What's So Essential About Summer Jobs?

Developing expertise in the right niche can multiply a salesperson’s profit margin. Honing your stamina is crucial for tackling tough jobs. And giving away your product can earn you more in the long run. These are lessons many businesspeople take years to internalize. Buzzfeed President and COO Jon Steinberg managed to glean them all from a series of summer jobs that a lesser teenager might have simply slogged through.

All this month, founders, execs and innovators from all walks of life have shared tales of terror and triumph in early employment as part of LinkedIn’s "My First Job" series. These Influencers prove that young humiliations can yield powerful lessons, and that almost nobody’s first job was glamorous.

Of these stories, Steinberg's post, "The Essential Lessons of My Summers," has proven to be a member favorite. Steinberg describes how his manager handled his failure to accurately measure serving size in his role scooping ice cream:

She began to insist I use a scale to measure my scoops, when the better scoopers where not asked to do the same. This was embarrassing. I was the worst scooper in the shop, and everyone knew it.

This was a stupid policy... I am a large scooper and will always be so.

Steinberg’s is just one of nearly 100 Influencer stories that have been captivating members all month. Today marks the third and final installment of our series, with over thirty brand-new Influencer tales of early job experiences. They include Warby Parker CEO Neil Blumenthal’s hilarious tale of a failed raisin-making enterprise, venture capitalist Esther Dyson’s early years wrangling with reporters as a lowly fact-checker at Forbes magazine, and what Dosomething.org CEO Nancy Lublin learned about processed ham slinging meat at a deli counter. Don’t forget to check out the whole series for the latest.

Watch a replay above of our live interview with Steinberg about how he survived his summer jobs.