When it comes time to get your first job (or even your second or third), many job seekers have trouble getting motivated. You have dreams of becoming a major league baseball player or a Hollywood starlet when you get older, and you just don’t see how a part-time job at the mall fits into your long-term goals.

Ever heard the saying, “Everyone has to start somewhere?” Well it’s true. Just ask well-known pirate Johnny Depp (aka singer for a Kiss tribute band) or Danny DeVito (former hairstylist). Even big-time celebrities held hourly jobs back in the day, so who knows—your cashier job may lead you to become a star.

Here are some celebrities who held hourly jobs before they were being mobbed by the paparazzi:

• Jim Carrey. This funny man held jobs as a security guard and a janitor at a tire factory to help his family when his dad lost his job.

• Chris Rock. Before he was doing stand-up in front of a sold-out audience, this comedian was a busboy at Red Lobster. He traded labor for time on stage in a comedy club where he stacked chairs and mopped the floor. The rest is history.

• Jennifer Lopez. Or should we say J-Lo? Either way, the singer worked in a law office just to pay for voice and dance lessons. Her hard work obviously paid off.

• Brad Pitt. Before he was the envy of nearly every man in the world, Brad donned a chicken suit and clucked around outside of a fried chicken restaurant for cash. We’re willing to bet he wasn’t getting many ladies dressed as poultry.

• Vince Vaughn. This ‘Wedding Crasher’ was a telemarketer long before he was slinging dodge balls. We’re sure there are many girls who would be happy to get a call from him now.

• Madonna. You didn’t think this music icon was just born famous, did you? Two words: Dunkin’ Donuts.

Many celebrities were on their way to stardom in their industry without even knowing it. Fashion designer Ralph Lauren worked as a salesclerk, Nicholas Cage sold popcorn at a movie theater - foreshadowing his own box office hits - and Robin Williams was a street mime before he got the chance to perform on a real stage.

The moral of this story is to find a job that interests you, even if it isn’t what you want to do for the rest of your life. If you work hard and stay focused, you could go from the mail room to your own dressing room before you know it.

They can complete a 100-meter sprint in less than 10 seconds. They can execute a back handspring into a double back tuck on a beam only four inches wide. They rise before the sun and swim, run or bike hundreds of miles a week. But they need just as much help with their resumes as the next guy.

This year’s Olympians may appear to have superhuman strength and endurance as they gear up for the games in Beijing, but when they’re not in the pool or on the track, many Olympic athletes have families to support and bills to pay. And in the world of sports, the age of retirement is well before 65—closer to 30, actually—and unless you bring home gold medals by the dozens, your sponsorship money probably isn’t going to put the kids through college.

If you think it’s hard to fit school work and a social life in with part-time jobs, imagine adding the pressure of training six hours a day for a one-time shot to represent your country in front of the whole world. Although many athletes’ accommodations are paid for by their sponsors while they’re in training, there will come a time when the days of lifting weights, hours of cardio and eager reporters at your doorstep come to an end. And if you leave your Olympic career with no job skills or experience, you may find it hard to support yourself once the cheering stops.

This is where the Olympic Job Opportunities Committee comes in—Olympic hopefuls are paired with employers who are willing to forgive their irregular schedules and provide them with a financial cushion, not to mention priceless years of experience. This program also hooks athletes up with career counseling, teaching them how to conduct a proper job interview and prepare a resume.

The Home Depot is the leading employer in the OJOC program, and their employees have earned 194 medals in the Olympic games to date. Since 1992, the company has given more than 570 athletes Home Depot jobs, full-time pay and benefits in exchange for a 20-hour workweek. And for a gymnast with a twisted ankle or a swimmer suffering from a torn rotator cuff, health insurance can be worth more than any paycheck.

So the next time you feel like it’s impossible to juggle school, family and friends with part-time jobs, be glad you don’t have to wake up and hit the gym for six hours before the rest of your day can even begin. Olympic athletes have bills to pay and dreams to chase, just like everyone else—only they’re much stronger, faster and admired by millions of people worldwide. O.K. so maybe they’re not exactly like us, but they work hard for their money while achieving seemingly impossible goals, and if they can do it, the rest of us can, too.

• Find job advice for balancing part-time jobs and your hectic lifestyle. Also, get profile and resume tips.

