five jobs i've had that you won't see in my resume
I had quite interesting part-time jobs when I was a teenager. I was around 16 when our family got into a financial crisis and so my sister and I had to be creative and adventurous in finding ways to earn some cash and make ends meet, especially when we were both in college.
These are the jobs that are not included in my official resume, but where I most definitely learned a lot from and got to mingle with people I otherwise wouldn't have had much chance to.
1. My first job ever was selling encyclopedias. It was my cousin who originally got into it and I went along not only because I wanted to earn some cash, but also to have an excuse to get out of the house. I was 16 then and it was summer vacation. We had to memorize spiels and hand out forms to ‘prospects’ in a Shakey’s branch along West Avenue in Quezon City. But the one and only sale I made was not courtesy of those ‘prospects,’ but my best friend Annej’s dad.
2. I used to star in TV commercials. Okay, exag ang term na star since I was never the lead and was always an extra! Haha :) As extras, our exposure would always be little to none, as expected. But just the same, I would excitedly wait for the ad to air on TV and even tell my friends about it. Needless to say, it was always a challenge trying to figure out which one I was in the crowd. It was always a ‘don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it’ kind of exposure. Case in point: Donna Cruz's Lux Shampoo commercial. Try mo kong hanapin :P
3. Another raket I had while I was in college dancing for local TV variety shows on ABS-CBN as part of an all-girl dance group. This was the time when the Apo Hiking Society led the daily noontime show and Dayanara Torres was still with ASAP. Too bad digital cameras and YouTube weren’t available yet then – it would’ve been fun getting to keep copies of our dance numbers to share with my future grandkids. Then again, considering how awful I was at doing my own makeup… it’s probably for the best.
4. I used to make mix tapes. Back when mp3 players and downloading were still unheard of, mix tapes were the way to go when it came to music and creating your own playlists. I cashed in on that one by buying blank cassette tapes, asking my college classmates to choose songs they like from my collection of cassettes, and then I made mix tapes for them. I can’t remember how much I charged for each tape, but I think I made enough for meal allowance.
5. The part-time job I lasted the longest in was being an ‘information secretary’ at Speechpower, a communications training center. I did mostly clerical stuff like accommodating callers and visitors and facilitating enrollment. It was a fun job because I worked mostly with people my age and I made some good friends there. Sadly, we’ve lost touch through the years. I’ve tried searching for some of them on Facebook but have not been successful, but I’m going to try again.
These are experiences I look forward to sharing with Sloan when he grows up. Between me and Mike – who also has a very interesting mix of jobs (I should bug him to write about those too) – our little boy is in for some very interesting stories and what I hope could be valuable life lessons.
These are the jobs that are not included in my official resume, but where I most definitely learned a lot from and got to mingle with people I otherwise wouldn't have had much chance to.
1. My first job ever was selling encyclopedias. It was my cousin who originally got into it and I went along not only because I wanted to earn some cash, but also to have an excuse to get out of the house. I was 16 then and it was summer vacation. We had to memorize spiels and hand out forms to ‘prospects’ in a Shakey’s branch along West Avenue in Quezon City. But the one and only sale I made was not courtesy of those ‘prospects,’ but my best friend Annej’s dad.
 |
| Annej and I during our college graduation |
Annej's dad bought a whole set for the computer school he was managing then. I knew that he did it out of kindness because surely their library already had a set of encyclopedias. It’s an act of kindness I deeply cherish.
2. I used to star in TV commercials. Okay, exag ang term na star since I was never the lead and was always an extra! Haha :) As extras, our exposure would always be little to none, as expected. But just the same, I would excitedly wait for the ad to air on TV and even tell my friends about it. Needless to say, it was always a challenge trying to figure out which one I was in the crowd. It was always a ‘don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it’ kind of exposure. Case in point: Donna Cruz's Lux Shampoo commercial. Try mo kong hanapin :P
Nahirapan ka ba? Ako din e! Haha :D We were among the 'guests' for Donna's birthday party and there were actually a lot of us in there, but not even Donna's supposed leading man got some air time. That's how it is :) I'm trying to find The Eraserheads' Chippy commercial, which I was also a part of, but it's not on YouTube, sayang.
4. I used to make mix tapes. Back when mp3 players and downloading were still unheard of, mix tapes were the way to go when it came to music and creating your own playlists. I cashed in on that one by buying blank cassette tapes, asking my college classmates to choose songs they like from my collection of cassettes, and then I made mix tapes for them. I can’t remember how much I charged for each tape, but I think I made enough for meal allowance.
These are experiences I look forward to sharing with Sloan when he grows up. Between me and Mike – who also has a very interesting mix of jobs (I should bug him to write about those too) – our little boy is in for some very interesting stories and what I hope could be valuable life lessons.
Comments
Post a Comment