<p>Both of my kids worked regular jobs in specialty retail for several years in high school – essentially, from their 16th birthdays on. On a personal level, each of them found it rewarding. Both became very knowledgeable about the products their employers sold, and developed their own profiles in our community. The first regularly won sales contests, and was allowed to do artistically creative work sometimes that gave her an outlet for an interest in visual art that she couldn’t really pursue at school. The second child also worked as a camp counselor during the summer (which he loved) and had a regular volunteer job relating to his academic interests as well (assisting in a paleontology lab four hours/week, and occasionally giving tours of it to school groups).</p>
<p>Both had less success in college admissions than their “stats” and other objective indicators would have suggested, especially the second. Therefore, it would be hard to use their experience to prove that college admissions valued work to any significant extent. But both really liked the working (and the getting paid) anyway.</p>