Many people get their first job in high school and some get their first job in college, and some are even able to wait on getting a job until after they graduate from college. Regardless of when you get your first job, there are some things that we all learn from our first job no matter what.

1. You learn that you like to have a little extra income.

You know how much you make after taxes, and you know exactly how much your paycheck is going to be every week. Once you start to have that extra money, you will want to improve yourself. You’ll start a savings account, and actually have money in it.

2. You learn the value of money.

When our parents buy us things, we normally do not think about how much things cost. But when you are buying things for yourself, you’ll put back a $9 shirt. You will have an understanding how some people can go without food because they spent all of their money. You will have an understanding for people who never let their bank account hit below $1,000. And then you’ll start to be annoyed by people who always blow their money the second day they have it on unnecessary things. I didn’t know that I would ever get annoyed with someone being irresponsible with their money until I got a job.

3. You will learn how to be friends with coworkers that you are not fond of.

It is going to happen, and you’re probably not going to like it. There will always be someone who starts off on the wrong foot with you, but how you handle that is up to you. You can take it straight to your boss, or you can talk to your coworker. But working in an environment when everyone is friends is great.

4. You will learn how to do taxes.

Shoutout to my stepdad who talked me through each tax form and made sure I understood. Of course taxes are confusing, but it is never a bad idea to learn how to do them. I am sure that in the future I will gladly pay someone one to do mine for me.

5. You will learn when it is time to move on.

For many people, a first job is probably easy to move on from if they hated it from the start, but there are other jobs that are hard to leave that you loved from the beginning but knew when you had gotten all that you could out of that job.

No matter where your first job was, it is always a learning experience. Every job is a learning experience. Take that experience and go out and get the job of your dreams that you are passionate about and love. If you work a job you love, you never work a day in your life. Enjoy your dream job, and do not get discouraged if it takes 5 or 6 less than mediocre jobs to find the perfect one!