Every one of us can remember our first job. It's seared into our memory; we can tell you how much we were paid, what our specific job was, what hours we worked and most details of our boss at that time. It's a notable part of our lives. For many of us, 1st job goes back to high school, or earlier. My first job was delivering newspapers and then mowing lawns. My first job with a supervisor was a grocery store; where I bagged groceries, cleaned the floors and stocked the shelves. My first 'real job'; i.e. post education was a sales position, in an industry I knew nothing about; lighting.

For the past 10+ years, I've qualified candidates for leadership positions. Now that means that my typical candidate is probably early to mid-50's, with 30+ years of experience; post college. I always ask them to do a complete career review starting with their first job out of college. And then I ask them what their 'best job' has been. I've interviewed hundreds of leadership talent and the one answer that comes back more often than any other.... Their first job.