<p>Yes, Hoosiermom, there were 14 job openings for summer lifeguards posted on our local recreation website yesterday. Again, our state is still in pretty dire straits job-wise (much less for teenagers) so I was very happy with her options due to that lifeguard certification.</p>
<p>Ha, I’m in this same position. One thing I really don’t understand - if you apply online, why is it necessary to go into the store afterward? I just go in there and I say “um, can I apply for a job” and the irritated cashier is like “uh, we have an online application” and I say “oh, I did that… ok, is there anything else?” “No.” “Ok.”</p>
<p>I feel like applying online is enough - are awkward exchanges with disinterested employees really beneficial for anyone?</p>
<p>bigtrees: I think I actually said that once (“when I was your age…”), a long time ago. I might think that, but I don’t say it. I know it’s totally ineffective. And they really don’t want to hear what I did at their age. sigh Only $$$ motivates them, but still they put restrictions about what they consider acceptable work or acceptable pay. </p>
<p>Gardn: my son’s “real job” is as a camp counselor, which he really doesn’t want to take and pays terribly. But he knows he should have one job, at least, for spending money.</p>
<p>also bear in mind that for the college-age student, the concept of year-round work is somewhat foreign. We’ve been in a system by which we have school from August/September until May/June, then the other time is our time. That isn’t to say that nobody of college age has never worked during the summer (which would be absurd), but simply consider that the prospect of hopping straight from college to work again, while perhaps necessary, is undesirable to say the least. So while it may appear to an adult who has been working for decades that ones’ ‘lazy’ kids should just get with the real world, the concept is much less easily appreciated by someone for whom June and July are months of leisure.</p>
<p>Moreover, while I’ve been able to find work for the weekends, my job search has been rather difficult, both because I don’t have my own car (parents consider it ‘not part of the financial aid package,’ which I completely understand when they’re forking over 40-50k a year for both my brother and I), and because the economy is dragging. Restaurants and catering companies (my forte and where I’ve been looking) aren’t exactly putting out the ‘help wanted’ signs much these days, so it’s been tough to find stuff. I’m gonna go by the local mall and try to find something for the weeks, and also run by the restaurants I talked to (some said they might have something by June), but it’s not always exactly easy.</p>
<p>To Parent of Ivyhope-- How will a 25 year old have any semblance of a work ethic if they are encouraged to loll about on daddy’s dime for all those years? </p>
<p>They will have a totally blank resume, and no recommendations to land a job that late. Even graduate schools look for real-world experience. How will 25 year old who has never held a job be able to function with other colleagues maturely and productively? I guess mom and dad will have to hire him/her?</p>
<p>You should sit them down and explain that there is a narrow time window in which to find a summer job, after which it is nearly impossible to find one. And encourage them to be more aggressive in their job search now, before it is too late and the jobs are all filled.</p>
<p>My S learned this the hard way last summer when he waited until a couple weeks after school ended to start looking, and then couldn’t find anything. He ended up taking a CC class, and lazing around all summer, but with very little money. (I cut back his allowance, but didn’t cut if off completely.)</p>
<p>This year, I strongly encouraged him to apply earlier to seasonal jobs, and he did. He applied in February for a summer job at a local amusement park, and got the job right away. He is now working retail at the amusement park. Last year he applied to the amusement park in July and surprise, surprise, didn’t get any response, because it was too late and they had filled their jobs. </p>
<p>I was glad, and frankly a little surprised, that he learned from his last year’s experience.</p>
<p>fauve: I’m not against internships or something that relate to children passions.
