How important is it to have been employed

<p>Harvard2011 said it perfectly... If you're poor, it can be the "gateway" to showing it on your app in your essay or by making a note that you had to have a job to support your family and save for college.</p>

<p>but if you're upper-middle income or equivalent, AND you do work = maturity = ++ point.</p>

<p>"but if you're upper-middle income or equivalent, AND you do work = maturity = ++ point."</p>

<p>Yes, it's a plus to have a job, but not a hook unless you're poor and need it to support your family and/or save for college. </p>

<p>NOTE= If you work a year-round part-time 25 hour a week job, it's much more of a "+" than just a summer job.</p>

<p>The job isn't about the money. It's about the maturity from working in the real world. You know, outside of high school. Spend the money on whatever you want to. It's yours, you earned it.</p>

<p>Also, it depends on how many hours you work and what type of job. A 30 hour/week job (insert minimum wage job) should be much more of a factor than 6 hours every Saturday running the copier and coffee machine at Daddy's law firm.</p>

<p>Edit: Another factor is how well you performed at your job. I know kids who started working at minimum wage at 16 and by 18, were in management positions. That has got to be impressive.</p>

<p>Soccerguy315,</p>

<p>I guess you raise the point that there is a very wide spectrum of what a "job" is. While being a lifeguard is not exactly challenging or all that respectable, there are many jobs that students can do where there is a lot of dealing with people on a regular basis (retail) which is beneficial for anyone trying to learn how to work with people. For example, I worked at a bakery 18hrs/week for 2 years after school - by the time I left, I was the head Customer Relations go-to person and in charge of all orders. So I guess it is important WHAT you do, obviously. Plus, there's a diff between a summer job and a continuous job.</p>

<p>Do you think working in a library as a page is a big plus to colleges or not? </p>

<p>I had a job offer somewhere else for significantly more money, but my dad made me turn it down and made me get a job in the local library because he said that it would look good to colleges, while the other job wouldn't have any affect. </p>

<p>For those of you who don't know, a page basically puts the books on the shelves, finds out-of-place books and puts them where they belong, helps out at library events, and sometimes reads to younger children.</p>

<p>kcirsch</p>

<p>agreed</p>

<p>ExRunner</p>

<p>depends on what they are managing.</p>

<p>also, I think colleges can tell if you are working a job for college application filler.</p>