My first job was at Target. It was a seasonal position during the Christmas season of my sophomore year of high school. I was really excited to get the job, as it was much more appealing to me than something like working at Arby’s (which I ended up doing about a year later). Looking back, it wasn’t a terrible first job. There were just a couple issues though.

First of all, nobody ever actually told me what I had been hired to do. Weeks after I started, I finally discovered that my position was as a floor team member. Instead of working the cash registers all day, as I thought I was supposed to be doing, my assignment was to keep a specified area of the store neat and tidy and help out any customers that may find me. This was all well and good, but it brings me to the second problem.

The Christmas season was so hectic and orientation was so rushed, that I never really was trained on what I was doing. I had pretty much no idea where things were and would often have to ask other workers. Either that, or I would tell customers that I wasn’t sure where the thing they were looking for was because I had just started.

The lack of knowledge that I possessed really was impressive. Up until my last few weeks working there, I thought that I was supposed to take twice the amount of breaks than I was actually allowed. Nobody ever pointed this out to me, but I eventually figured it out.

One of the most annoying things about my experience was that someone stole my name tag the first week I was there and I never got a replacement until my last week.

All told, the job only lasted about 2 or 3 months. Now when I look back at my time working at Target, I see it as an era of miscommunication and disorganization.

The whole experience left me with an odd feeling. I remember thinking that if that was the way every job was, then there was probably nobody in the world who actually knew what they were doing. I thought that everybody just got by like I did at Target, hoping that nobody would discover that they really had no clue how to do their job. This was a scary thought, especially when I considered doctors.

I’m happy to say that I have since realized that this is not the case. Today I work in a place where not only does everybody know what they’re doing, but they’re awesome at it. The people that I work with on a daily basis always amaze me with the things they know and accomplish. It’s a great way to spend the workday, and a wonderful environment to learn in.

0 Cool post, man.