Odd jobs aside (I dug a trench once, looked after neighbor’s pets, helped to supply coffee and cookies for a weekly biostatistics conference, mowed lawns, etc.) my first job was as a cook in a pizza buffet place at 16. All was well until i smashed my finger in the dough press. The extra care that I took from there on out drastically reduced my speed, and I lost the position to another candidate. And then they didn’t want to pay me for my three days, saying that it was just a training period.
I had a similar experience with a bookstore near Northeast Missouri University.
My first real job – that is, one where I was around for more than a month, and got a raise – was at a car wash. The pay was $1.25 better than minimum wage (supplemented, pre-recession, by ~$35/day tips and 1 free car wash per week), and the people were interesting. I worked weekends, and earned enough money that I could, for the first time ever, buy my own stuff. I left that one on my own.
Those tips were crazy. Before long, it was routine to have $300 in cash lurking in an old video game box. I bought an external hard drive once, and paid cash – all 5s and 1s. The guy at the store was mildly amused.