First Job F*ck Ups: 9 career mistakes successful people actually made

Starting your first job can be pretty intimidating. Everyone seems to know what they're doing, you're desperate to make a good impression, and the last thing you want is to mess something up.

But here's a little secret: even the most successful people have made some spectacular mistakes.

We asked a bunch of battle-scarred business people about their biggest first-job f*ck ups. Here's what they told us.

When things get expensive

Xi Weng, UKI Market Lead at Snapcall

"I managed to spend a client's entire monthly budget in one day. In their first month as a client."

Ouch.

Paul Plewman, COO at CurrencyTransfer

"I managed to negotiate a pay-cut before I started the job."

Not quite how salary negotiations are supposed to work.

When you wish the ground would swallow you up

Aleezay Malik, Co-Founder at Blend Health

"There were probably lots of them but one that I remember being super embarrassed about is forgetting my Gmail password in my first week and locking myself out of all the accounts and Google systems (whilst working at Google)!"

Paul Bennett, Co-Founder and CEO at PerchPeek

"Wow - where to start! I think the most embarrassing moment that springs to mind was on my first sales call at Amazon where the prospect asked if it was my first day because I knew so little about retail!"

Katie Thompson, Co-Founder at Voco

"Thinking PR was going to be impossibly glamorous! A lot of cutting out articles, sticking them on paper, and stuffing envelopes for promotional mailouts - sending out 400 mini footballs to journalists was a low point!"

Some mistakes are just ridiculous

Adam Kaczmarski, Creative Producer at Endemol Shine Group

"I had a birthday party after work near my office & the CEO of the company (a TV network) ended up back at my house, where he got into a shouting match with my housemate over the state of the kitchen. My housemate was Charlie Johnson."

Yes, that Charlie Johnson. Our very own BrighterBox founder.

Ric Blank, Creative Director at Uncommon

"I worked in a deli & spent a day stacking cans of Coca-Cola for display. My mum & sisters turned up later that day & the pressure got to me. I accidentally knocked one of the cans, causing the entire display to crash. Cans exploded, there was soda everywhere. I went on to work for Pepsi."

The mistakes that actually teach you something

Hester Bates, Brand Director at various brands

"Not asking enough questions! In your first job, you're probably doing a wide variety of day-to-day tasks. Understanding the whys and the context behind those tasks will give you a brilliant foundation and also help you to do a better job."

Avin Rabheru, Founder & CEO at Housekeep

"Not really grasping the concept of 'trust'. I was often given basic, menial, boring work to do to prove that I could at least do that - if you prove you can do that with positivity & efficiency, over time you'll be trusted with more valuable, complex & interesting work."

So what's the lesson?

Nobody starts their career knowing everything.

You'll make mistakes. You'll ask questions you think you should already know the answers to. You might even accidentally spend a client's entire monthly budget in a day.

What matters is what you learn from it.

Be curious, own your mistakes and don't be afraid to ask for help.

And remember, the people you look up to probably have some pretty embarrassing stories of their own.

Your first job isn't about being perfect. It's about getting started.

Looking for yours? Explore the latest graduate and early-career opportunities at BrighterBox.