My first 'real job' was working on a construction crew building seawalls and piers.
That was the first paid work I did, too. It was hard, dirty work. Carried a shotgun on the tractor to shoot copperheads and rattlesnakes, and it got used. Milk jugs filled with water and frozen sitting on the back of the tractor too, they’d melt over the course of the morning so we had ice water and it was much appreciated. Started before dawn to beat the heat but got soaked by the dew, wore long sleeve overshirts to keep the tobacco gum from getting stuck in the hair on our arms. Back to the house before noon to cool in the shade and lunch outside, then to the barns to string and put it up. Once I got a car at 16, I was able to get different summer jobs and did. Never worked in tobacco again. It was a hard way to earn a little spending money.