Spending money

Parents Forum
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<p>@rhandco - How would she put together a resume when she has no experience? </p>

<p>@abasket – She’s done a little babysitting, but we don’t know anyone now who needs it. There aren’t any postings at her school for babysitting, either. And babysitting is fine as extra income, but it’s not steady and not considered a “real job” by many employers looking for previous experience.</p>

<p>I know what you mean about keeping your child alive being an obviously way more important thing than a job - and that’s why we’ve gotten to her senior year without this being resolved. We would have been a lot tougher about her getting a summer job the last two years, otherwise. But now we and her therapist feel she’s not only ready, but that it would really benefit her psychologically as well as financially. She needs to become more independent and realize her abilities. </p>

<p>Besides the dining hall and the bookstore, what are some of the other common jobs that might be available on a campus?</p>

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<p>Many colleges have student employment offices- kids get “placed” into the community for jobs catering events, doing set up and clean up for alumni dinners on campus, etc. Most campus libraries have jobs reserved for students. If there is a big psych department there will be jobs feeding and cleaning up after rodents, monkeys, the other small animals used in experiments; the housing office has kids manning the desk in the evening for students who get locked out; the computer science department will have kids who staff the help desk for anyone on campus whose computer freezes or dies in the middle of writing a paper.</p>

<p>I disagree on the value of retail or food service jobs as someone posted above. I hire for a large corporation for a living and seeing that a kid has held down a job-- any job- is important. Showing up. Dealing with cranky people. Handling someone else’s cash or equipment. Smiling when you don’t want to. Being polite to the coworker you can’t stand. These are the hallmarks of a productive adult in many kinds of employment situations. Folding sweaters at the GAP is a good way to present yourself during a "grown up "job interview as someone who takes responsibility seriously even if the actual activity isn’t particularly noteworthy.</p>

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<p>I assumed that getting a job would be for Fall 2015, but is she living at home now and in HS and therefore you are talking about getting a job now? If not, it is way too early to think about a job on campus, so I apologize if I misunderstood.</p>

<p>Questions I would ask:

  • What is she interested in doing after college?
  • What skills has she learned in school or otherwise that would lend itself to that career?</p>

<p>I saw you mention she was interested in a psych major and working with children. So daycare or camp work in the summer or on breaks would be a related possibility. Working in a dining hall or in fast food would not be a good idea IMHO. Working with kids making minimum wage would help inform her about working with kids as a career. </p>

<p>If she can apply for summer jobs where she would be a counselor, maybe even for special needs kids if that is her interest, that might be a great start. Has she attended camp in the past? Does her school have a summer program she could work in?</p>

<p>Some of the camp counselor programs have training programs where they even teach a little child development. And she should look right now for this coming summer, especially because she would likely need recommendations from teachers for a job.</p>

<p>On campus, when she gets there, there could be daycare opportunities if they have on-site employee daycare. If she is in the psych department, she can ask to help with filing and taking calls, or even talk to professors about whether they need help.</p>

<p>I don’t feel it is insurmountable to get a job that actually could help you shape your career while in HS. Another link for a different major, engineering, was assisting construction workers. Almost any career can be linked to a low-paying job that a HS student can do. Asking HS teachers for ideas might help too.</p>

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<p>@blossom - I totally agree with you about the value of retail and food service. Those jobs teach a lot of important lessons. </p>

<p>@Rhandco - We want her to get a job now, and also when she is in college. We’ve thought of daycare, but there aren’t any opportunities nearby where they hire teens. The YMCA hires for their daycare, but requires prior experience. Last year, we thought about volunteer opportunities with her old after school care, but there was no way for her to get there when they would have needed her (no school bus from the high school goes near there, and both her dad and I work, so there was no car for her to use). </p>

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<p>Where are her friends working? Those places hire kids her age, so those are places she should be considering. This time of year stores at the mall are hiring holiday help. Drop her at a mall and have her spend the afternoon going literally from one store to the next. Make sure she dresses well and has pertinent info with her for applications - SS#, reference info, etc. </p>

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<p>She has applied to several mall stores online. Some stated flat out they wouldn’t consider anyone without experience. She is applying at CVS, where a friend works. Another friend works at the YMCA, where they also insist on experience. There’s a sandwich shop she’s going to stop by this weekend, as well.</p>