I’m just against kicking kids butt to get out of home and earn money. That sucks.</p>
<p>You get jobs post graduation based mostly on internships and not whether or not students had done petty jobs during summer.</p>
<p>I’m not in the state to tell DD “When I was your age …” because I did my first internship during junior year of my college. </p>
<p>I don’t see any relation to high school/college summer job without any relevance to future career.</p>
<p>Different people have different opinions.</p>
<p>But in my opinion, summer jobs in high school and college are not for the primary purpose of earning money. They are for the student to grow and develop in ways different than what he/she learned in college. You learn discipline in a summer job. How to budget and save money. How earning extra hours influences your paycheck. </p>
<p>You also appreciate the things and money you have more. Maybe you want that expensive stereo. But then if you get tired of it and don’t even take it to college, you may wish you would have saved the money so you could buy pizza with friends on a Friday night instead.</p>
<p>In this tough job market, I’d hate to be a new grad with no work history. As desirable as internships or summer jobs related to career goals are, the fact of the matter is there are many reasons why a student may not be able to find that type of summer position. So they sit and do nothing all summer because it doesn’t relate to their career goals? Not in my house. There is much value in learning to work with others, for others, and having to perform tasks which you may not like but must be done. That is real world and is not something learned in a class.</p>
<p>My kids were told that if they wanted the college of their choice, they had to put significant skin in the game.</p>
<p>If the S who’s home this summer isn’t working at least 20 hrs/wk, he’ll be working for me. I have PLENTY of yard work and maintenance that needs to be done.</p>
<p>^^^: Life is more than work and there is lot for me to learn at this stage also. I always look out for ways to travel to different parts of the world. </p>
<p>I would prefer DD to go places, learn about different cultures and do interships than spending 8 hrs working just for the sake of working.</p>
<p>There is so much to be found in the natural setting, waiting to be explored.</p>
<p>RE: Post #27</p>
<p>Those “petty jobs” become lifelong learning experiences. Those jobs allowed many of us to observe managers’ good and bad behaviors, practice good customer service, and develop strategies for how to get along with co-workers.</p>
<p>While impressive internships and “meaningful” employment/volunteer positions may help our kids get a job after college, they don’t always help our kids keep those jobs and move up the ladder. It’s the organizational behavior skills (or lacks of those skills) that usually determine how far and fast someone will go professionally. Too many examples of people with great technical skills who do not reach their potential in the work world because they don’t know how to manage people or process.</p>
<p>My kids have worked in “menial” jobs at restaurants, country clubs and offices. They have made good money and have had great examples of good and bad managers to help them formulate what will become their management style. They have learned all of the responsibilities involved with finding a job, keeping it, and what it takes to get a good evaluation to be able to be hired back the following summer, and get great references for future jobs and scholarships.</p>
<p>They have also paid all of their own expenses in high school and college - including books, supplies, eating out, cell phones, video games etc. They knew they had to work, and even save some of their earnings, to be able to have enough spending money.</p>
<p>This work has not been punishment for my children. They have learned life lessons that have been as important as their academic learning in their highly rated high school and college. No regrets from me or them about requiring them to work for their spending money.</p>
<p>I’m with those who suggest setting a date to turn off the gravy train. It will get very boring when there is no money for activities outside of home.</p>
<p>POIH- What you refer to as “petty” jobs are usually the most character and empathy-building. A child who has had to deal with the public cashiering will learn to be a nicer patron. A teen who has flipped burgers or vacuumed guest rooms will have a better understanding of adult workers and the economics of living on $7.25 an hour.</p>
<p>The teens referred to by the OP apparently did not apply or receive internships last winter when other students were finding them. So the choice seems to be “petty jobs” or sitting on their derrieres all summer.</p>
<p>If teens are only given delightfully enriching (free) travel or nature experiences, they will go through life with a sense of entitlement and be in shock when they are actually faced with the realities of the professional workplace-- bosses who do not kow-tow to them, imperfect working conditions, and entry level salaries.</p>
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<p>There is lot more to learn from life than by working. The kids can pick an activity for a week and learn from it. I go every weekend to a small obscure place near my home within 100/200 miles and explore taking photographs.
Kids can do that find other activities music, painting, taking a road tour.</p>
<p>I’ve been planning to take a road trip all over 48 states for a long time but never been able to find the time. I would love if DD could do it before I could.</p>
<p>Once these kids will be in a full time job they won’t get time to go out and enjoy and love from the nature. This is the time to go visit Paris/London or Switzerland or enjoy SanFrancisco, New York, Chicago or LA.</p>
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<p>We all have our own opinions on how we raise kids. Good luck with your DD.</p>
<p>^^^: Thanks Bigtrees; True everyone have their own ways to raise kids.</p>
<p>My D has worked as a nanny for the last 2 years, both during the school year and during the summer. She has her summer set already but she is still getting job postings for people looking for summer nannies - especially part-time. The great thing about being a nanny is she isn’t stuck doing the same thing every day - they go to the park, museum, bowling, swimming. There are several online nanny matching services that are free. You see people who are looking and they can see you as well. Good luck!</p>
<p>If you can financially provide a virtual summer camp experience or European grand tours for your kids, fine. However, you may find that they will expect you to continue funding their discovery of themselves and mother earth for another forty years.</p>
<p>Most jobless teens at home gravitate to hanging out with friends, partying, and video games over self-directed arts and cultural pursuits.</p>
<p>There is no such thing as a “petty” job. If work needs to be done, than it is work and there is nothing “petty” about that. I respect anyone ,teen or adult who works hard and takes pride in what they do. As a former manager, too many people come in thinking that work is beneath them.</p>
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<p>I think that is the problem. Kids need motivation to do something. </p>
<p>Also what do you think these kids will do with the money they earn.
If you don’t know how to spend your time productively, you won’t even after 8 hr of job.</p>
<p>You can’t teach some one time management with 8 hr of job.</p>