 6-8 hours a day, but like I was showing up to the park and happened to be in charge of groups of kids at the same time.

Core Lessons Come from a First Job

These foundational experiences, whether in retail, food service, or an internship, teach people something. Whether it’s responsibility or the value of a strong work ethic. The skills that are taught and learned in early years, apply throughout their career. Talking with your peers about those skills built, allows people to understand more about each other and their methods. This makes working together simpler and more cohesive.

The first job provides a blueprint for everyone’s careers. Valuable experiences, good memories, and tough lessons are just a few key insights gained from your very first job.

Reliability and Punctuality: Being on time and dependable is crucial for building a solid reputation.
Proactive Communication: Ask questions, seek feedback, and communicate frequently to build trust.
Work Ethic and Attitude: Treat every task, no matter how small, as important. Be willing to help and take initiative.
Professionalism: Respect everyone, from peers to managers, and maintain a positive, coachable attitude.
Handling Mistakes: Understand that mistakes are part of the learning process; own them and move forward.
Networking: Build relationships with mentors and colleagues, as they are resources for future growth.
Self-Discovery: A first job helps identify what you enjoy, what you dislike, and what you will or will not tolerate in future roles.

Your Team’s First Job Experience Says A Lot

Main values that some people take away from their first job would be the importance of punctuality, communicating with coworkers, and viewing mistakes as learning opportunities. These experiences build confidence, help define future career goals, and demonstrate that no job is too menial to teach valuable lessons. These stories and experiences shape the employee, coworker, and leader they become in the future.

What’s interesting is that most people don’t talk about their first job. Why would they? There’s no need to think back on your first job, but it is an interesting way for people to understand how they’ve gained skills over the years. It all started with their first job. What better way to rehash your first job then as an icebreaker with your team. This is a nice way to break the ice or help bridge the gap between team members. This will get everyone talking and getting to know each more, while understanding themselves more as well. This icebreaker can be done in two different ways, whichever works best for your team.

First Job Icebreaker #1

Have everyone break into pairs
Give each person 2 minutes to speak.
When the timer ends, their partner will speak for 2 minutes.
Once each pair finishes, then everyone switches partners.

The key here is that with each partner switch, they have to name something different they learned. For instance, if they say they learned to be punctual because tardies were counted against them, then they would have to pick a different lesson learned for the next round.

First Job Icebreaker #2

Have everyone gather in a circle.
Choose the order for everyone to talk. (i.e. go clockwise, by seniority, random, etc.)
Each person gets 3 minutes to talk about their first job and 2-3 lessons they learned from it.
At the end, break everyone up by industry. (i.e. retail, food service, recreation, etc.)
Have the new groups find a common lesson they learned that is unique to that industry.
One person from each industry will present their unique industry lesson.

The key here is that the entire team will hear everyone’s first job story and corresponding lesson. When they break into industry groups, don’t see it as separating the team. By the end of this icebreaker, team members will be thinking creatively, having fun, and mingling with new people. One key takeaway from icebreaker #2 is that individuals realize they can have so much in common with people they maybe hadn’t talked to before that activity. Commonalities strengthen bonds even more and prove that each person has more to them beyond what we see when we work with them.

Turning your “first job” lessons into an icebreaker is a simple way to build trust and find commonalities without getting too personal. End the icebreaker by connecting these early lessons to your current work. For example: “Even though we aren’t flipping burgers anymore, that same focus on reliability is what makes this team successful today”.