What We Wish We Knew About Our First Jobs

Getting your first job is one of the biggest signs that you’re finally making your way into the adult world. No more asking for cash to head to the movies, or washing the car for pocket change - it’s your money and your work. Pretty cool right? As you get started, we wanted to share some of our tried and tested wisdom on how to make the most out of your new gig.

It’s totally okay to change jobs if you want to

This is one that I really struggled with when I started working. Often when it’s your first proper job, you feel like your manager has really taken a chance on you to land the role, and you can feel like you’re a bit indebted to them. It’s almost like they did a favour for you by giving you the job.
First of all, this mindset is probably a little unfair to you. They hired you because you’re a superstar and they know you can do the job well - so own it!

That being said, feeling grateful and making sure you do a good job is one thing, but if you’re finding that the job is making you unhappy, you need a different job to support your lifestyle, or you’re ready to move on, that’s totally fine! At the end of the day, their reward for hiring you is your great work, and your reward from them is your wages.

People will help with your career if you ask them to

It might be a bit of a tall poppy situation, but I think people get a bit weird when it comes to ‘networking’. It does sound a little phoney when someone explains it to you - like you’re only being friendly to people to get something out of them. But really it’s just sharing a little more about what you want to do in the future.

Let’s say you’re working at a bar, but you’d really like to be a manager. If you tell your manager that, they might be able to help you set up a plan where you try out a few more tasks and responsibilities so that you can apply for the job when it comes up or when they are on holiday.

This also works outside of your current role. If you’re working a casual job in hospo or retail but you want to become a writer, tell loads of people! Chances are someone you know knows someone working in the biz who might be able to give you some pointers, tell you if any jobs are available or even help you out with an internship. You won’t know until you ask!

Just because we earn more, doesn’t mean we save more

When I was a kid, I remember scrimping and saving to buy myself something expensive like a video game or a shirt I liked, and thinking ‘Wow, when I have a job, I’ll be able to buy a video game every week!’. Yet, I can tell you right now that I can’t afford to do that, despite having a job. Part of this is just cost-of-living changes as you get older - rent to pay, cars to run, and so on.

But another challenge to save money comes from something called lifestyle creep. Lifestyle creep is where you get an increase in pay, and get so excited by all that extra cash that you start buying more things - sometimes so much so that you actually end up with less savings or more debt than you did before the raise.

We as humans are pretty good at getting used to things - suddenly you can’t live without that single-origin coffee every morning, even though you were living off instant just a few months ago. Now don’t get me wrong - if you can afford it, don’t be afraid to treat yourself now and again. Just make sure that you’re putting away a little more money every week as well.

There are loads of things about making it in the big wide world that they just don’t get around to telling you while you’re in school, especially when it comes to talking about work and money. That’s why we’ve teamed up with Westpac to bring you FinLit, our guide to managing your cash through all of those big life moments like working, travelling, studying and more.

Plus, there are prizes to be won by completing any module! You can find out more and give our Academy a go over here.

The following content has been created by Year13 in conjunction with Westpac as part of a paid partnership. The information is general advice only, does not take into account your personal circumstances and you should do your own research and seek advice before acting on this content.