Teen Jobs - Not Worth the Money & Effort

[Reshma]

I am not a teenager and I have never worked in my life. The only job I have is being a full-time student .

 

[BobG]

anyway I am still waiting on the university. but if they don't get back to me soon. i think ill just goto the airforce. they will pay for my education basically. and give me a job.

The army is basically FPS with good graphics. But no respawn points.
the airforce is the flight sims with great realism. it'd be tight.
canada doesn't have a navy.

Teenage jobs are about a lot more than money. I know. The owner of the ice cream parlor I worked at told me - "I would have worked a job like this in high school for free just to have a great reference in my resume."

Yeah, he had a great sense of humor. One of his favorite things to say was, "Are you in my way?" At least it was more polite than just screaming at us to move. Actually, I liked him a lot. He ran a good store. Usually, the night manager was a college freshman or sophomore and the rest of the workers were in high school. The environment was so good that no one ever wanted to quit in spite of the fact that he was paying less than minimum wage. I wound up getting promoted to ice cream maker and my ice cream was named best in the county that year .

The Canadian Air Force is a pretty good service to join. The missile warning/space surveillance sites all belong to NORAD, so we always had a few Canadians working with us. They're a lot smaller, which makes them a lot tighter group than the US Air Force (you listen to these guys and you swear that their promotion test must be to name every member of the Canadian Air Force).

 

[russ_watters]

canada doesn't have a navy.

Canada most certainly does have a navy.

http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/current/

 

[BobG]

Some of the important lessons I learned at my high school job:

What time means. Seven minutes of freezing (plus or minus a few seconds) makes a good consistency for ice cream. Plus or minus a few seconds doesn't mean plus or minus one minute - eight minutes of freezing makes it so hard to push the paddles through the ice cream that you have to use a fire extinguisher on the belts of the motor.

What linear expansion (or contraction) means. There's nothing more frustrating on the busiest night of the week than to put the finishing touches on a couple of old fashioned ice cream sodas, place them on the counter for the waitress, and have her ask "What am I supposed to do with two empty glasses?"

No matter how bad things seem, you eventually have to face up to the mess. When you realize the two glasses are empty (and bottomless), it isn't hard to figure out what the counter behind you looks like. But what are you going to do? You can't just walk out when the spindle is full of orders.

How to use a phone. This was tougher than it sounds, since it was a two line phone and didn't work quite right (something no one bothered to tell me). The first busy Sunday night I worked, that phone gave me fits. I'd pick up and spout off, "Hello, Mary Coyle's." - no one there, I'm on the wrong the line. Push the button for the other line and "Hello, Mary Coyle's." As soon as I would say that, I would hear the click - someone calling the wrong number and too rude to even say anthing. On and on this went on all night long. Finally, I couldn't take it any more. After yet another person hanging up as soon as I've managed to punch in the correct line and welcome them to Mary Coyle's, I finally broke - "God damned bxxxxxxx" as I hung up. Turned out the click wasn't the person hanging up - it was the line finally being connected. Doh! The night manager wasn't very happy about me calling his mom a bxxxxxx.

You really can overcome first impressions. Over the years, the night manager became one of my best friends.

Decisions are tough. I wasn't the only one facing my first rush hour that Sunday. The other newby, a cute waittress, decided to cry into my apron for awhile. Nothing like being torn between sympathy for a cute coworker and the urgency of the smell of a plastic tray full of dirty dishes accidently left on the grill. "Um, let's move over this way for a second."

If you didn't have a job, you wouldn't know how much fun getting off of work is. We had great after work parties. The father of one of the waittresses used to even get us free tickets to Geauga Lake (an amusement park), so we even had a few midweek summer excursions.

 

[munky99999]

Canada most certainly does have a navy.

http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/current/

its a joke...
as like the Canadian navy base is in the center of the country, and not on an ocean. that the us navy has 3x more ships just in construction that we have total.

 

[russ_watters]

as like the Canadian navy base is in the center of the country, and not on an ocean.

The Pacific fleet is stationed at Esquimalt, Vancouver and the Atlantic fleet in Halifax.

 

[FredGarvin]

After reading this very wierd, and somewhat full of BS thread, I'd say that what I would want my kid to get out his jobs in high school are two fold:

1) Have something for a beginner's resume to show that he wasn't a total couch potato and has some kind of work experience.

2) The high school job is the first big step to really understanding the notion of making money vs. spending money. I think it's an important step, especially before they go to college and are farther out of the parents' sphere of control.

 

[Astronuc]

My first job was at 13 or 14, because I needed money and my parents had little money. I worked in a bicycle shop building and repairing bikes. I did that until I was 15 and we moved.

Just before I turned 16 years old, I was told by my parents that if I wanted to go to college, I was expected to earn money (i.e get a job). So I got another job at a plant nursery and garden center, starting at minimum wage, during my junior year of high school. I got a few raises but it was not much. I worked weekends and evenings, and full time during the summer months.

In my senior year (16-17 yrs old), I got a job at a grocery store just above minimum wage. I started by sacking groceries and then stocking the dairy case.

Now I will hire high school seniors, if they are qualified, for part time work in my office, and I will pay $10-15/hr based on qualifications. I have hired college students at up to $20-25 /hr based on the qualifications and skill. If a person can do the work, I will offer suitable compensation.

 

[moose]

Now I will hire high school seniors, if they are qualified, for part time work in my office, and I will pay $10-15/hr based on qualifications. I have hired college students at up to $20-25 /hr based on the qualifications and skill. If a person can do the work, I will offer suitable compensation.

Where do you live?

And what is the job? O___O

 

[Physics is Phun]

i think it's important to have a full time summer job while in HS. it helps you realize that this is NOT what you want to do for the rest of your life, and will help you to do better in school, the money is just a plus.