If you could choose to be any superhero, who would it be? Would you stay true to your hard-working roots and choose Spidey - and the alter-ego of a modest news photographer? Or would you super size your lifestyle and your bank account as Bruce Wayne and the Dark Knight? (If so, you might want to hire an accountant.)

In yet another summer awash in big screen superhero hysteria, it’s fun to play this little game. And the Guardian has a cool quiz to make the super decision a bit easier – and more interactive.

So before you try on bedazzled tights or paint yourself green, take this safer approach. And heck, maybe there’s a superhero out there whose alter-ego already shares a job with you. Then again, considering how many of these larger-than-life figures spend their days as billionaire industrialist playboys, maybe not.

• Take the superhero quiz now!
• Already working as a low-level superhero? Check out part-time jobs to help you pay the rent.

In “The Three Signs of a Miserable Job,” bestselling author Patrick Lencioni makes a compelling case that all bad jobs are tainted by the following:

• Anonymity: Does your manager refer to you by a 17-digit number instead of a first name?
• Irrelevance: Do you heal the world one transaction at a time? No…? You’ve got company.
• Immeasurment: It’s not an actual word, but it refers to not being able to even tell if you’re doing a good job. Just imagine getting a ‘Q’ on your report card.

We only bring this up because no one exhibits these unfortunate characteristics better than Pixar animated star WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class). I won’t give any spoilers for the summer blockbuster. But as the last “resident” of a futuristic Planet Earth, WALL-E the robot spends the day compacting trash and building rubbish skyscrapers, all by his lonesome. All he has are his cassette of cheesy show tunes and his pet cockroach. And those are the job perks. Yikes.

Is your job like WALL-E’s? Does your nametag just say, “Guy?” Would anyone notice if you just stopped showing up for work? And was your last performance review written on a napkin?

If so, it’s time to start your job search. Take some inspiration from WALL-E, get off your sprocket, and look for part-time jobs now.

If you ask any 5-year-old what he wants to be when he grows up, chances are you’ll get an answer like “Spider-Man” or “The Hulk.” And while that may not be entirely possible, you’ve got to give them props for dreaming big. Summer movies like “Ghost Busters” and “Superman Returns” depict people doing jobs out of the realm of possibility—but you have to admit, catching ghouls and poltergeists for a living would be a pretty sweet gig.

Andy Sachs, Anne Hathaway’s character in “The Devil Wears Prada,” was the envy of girls everywhere with her glamorous, jet-setting job of attending runway shows and wearing designer fashions. Did this inspire you to put down your Vogue and apply for a summer internship with a clothing designer?

“Anchorman” may not portray the journalism industry in the most accurate light, but it sure is hilarious. Despite the pressure to be the best local news station in San Diego, these guys have fun at work. You can’t help but wish your coworkers were more like Ron Burgundy and Brick Tamland—when is the last time your office broke out into a harmonious rendition of “Afternoon Delight?”

Whether you escape the pressures of your current job by imagining yourself as a superhero who saves women and children in distress, or you made the move to a real job after a summer movie date, we want to hear about it. Click on “Add a Comment” below and share your summer movie dream jobs here.

Some hourly workers graduate from dishwasher to manager. And apparently a few others graduate from dishwasher to the voice singing the pop songs pumping through the crackling kitchen speakers right above the dishwasher.

Music website Spinner.com has published a list of the top 20 worst pre-rock star jobs. But let’s be honest, in comparison to rock star, any job stinks. President stinks. Stuntman stinks. Even being a stuntman who plays the president stinks. When you have someone separating M&Ms by color in your green room, and bevy of good-looking stalker-groupies waiting outside your trailer to sign your abs and maybe shoot a YouTube video of you changing your socks, life is good. Sort of.

But enough with the rant. The list includes Sting’s gig as a tax officer, Madonna’s stint slummin’ at a doughnut shop and Snoop Dog’s J.O.B. bagging groceries. Among the creepier entries: Rod Stewart worked as a grave digger. (He should have buried his atrocious, 10-lb. blond mullet then and there.)

Check out the list for yourself – or search for teen jobs and part-time jobs now.

As if America’s hourly job seekers didn’t have enough to deal with between the tanking economy and the surge of unemployed white collar workers invading their hourly turf, now they have another threat: President Bush.

