9 Comments

He was my peer. Similar age, different background (financial) but wanted to assist and learn about photography.

I'd put an advert online for an assistant for a one off, corporate photo shoot. This was the first time I had ever felt the need for an assistant, mainly to help hump the gear around and set up and down. I had loads of responses, but his application seemed like the best fit for me.

I met with him for a beer and as he had turned up on time and seemed willing to help and learn thought he was suitable. He was a nice guy.

He never worked with me again. Bad choice. And I never got hired by the client again. When I was taking the group shot of the board, we were trying to get them to smile so what did he say instead of "cheese" or "potatoes"? He said, say "Bollocks". This was totally uncalled for! I was embarrassed. In hindsight it is quite funny but, (and I hate this word) inappropriate.

Of course, photographers are always going to need assistants...
ben
2009-08-04 13:10:26

Back in the early eighties I set up a creative partnership with a writer from Saatchi. We were going well and decided we needed a 'girl Friday' (you were allowed to say that then) to organise us and hold the fort when we were out. Her first day she was greeted by a deserted office, we having been delayed at a Travel client's legendary annual weekend jolly, thereafter referred to as 'The Corker in Menorca'. Having no idea where we were, the manner in which Angela fielded calls and covered for her errant new bosses convinced us we'd hired the right girl for the job. She worked with us for 6 years, eventually leaving to crew a yacht from the Med to the Caribbean - a great adventure for a novice sailor - some Girl Friday.

We were lucky to find a terrific replacement who, despite writing off a keyboard her first morning with a cup of coffee, stayed with us for 5 years. (There's a first day in a new job' topic in the making here).

Continuing the Balearic theme, the great 'Wa'er in Majorca' Adrian Holmes freelanced for me back in the early '80s. Not sure if that counts as a 'first employee' but was definitely my first freelance hiring. Not long after that I think I must have turned left when he turned right...if you get my drift.
Andy Cade
2009-08-04 15:33:00

My kid. I loves me some child labour, I do, I do.
Katy McDevitt
2009-08-04 21:00:36

An ex-colleague who was from a different division. She's an easy-going person but as we worked together in a new division, I realized that she held a lot of solid judgements on certain things. Hey, no problem if it's personal but I thought it was a hindrance to her journey to becoming a strategy planner. So, I sized her up and made her cried a couple of times. She was pretty fragile and I'm quite sure 'quitting' was like a broken record in her mind for a good couple of months.

Now, let's just say she's got a more open mind to values or people who are foreign to her. Still needs a bit more work but she can hell endure a lot more ;) Which was cool. The friction actually brought us even closer. And now I know I can depend on her entirely for certain projects and she can rely on me to make the right calls. I'd like to think we make a pretty happy team ;)

So never give up on someone who may not be the polished diamond you want them to be.
Sparks
2009-08-05 09:05:01

I feel sad and let down CR - "produced in partnership with Major Players".

I do sincerely hope this is not some cod piece of fieldwork for some faux research that we will see regurgitated back to us stating that 83% of employers still remember their first employee... blah, blah, blah oh and by the way do you need any candidates?

Grrrr
james
2009-08-05 14:08:19

James, thanks for your thoughts on this.

I run the commercial side of Creative Review, and the Question of the Week was a project that we came up with a while ago. Major Players approached us and said that they’d like to do something a bit different, and to engage our readers with something other than the traditional options. It’s always refreshing to work on something a little more bespoke.

We thought that a series of questions would be a great way to engage people, and that it would also produce some insightful and interesting content for the blog. So far, it’s proved a real success, and we’ve had a huge response to the first three questions. In general, people seem to like the feature.

I’d also like to put your mind at rest as to your worries about these answers being ‘regurgitated’ back to you at a later date. There are no plans to use the answers for anything other than blog content.
Jon Cockley
2009-08-05 14:34:40

My first assistant was a lazy little git from college who thought he new everything- but didn't !

He did learn how to fly pretty quick though
Gus York
2009-08-05 16:21:23

I was Production Manager for a scientific journal publishing company in New York. The first employee I ever hired was a typist called Duk Man Kwan. He had no idea what he was typing since his English was very fragmentary, but he was so fast, IBM had to alter his electric typewriter to more than 140 wpm. I'm sure he's retired now, but when I left to form my own company, he came with me (with the blessings of my boss). The job he was hired to do does not exist any more due to computerisation, but oh! could he type up a storm!
Lee Faber
2009-08-05 16:47:48

My first employee is someone I employed about 3 months ago and now I am crapping myself with the dangling wages sword above my head. He's great and I can't believe I am saying this but freelance is the only way to peace of mind.
Rebecca
2009-08-06 09:39:55

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