<p>I posted this on a college thread as well, but wanted the parents feedback if possible. Will it hurt my otherwise pretty well qualified kid to list nothing under the section of prior work experience? He has excellent ECs, but they don't really constitute "work." He's aiming at the top schools where competition is highest, so anything that he's going to leave blank seems like a problem. Thoughts?</p>
<p>I don't think so if he has done volunteer work. I would talk up the volunteer work. (now, that doesn not mean lie or exaggerate) My sons had no problems concerning this on any of their applications but their volunteer work was significant. Frankly, I have looked at the questions concerning work experience as a means for explaining drops in grades, less intense schedule, etc..Some kids really need to work.</p>
<p>As long as he uses his time productively, having "work experience" on the application does not matter at all.</p>
<p>My daughter is in an IB program. Because of the demands of the program, very few of the students work during the school year. Some work during the summer, but many do other things during that time. The kids in her program get into a wide variety of colleges, including some really top schools. I don't think lack of work experience is a problem for a kid who has spent time doing other things.</p>
<p>BurnThis:</p>
<p>Work experience is not necessary. My S went to academic camps beginning after 5th grade. During high school, the camps lasted 6 weeks. He also had little in the way of community service because of his heavy schedule of classes.</p>
<p>It won't hurt -- but I do think that it helps when kids DO have real work experience. I read an article about a year ago written by a college admissions dean that reported that only a very small percentage of applicants to an elite college had work experience -- I think it was something like 15%. I'm sorry that I don't have the citation to the article. But the point is, it is something that stands out, at least for highly competitive private colleges where many applicants come from affluent backgrounds.</p>
<p>I'd also like to say that work experience is going to give the student a leg up all around. My daughter, who recently turned 18, just got a summer job that she loves, largely because she had something similar to list in the "experience" section of her resume.</p>
<p>plus working during high school and college looks good on your resume when you're done college. i had a job from grades 8-college, then a different job from fresh-jun year, a diff job senior year, and various summer jobs. when it was time for interviews and such, i had great answers because i had all types of experience.</p>
<p>Not working is not necessarily a bad thing. Volunteering/Community service is far more important. So don't feel pressured to go get your son some part time job just to be able to list something. College admissions is more interested in the kids who held full time jobs to support their families, or who held jobs in a field that they are considering majoring in. Flipping burgers at McDonalds is not going to make a big difference in the admissions process.</p>
<p>Hardly anyone at my school works, in fact our principal highly discourages anyone from working during the school year, and it doesn't seem to matter at all to colleges.</p>
<p>I agree with Humbert, volunteering is great.</p>
<p>sapphire, i think it just depends on your area.. I didn't know anyone who didn't work in high school... we all worked... maybe it's just my town, but if we want a car, we work and buy the car, if we want to drive, we work and pay the insurance, etc.. people either worked at resteraunts or stores or movie theaters or amusement parks or nursing homes or summer camps or whatever..</p>
<p>ditto fendergirl. Not having a job is the exception to the rule at my school. I think work experience (even if it's McDonald's) is very valuable in an entirely different way than community service is.</p>
<p>I also agree that paid work is a valuable learning experience in a very different way than community service. Volunteer work is wonderful, but volunteers simply don't have to meet the same standards as paid employees.</p>
<p>Of course, some kids work by giving music lessons, or tutoring math or something like that. . . more on an adhoc basis and not every week like a McDonald's job. I consider that work experience.</p>
<p>even mcdonalds looks good to admissions people. (at least i think it does) it shows that someone isn't just "wasting their time" or this or that .. someone is taking a responsibility, and even though it's just flipping burgers, that person is showing up, doing a job, etc</p>
<p>Some volunteers maintain astonishingly high standards. For example, members of our local volunteer EMS unit are extraordinarily dedicated, responsible, reliable, up-to-date, knowledgeable and effective.</p>
<p>I'd like to weigh in on the even mcdonalds comments. I am a parent who has had a very successful career. My first job was at Mcdonalds, starting at the bottom and working up to training people until I went off to college. Years later I was a hotel manager. I discovered that my boss was also a former Mcdonalds employee (this is back when Mcdonalds was just coming on board all over the country and it wasn't considered a lowly job). We had many conversations about how we wished we could find employees who had started at mcdonalds..they teach a customer service, standards, and work ethic that is very difficult to find in today's young adults....my DS is graduating from hs today and has worked part time since he was 15. He will be one of 12 graduating with highest honors in a class of 261. DD just got her first job, she just finished freshman year. I understand volunteerism, etc. but real work experience is vital too. Not to mention that I assume most of these kids who volunteer (many of DS friends are the same) and have never worked have their own car, insurance, gas, etc. that their parents continue to pay for...</p>