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 The lectures tend to be bite-sized, inspirational, revealing
of humanity and the world we live in and extremely popular,
having been viewed cumulatively over 4.6 billion times since
going online in 2006 (www.ted.com).
For the latest in Reuters' "First Jobs" series, we talk to a few
popular Ted speakers about how they got their starts.
Dr. Dambisa Moyo
Ted Talk: "Economic Growth Has Stalled. Let's Fix It" (http://bit.ly/1oWCWmm)
Views: 1.35 million
First job: waitress
When I was around 20 I worked at a seafood restaurant in
Washington, D.C., called L&N Seafood Grill. I was a college
student at the time, and they kept their overhead down by having
a lot of students work there. In theory it was not that
difficult - but I found it very challenging. In retrospect I
appreciate how tough that job was.
Restaurants like that have more than one seating, so it is all
contingent on how efficient you are as an individual. You have
to move guests in, and move them out. In that job I learned that
customers can be very particular - and that some people are just
not very nice at all. In fact, in the service business, there is
almost an expectation that people will behave badly.
A restaurant is its own complex economy. Just think about how
many different people are involved: the server, the coat check,
the person pouring water, the chef, the cleaners, the manager.
It is all highly specialized, and everyone has to work together
seamlessly. That kind of reliance on teamwork is a model for how
all businesses should operate.
Tim Harford
Ted Talk: "How Frustration Can Make Us More Creative" (http://bit.ly/1Zgutpp)
Views: 2.1 million
First job: management consulting
The first job I had after graduating from my master's degree was
at a management consulting firm – a spinoff from McKinsey full
of ambitious people in sharp suits trying to sell the dot-com
boom. Nobody really knew anything, but people worked hard and
spoke with confidence.
Everyone except me. I felt completely out of place – everyone
else seemed to have skills I didn’t have. And the skills I had
didn’t seem to be welcome. Within a couple of weeks I was so
anxious that I was crying in the elevator up to the office.
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 I was even allergic to my own suit. I told a colleague,
making her cry with laughter. “You only need to do two things to
do this job well, Tim,” she told me. “Wear a suit, and talk
bullshit. And you can’t do either of them.”
But what could I do? I asked my friends. All of them on similar
career tracks, they told me to stick it out for a year or two,
showing some persistence before finding something else.
It was only when I asked an older friend that I heard much wiser
advice: to quit immediately. I did, and within weeks I found a
humbler job that suited me perfectly.
I learned a few lessons. When you ask for advice, make sure you
get some different viewpoints. If you’re making a mistake, stop
making it as quickly as possible. And if your job brings you out
in hives, it’s time to find a different job.
Pamela Meyer
Ted Talk: "How to Spot a Liar" (http://bit.ly/1bogYC6)
Views: 14.6 million
First job: record-store cashier
Back then there was a burgeoning local rock-music scene in
Washington, D.C., spearheaded by the iconic radio station WHFS. So
it was a funky, interesting time, and the epicenter of progressive
rock was a little store called Kemp Mill Records.
I only got paid $3.50 an hour, but I thought I was living the dream.
I worked behind the counter as a cashier, and got to rock out to
bands like Little Feet, Wishbone Ash, and a local favorite called
Corrugated Fiberfill. I got to talk to people about music all day -
although I didn't get to control the cleanup-time music, which was
always Abba for some reason.
It was my first introduction to the idea that you could get paid for
something you loved.
(Editing by Beth Pinsker and Jonathan Oatis)
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