# Starting salaries - real job and first job



## Alexandra (Apr 3, 2009)

I thought it might be neat to hear what everyone's starting salaries were.

My first job (aside from babysitting and newspaper routes) was at the local A&P, when I was 15 years old. I made $5.10 per hour. 

That was not bad money at the time, although within 8 years or so, I was making around $14.00 for the same part-time job (union), and that was really good money, especially for a university student.

My first "real" or grown-up full-time job once I graduated from graduate school was at Nortel. My salary was $53,000 that year, plus I got a ten thousand dollar signing bonus.


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## ashby corner (Jun 15, 2009)

first job was as a stock boy in a convenience store in a small town in the Maritimes. $2.80 per hour. This would have been in 1983. First "real" job was in 1995 and salary was 26500. Due to a move to a major city and completing some "fancy book learning", I've more than tripled my gross in the last 9 years from 35 to 110.


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## mfd (Apr 3, 2009)

My first job was working cleaning at the airport for $8/hr . It was neat looking at the internal workings of an airport and also an eye opener on how cleaners are the biggest security risk in any company

my first real job out of school was in IT with a starting salary of $55k/year


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## markievicz (Apr 11, 2009)

When I was around 15 I made 3 Irish pounds an hour working nights in a local Dublin nightclub, coat checking and helping the cashiers and bartenders. I ended up bartending there for years, until I moved to the States. Plus phone numbers from various skeevy guys and all the beer I could drink at closing time of course!

For my first "real" job I think I probably made something between US$30-$35k plus a nice bonus and lawyers/immigration fees. That was in NYC, and when I look back at my expenses back then I'm amazed ... $200 for my half of the rent, no cellphone, no gym, no car, no internet, etc. We lived cheap!


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## paulkoshy (Apr 6, 2009)

markievicz said:


> When I was around 15 I made 3 Irish pounds an hour working nights in a local Dublin nightclub!


What club was this? Is it still open? You willl see why I'm interested after reading my post.

First job was at canadas wonderland - 6.10/hour working one of the rides - why they let 15 year olds deal with the lives of strangers is beyond me.

First real job was in Dublin Ireland working for a bank. When converted about 48K CAD.


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## markievicz (Apr 11, 2009)

Paul - it was the club in the cellar of F/itzpatrick's C/astle Hotel in Killiney. I grew up not a million miles away and was behind the bar at a wedding upstairs the night it went on fire. If it's still open I'm sure the club undergone a lot of rebranding since then - and I hope they've solved their slug issues!


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## Max (Apr 4, 2009)

My first job, I was working fast food making $6.45 per hour and felt privileged. My first job out of College, I made about $8 per hour counting inventory and felt underpaid. During University I made $10 per hour as a bookkeeper and again felt privileged. First job out of University, I made 50k per year in treasury.

Strange that I generally felt happier when I was underpaid.


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## Ben (Apr 3, 2009)

My first job was working in a rural vegetable garden for 5 summers, starting at age 12. There weren't a lot of jobs around for kids. My village had 300 people, and I didn't even live in town. Cars and rides were in short supply with 8 siblings, and it was difficult to stray too far afield.

Summer 1: $2/hr, raise to $2.50/hr halfway through. 20 hr/week.
Remaining Summers: raise of about $1/hr/year. Finished making $6 per hour at age 16. Can't remember if I ever made it to a 40 hour week. 

Starting salaries for an engineer in natural resources are somewhere around 50k. I got $200/week in subsistence money as well ($10k/year), tax-free in my first job.

Well, actually it shouldn't have been tax free, because I did not have a permanent residence, so the company was investigated by CRA and volunteered to take the tax hit on behalf of all the employees affected. It was something like a $1 million liability, I believe.


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## Retired at 31 (Apr 20, 2009)

My first job was teaching a computer class for a community college while still in high school. Upside: $22.85/hour! Downside: 3 hours a week. Further downside: Teaching a computer class for a community college while still in high shoool! 

Due to self employment, I haven't had a "real" job yet! 

Similar to Max, I have enjoyed some of the "underpaid" jobs. I found they often occupied your body, but your mind was free.


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## thatdaveguy (Jun 6, 2009)

Other than newspapers, my first job was at Kelseys @ $8/hr

First real job, $50k/yr


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## Rickson9 (Apr 9, 2009)

I made $4.25 per hour in high school working for St. Huberts as a dish washer.

My first 'real' job was out of university when my friends and I started an I.T. consulting company in 1996 and made $100,000 in our mid-20s.


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## Maltese (Apr 22, 2009)

When I was in university I made $2.50/hour hostessing in a restaurant. When I graduated in 1979 I started my real job at $16,000/year and was thrilled to be earning some real money. Now 30 years later I'm still in the same field and earning the same as those with 10 years experience. Unfortunately there are no pay increases after 10 years.


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## gwcanuck (Apr 27, 2009)

First job was in fast food 1985 for $3.15/hr.

First real job $32400/yr.


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## habsfan93 (May 29, 2009)

My first job was as a cashier at Canadian Tire, earning I think $6.85/hour which was minimum wage in Ontario at the time. I stayed at the store for 3 years, moved to the retail floor after a few months, was making $8.75/hour when I left to go to University.

All of my summer jobs at University payed $12/hour. I worked as a TA during my Master's degree at $36/hour - now that was a sweet paying job. 

First real job started about a year ago - $47500/year (engineering), although I get paid overtime, so once you factor that in, its more like around 50-52.5 k/year.


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## The_Number (Apr 3, 2009)

Aside from delivering papers, my first job was teaching English (as an additional language) at somewhere between $10-20/per contact hour. The pay was great for a teenager, but getting steady/enough hours was a problem.

My first "real" job is my current job. It's not enough of a distant past for me to share the details.


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## frugalgirl23 (Apr 3, 2009)

My first job was making $8.00 an hour selling tickets for a tour company in the summer heat

my first real job was after uni making $64 K at year.


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## samorchard (Jul 3, 2009)

My first job when I left school was for 16CAD and I got good pay rises after that because I was employed under 21, then now I am on nearly on 60 CAD. I also make money online through an affiliate network which boosts my income


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

My first career was in environmental education, so even my first "real" job was low-paying: $9,000/year (this was around 1982). My next job paid $13K and I felt rich! It took me a long time to break the $20K mark.


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## Bullseye (Apr 5, 2009)

First real job was $26k as an accounting clerk. This was about 12 years ago.


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## AdamO (Jul 6, 2009)

I delivered the pennysaver weekly for $25 a month(age 9), The Times Colonist daily for $110 a month(age 11-14), and then I got the king of all paper delivery jobs, ADPOST( a division of CANADA POST, and my first union gig) ADPOST payed handsomely, For my 6 hours work on Saturdays I'd bring home one hundred dollars, so $400 a month(age 14-15). ADPOST was cut, and I received about $500 severance, it was awesome. I have no post secondary education, so for my first "real" job, I'd say $35000 a year supporting autistic men in the community at age 24.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

My first "job" was writing a computer program in Fox-Base for my uncle that printed daily, weekly and monthly reports for his computer hardware selling business.
Didn't get paid per se, but got the bus money and free lunch and dinner (he had a home based business) cooked by my aunt.
Lasted about 6 months...it was heavenly


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## Norm3206 (May 27, 2009)

First job was delivering a weekly newspaper. Made $.02 a paper/week. The press often broke down and we spent more money on chips and pop while waiting than we made from delivering papers.

First real job was building houses in a factory for $1.25/hour. Went to school 8-3:30 and built houses 4 - midnite Monday to Friday. Sure packed in alot of social time in a 2 day weekend.


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