 

[munky99999]

i think it's important to have a full time summer job while in HS. it helps you realize that this is NOT what you want to do for the rest of your life, and will help you to do better in school, the money is just a plus.

Know what's wierd.

There is 2 kinds of jobs that people can get with no skills at all.
1 where you are run into the ground working as hard as you can.
or the other where you basically are expected to do nothing. and if you do nothing. the supervisor(s) are happy.

and i know a couple people stick with this second choice even though the money sucks to start with.

One friend even. In senior year of HS he did co-op with this tool and die place. It was so layed back there that they insisted on bringing magazines and such. That they went to stripbars for the afternoon, while still on the clock. After co-op was done they hired him and told the co-op teacher that he is a very very good worker. As far as i know he's been doing that since.

 

[DaveC426913]

By far the primary reason for teenagers to have a job is this:

They learn that (in the bigger picture) having a job is great, not a pain in the ass. A job is the first step away from your parents' apron strings, the road to independence and maturity, the road to your own choices and your life being based on your own actions, not on your parents'. That there's more to life than video games, TV or hanging out at the Circle K, (or whatever else you were doing as a teen when you had no responsibilities).

A teen that has a job knows that having a job is good. A teen that does not have a job has not learned this yet - which is why they think it sucks.

Oh. The other really great reason for teens getting a job:

So that they learn that THEIR life is NOT their parents' fault; That their parents aren't the ONLY jerks in the world that want to boss them around. That there's a whole host of people out there in a big wide world that are only too willing to make their lives miserable. And that, in retrospect, after a few years in the job force, they realize that their parents really DO care and really were acting in their best interests, and that they really had it quite good when they were home.

 

[munky99999]

man dave you have a sort of naive black or white thing goin on. You probably haven't had a hard job.

A teen that has a job knows that having a job is good. A teen that does not have a job has not learned this yet - which is why they think it sucks.

Thats why pretty much everyone hates their job regardless of their age. Thats why people dream of how they would quit their job.

I don't have a job. I think it sucks. I have had many jobs. I thought those sucked to. with the exception of my contracting job. which was one of those very low work jobs. Though I insisted on doing work when i could.

 

[DaveC426913]

man dave you have a sort of naive black or white thing goin on.

Kind of ironic for (someone who is jobless and thinks jobs suck) to be calling (someone who has been through it and turned it around and is now enjoying his career) naive, don't you think? Textbook teen viewpoint.

You probably haven't had a hard job.

I think you miss the point. Had em. Wanted to do better. Did.

Thats why pretty much everyone hates their job regardless of their age. Thats why people dream of how they would quit their job.

It'd be nice if that were true, wouldn't it? But you make your own fate.

I don't have a job. I think it sucks. I have had many jobs. I thought those sucked to. with the exception of my contracting job. which was one of those very low work jobs. Though I insisted on doing work when i could.

You exude the attitude of someone who thinks their jobs suck. Has it occurred to you yet that your own success is strongly influenced by your attitude and behaviour?

 

[BobG]

man dave you have a sort of naive black or white thing goin on. You probably haven't had a hard job.

Thats why pretty much everyone hates their job regardless of their age. Thats why people dream of how they would quit their job.

I don't have a job. I think it sucks. I have had many jobs. I thought those sucked to. with the exception of my contracting job. which was one of those very low work jobs. Though I insisted on doing work when i could.

I've liked all but two of the jobs I've had (I lasted about a month as a busboy and sucked at it, which wasn't very fun and I lasted about two or three weeks as an ecyclopedia salesman and never got paid since I couldn't sell a set of encyclopedias to save my life).

I knew a lot of people who hated their jobs when I worked jobs around minimum wage - maybe almost half hated their jobs (except at the ice cream parlor - we all loved working there). Overall, I don't know that many people that hate their jobs - for one thing, if you have some skills, you can always look for a different job that you do like. The puzzling thing is that there are a few people who hate their job, but don't do anything about it.

If you hate all of your jobs, though, the problem might be your attitude rather than the job.

 

[munky99999]

my dishwashing job was awesome. I didnt mind the work. i was good at it. got payed LESS then minimum student wage. but i wasnt paying taxes on it.and i didnt know if id made over the minimum allowed. so if i said anything to the government id probably find myself without a job and a bill to pay taxes. sadly though. 3 big pizza ovens. 12 pan grill. and lots more heat sources. Plus the steam coming from the washing machine. and what was there for circulation of the air and to cool the air? a fan whose diameter wasnt even a foot. so basically the heat was making me sicker and sicker as the job went on. eventually i took one day off. and they fired me for taking 1 day off.

and my retail sales job was pretty good. aweful fun. One couple will be looking for a printer. Id sell them a canon and explain how canon is the best to get. Next couple who you could tell were listening to the whole thing. Id sell them HP printer and explain how its best. and if they ever said anything. Id just say something bad like. Oh those people are very bad customers, they speak to my manager all the time and say how I am stupid.

But then there are real customers who are stupid as hell and get angry and speak to a manager. Like once. I just get to work. I goto the floor. there is like 10 groups of people waiting for help. I goto the closest people. the next guy over freaks out and starts screaming at me. calling me words I've never heard. possibly not english. He goes to the manager and the manager takes my side pretty much. he freaks out and breaks down a light(the ones with the cashier #s on it) and slams it into the front window. which gets a nice crack in it. he then leaves saying how he's going to blow up the store. No doubt though he was from detroit.

If you hate all of your jobs, though, the problem might be your attitude rather than the job.

whats weird is how i liked all my jobs. but it had bad aspects that made them unbearable.

 

[moose]

Munky, why would you do that? What is it to you if the customer buys a canon or an HP? Just for 'fun'?