Triple Venti Latte, Anyone?

I got my first job at the end of high school. I’d been watching “help wanted” signs around our small town and applied at the local gas station. It wasn’t my first pick of jobs, but it would be a bit of money. The owner called me back a month after I applied and said the job was mine if I still wanted it. Our families were known to each other, so he didn’t bother interviewing me. I started that weekend and worked there for the next year, until I started my first summer job during university.

I didn’t interview for that job either. My dad’s company ran a program where they hired sons and daughters of employees during the summer. It was a way of helping employees’ fund their children’s university educations. My dad had always insisted that my brothers and I try to get our high school diplomas, because his company didn’t hire anyone without a high school diploma. None of us got that diploma. When I applied for the position, I simply included a copy of my high school marks and a note explaining that I didn’t have a diploma but these marks were proof that I had completed high school. They hired me.

I worked there for the next summer, and then took off to Australia for my third summer. I had a working holiday visa and so after about a month of touring around and spending a money, I began looking for a job. Again, no interview required. The first job—which ended after a week because the person I was supposed to replace decided to stay on—involved an online application and a telephone job offer. After that ended, I bummed around Alice Springs for a week and then walked the trail out to the Telegraph Station. They had a “help wanted” sign; I asked if they hired backpackers; they said they’d think about it and call me back; two days later I had a job for a month.

And so I didn’t have a job interview until I finished university. As I interviewed earlier this week for a position at Starbucks, I thought about that. I’ve had four interviews and gotten three jobs out of it. Not a bad record, I guess. I’ve always thought Starbucks would be a fun job and not just for the free coffee. I liked the people side of working at the gas station and Telegraph Station, and I think that’ll be fun at Starbucks.

So as of this week, I’ve started my fifth job (not counting babysitting or temporary jobs in Australia). I’m now a shift supervisor at Starbucks. Triple venti latte, anyone?