No, the President isn’t backing any legislation curbing the federal minimum wage or anything like that. In fact, politics aside, the president has been a big supporter of the nation’s hourly workforce for a long time. The problem is that he now may be joining it. Well, not really…

That’s right, when SnagAJob.com Founder and CEO Shawn Boyer was recently honored as the Small Business Person of the Year at the White House, President Bush had some zingers ready for the crowd.

“Now Shawn started off by helping a friend search online for an internship, and he got an idea for a business right there,” Bush said when introducing the SnagAJob.com CEO. “Sometimes that happens. You know, it’s just like, ‘click.’ And the idea was to create a website to help unemployed Americans with [hourly] job opportunities. And – actually, I asked him to leave a business card because it seems like I might be looking here after a while…”

ZING!

The president, who of course was a successful businessman himself with both the Texas Rangers and several oil outfits, probably won’t be filling out applications for summer jobs even though his second term is winding up. But we’re proud to have his support – as well as the support of the 10 MILLION JOB SEEKERS who helped SnagAJob.com win the small business of the year award. Yes, that’s right, we now have 10 million registered job seekers. But we’ll get more into that later…

Considering that about 70 million Americans make a living through hourly jobs, you would think Hollywood would give the backbone of our labor force a bit more attention on the big screen. But they’d rather give us wizards, bank robbers, bridesmaids and talking, cartoon donkeys.

That said, here’s a look at the best portrayals of industrious workers featured in 2007 movie releases:

Dad from Juno: His name is actually Mac MacGuff (J.K. Simmons in real life) and he’s a down-to-earth, straight-shooting blue collar dude who waxes philosophically on heating and air conditioning. Mac is actually pretty darn funny…and handles “surprising” news pretty well. Yes, we’re talking about being preggers.

Motormouth Maybelle: Queen Latifah plays this DJ / ‘60s civil rights pioneer in the big screen remake of the musical “Hairspray.” It’s a performance so strong we can finally forgive her for “Taxi.”

Sweeney Todd: Johnny Depp’s turn as “the Demon Barber of Fleet Street” makes Captain Jack Sparrow look like a boy scout. You’re better off getting a free bowl cut from a failing barber college student than jumping into Sweeney Todd’s coffin…err…chair.

Be sure to check out our best big screen hourly worker poll. And if you’re looking to find a job and make your own Hollywood ending, check out teen jobs, college jobs and 55-plus jobs now.

If you’re currently working a less than satisfactory job, it’s hard to feel bad for rich and semi-famous D-list celebrities who used to work unsatisfactory gigs. (After all, while you’ve got a job search to manage – they’ve got guest spots on “The View” to manage.)

Yes, Jeff Foxworthy, we’re sure your job sewing sailor hats at Six Flags as a kid was a real bummer. We’re also sure that never having to pay for a meal at Shoney’s and making millions upon millions from your Blue Collar Comedy tour is not a bummer. (By the way, Jeff, you might be a redneck if your favorite color is “denim.”)

We don’t know why this Associated Press story had to be so gloomy – especially in the new year. And should these almost-celebrities really be complaining? After all, something about these jobs drove them to success. Maybe David Hasselhoff hated his stint selling smoke alarms door to door, but who knows, without that job he might never have gotten TV gigs talking to a car or running in slow motion in super-tight swimming trunks.

Ever read the ingredients in Ramen Noodles aloud, doing your best impersonation of Robin Leach from “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous?” (Yes, this was a TV show before it was a Good Charlotte pop anthem.) Or, when you’re driving your Geo Metro down some winding country roads, ever pretend just for a minute that it’s a Porsche 911 Turbo and that there’s no garbage bag Duct taped into the passenger window? Don’t worry, we have, too.

Forbes.com recently released a great piece on the world’s billionaires – all 946 of them. From Bill Gates (No. 1) to J.K. Rowling (No. 891), the comprehensive report lends great insight into the lives of the globe’s richest and most powerful – whether they achieved the financial milestone through hard work, thriftiness, luck, birthright – or all of them.

So if you’re looking for a little motivation or financial muse from the world’s richest, be sure to check out this massive and enlightening read. Best of all, it’s free.

Find an hourly job today and start your race to $1 billion.