My first ever job was running a wood chipper under my uncles tree business. Did that almost every weekend for a number of years. Even sometimes in the winter. I wasn’t even a teenager when I first started this job.

Second job was working in a warehouse at a company my mom worked at. They really needed weekend help.

My third job was doing landscaping over the summer at a smallish company where my brother in law worked at. The owner loved to hire students for cheap.

Fourth was a few software development internships ran by a research group at my college. I had a friend who was part of the group and vouched for me.

My current job is my first true career job as a software engineer. The project manager from one of the internships I had actually got a job as CTO at this company. Offered me a junior position there out of college. Been there almost 6 years.

I have applied to places where I certainly would have needed interviews, but I was never offered an opportunity.

To make this even more awesome is that I’ve interviewed candidates myself at my current job for junior positions.