SENIOR'S FIRST JOB HAS LASTED LIFETIME.

Byline: Eugene Tong  Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - When Mary Nugent left secretarial school to work as a filing clerk at ITT Industries in New Jersey for $18 a week, war was on the horizon.

``We didn't have too much choice,'' she told a group of juniors and seniors at Bowman High School on Friday. ``It was either that or working at the telephone company as an operator. I worked 35 hours a week. When the war started, it was five hours more.''

She was, of course, referring to World War II.

Nugent, now 80, went on to work at that same company for 63 years, and now serves as its senior executive secretary.

``It's a long time to be working,'' quipped Matt Fligg, 16, who said he recently lost his job at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Leading up to campus career day next week, the diminutive, gray-haired woman who still volunteers for her old Girl Scout troop stood before 30 work-experience students as they peppered her with questions about a life of service for corporate America.

``You're going to be working for a long time,'' said Mike Nugent, their teacher who is also Mary's nephew. ``This is an opportunity to meet someone who has.''

Nugent said she usually begins her day by clearing company e-mail and doing expense accounts on spreadsheets. But when she started out at what was ITT Federal Telephone & Radio Company in 1940, her routine was quite different.

Before there were computers on every desk, Nugent worked with only a manual typewriter. There was no room for typing errors in a time before Wite-Out was invented. Copies of documents were typed, using a sheet of carbon.

``If you mess up, did you have to start over?'' one student asked.

Nugent replied: ``Yes, you do.''

``That sucks,'' the student said.

Money seemed to be on the minds of most of the students, who have worked as dental assistants or gas station attendants in part-time jobs lasting six months to almost a year. One student said he worked as a furniture mover for about three years.

``What was the minimum wage?'' one asked.

Nugent smiled.

``There was no minimum wage back then,'' she said, adding that most secretaries, who prefer to be called assistants, now make as much as $50,000 a year plus benefits.

Some students wondered why someone well past retirement age would choose to remain part of the work force.

``I don't ever want to stay at home and stop moving around,'' she said. ``I enjoy getting up every day. It keeps me moving.''

For Michelle Guerra, meeting Nugent was inspiring.

``It's really made me think,'' said Guerra, 17, who works as an administrative assistant and aspires to be a business owner. ``She can work at a job for such a long time. It's great that she's still doing what she likes to do.''

As for the furniture mover, Kevin Droz, 18, couldn't imagine himself working at his job for so long.

``I look at it as a paycheck,'' he said, ``Not 60 years. That's way too long.''

Nugent's response: ``I think (that) the idea of my working for 60 years ... most people would ask, Who would want to do a thing like that?,'' she said. ``But it's been a good company to work for and I like what I am doing.''

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Photo:

Mary Nugent tells Bowman High students how to keep a job. She should know, she's worked for the same company for 63 years.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer