Less Than Glorious First Jobs of Famous CEOs

Great article today at CNN.com about the first jobs, ahem, enjoyed by some of the most famous chief executive officers in the country. For example, did you know that Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, can trace his work history back to an internship he completed at Hewlett-Packard? That might strike many as not terribly surprising, but consider this: he was 12 years old.

You’ve likely heard of the “promote from within” promotion policy used by leading organizations such as Enterprise Holdings, the parent company of car rental businesses such as Enterprise Rent-a-Car. That policy works extremely well for some organizations as every employee knows that they have a legitimate opportunity to advance as far and as fast as their performance dictates. Well, how about starting on the night shift, dressed in blue polyester, earning $2.65 per hour, frying burgers at McDonald’s? Where do you think that person ended up? Well, that person is Jan Fields and she’s now the president of McDonald’s USA.

“The first job is when you learn the basics of how to be successful,” said Kristen Eastlick, a senior researcher at First Jobs Institute, a nonprofit that works with teen employment. “It’s the invisible curriculum. It’s the things you might learn beyond academics. It’s the how to work in a team. It’s the how to show up to work on time. It’s taking initiative, following directions, speaking up and learning to be accountable for your activities.”

Good advice. Students…are you listening?