I love helping people. I created “The Job Aid” to document the advice and tips I give job hunters. Looking back, I got my first pay check when I was 13 years old at my Summer job. While all my classmates were going on vacations and having play dates, I got paid 425 yen delivering cases of Pepsi products in 120 degree weather. Did I mention the delivery trucks didn’t have A/C? It was a tough job. I did it because of the pay check. It was an amazing feeling to get over 100,000 yen (roughly $1000USD) as a 13 year old at the end of the month. In total, I got just under $3000 USD. I gave half to my parents and stashed the other half in a comic book for use throughout the school year.

I did this for 2 more summers.

The takeaway from my first job was that I never wanted to work at min. wage again. It gave me motivation to get through college and work towards a goal so I could improve my way of life.

This blog details what I learned as I worked my way from a Pepsi delivery worker to a senior IT manager and as a hiring manager.