“What was your first summer job and what were the important lessons you learned?” LinkedIn just sent me this question. Asking me to post something about it… here it is:

Mine was a lifeguard at the holiday park (now Landal GreenParks) “Rabbit Hill” (Nieuw Millingen, near Apeldoorn). They have a swimming pool there that did not require a mandatory lifeguard, but where the manager at the time still liked having one. I was also the very first lifeguard. In short, there was some work to be done. Where the (mainly) seasonal guests from the Randstad had been used to there not being one for years, there was now suddenly supervision. There were all kinds of rules (shoes off in wet zone, emergency door is not an exit/entrance, no diving, etc.), but they were hardly followed. So I mainly came to ‘limit’ as a newbee. That caused quite a battle with especially the youth of the park, who had often been coming here for years in a row…

Lesson: No matter how young you are, if you are steadfast and can explain it, you will gain respect

Soon I was allowed (I quickly got that responsibility) to hire extra lifeguards and lifeguards. I made a team to occupy the entire opening time. With a larger occupation came more familiarization, but it also brought the possibilities to organize activities, in which we also involved the youth. Slowly but surely we became part of the park and of the group of regular guests.

Lesson: If you actively involve young people in something, you turn opponents into allies

After a late shift, coming home was a challenge, the last bus left before the swimming pool closed. We could have left earlier, but we didn’t want to. Cycling along the road in the dark wasn’t nice. The cars simply left their high beams on for that lonely cyclist, which caused me to cycle into the verge more than once when I was blinded again. Later I cycled through the forest (via “halte Asselt” for insiders) back to Apeldoorn. We often cycled past wild boars and deer through the forest, that was wonderful…

Lesson: If the normal road is no good, there are alternative routes. Often more beautiful, more fun and more enjoyable.

I also discovered that a thumb worked well at the roundabout. I had the nice rides there. People thought I was a soldier, they trusted him… I once sat in an old wreck, where there was no longer a car seat on the passenger seat and I literally sat on a crate. I was also taken along once by a lady. She kept asking me what I thought of the Marechaussee. When she dropped me off at home, it turned out she had a high rank there. She often took soldiers along, they were said not to like the Marechaussee. After their complaining and whining she would tell her rank and employer. She found the shocked faces a nice pastime. When I said I was a lifeguard she was disappointed, her trick didn’t work, this time.

Lesson: When you open yourself to the unknown, something beautiful always emerges.

#HolidayMode #LinkedInNews #photoofLandal #myworkplacethen