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<p>Doe she have any volunteer experience? While she shouldn’t lie, she should give herself credit for any “work” experience. Babysitting, volunteering through church/school, anything she helped organized (summer camp, a book drive at school- whatever). She needs to think of anything that gave her experience interacting with the public and highlight that. </p>

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<p>She’s done some babysitting and petsitting. She’s done a bit of volunteering here and there - but nothing on a consistent basis. More like “we need some volunteers to work at the Harvest Festival, or babysit kids during the PTA meeting”, etc. A bunch of one-offs, basically. It’s part of the depression. She ends up isolating herself instead of getting out and getting involved.</p>

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<p>She will likely do better with locally owned stores. Your local dry cleaner- important to tell them upfront, “I am happy to work weekends since I’m sure you get very busy between now and Christmas”. A local deli/catering operation “I am happy to learn how to garnish platters and make sure that everything that gets sent to a customer looks fresh and elegant”. Has she looked on Craigslist for local part-time help wanted ads?</p>

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<p>IMHO, she should ask the YMCA if she can volunteer first, and then apply for a paid job, as long as money is not the primary driver. In my area, there are other organizations similar to the YMCA, so if that’s true where you live, she could look into that. </p>

<p>I suggest making up a list of everything she has done working with children and volunteering. Anything related to clubs or even classes at school. For example, my son volunteered at a school fair last year, and he operated a booth where he had to handle tickets and manage the line. For babysitting, note what ages and if there was anything beyond a few hours (such as “watched two children ages 5 and 7 for a day, including feeding them and helping them scrub their teeth and get ready for bed”). My oldest has babysat his siblings, he has fed them, he has helped them get ready for bed and made sure they went to bed. He has also supervised them at the YMCA, taking them between classes and supervising while they are exercising. As part of school activities, he has worked in groups to create posters and projects. He has done presentations to younger students to teach them new concepts. All of that was required - I made him babysit and the school had certain required activities that show he has worked in teams. Hours do not have to be listed, but if it is a longer term babysitting job, like for the same family for six months or more, that time span can be listed.</p>

<p>I would consider reaching out to the person who hires at the YMCA, and ask what kind of experience they are specifically looking for. Often they need volunteers to work with children, and six months of volunteering might be enough (ask) to apply for a paying job. Or is there a guidance counselor at school who can help her put together a resume from her experience?</p>

<p>The issue is whether the money is needed or you feel that she should get a job so she is responsible. IMHO, if it is the latter, she should not be desperate to take anything that pays. Working at the CVS for example is not likely on the path to bigger and better things. Working at the YMCA can include working with children or lead to opportunities to work with children.</p>

<p>A strong memory from my childhood is my much older brother being told to “get a job” in high school and he applied to a local grocery store chain. Both he and my mother figured he would be working a register or stacking boxes. When he showed up, he was told to clean the bathrooms (both genders, ew for a teenaged boy if you get my drift). He did this for a few months, and let on to my parents that’s what he was doing, without variation. They flipped out, as we didn’t need the money, it was just for experience. He quit and got a job helping in an office first volunteering as a trial and then paid. It wasn’t exciting, but it wasn’t cleaning bathrooms either.</p>

<p>If she tends to isolate herself, finding her a job that would be drudgery might not be a good fit. Obviously it might take longer to find something if one is picky, but being saddled with something that can’t even be listed because she ended up quitting due to lack of interest doesn’t help the situation.</p>

<p>All IMHO. </p>

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<p>Yeah, I didn’t go into detail, but to be more specific, last year she had a friend who babysat at the YMCA. Now they are sworn enemies, and this girl has decided she hates my daughter after being her friend for two years. Whatever. But it wouldn’t matter, because for some reason the YMCA has told others very specifically they want paid work experience to even be considered to work in the daycare area - in other words, they don’t want to be anyone’s first paid job. I would have urged her to write down the occasional babysitting, but now that she and the other girl don’t talk, I didn’t push it. I have been trying to think of other similar opportunities around here, but I really haven’t been able to. The after-school care, as I noted, wouldn’t work out because of timing and transportation. </p>

<p>It would be nice for her to get something child related but if not, then another job will do. Yes, it might be drudgery. But most kids do those jobs and as someone wrote here, there are valuable lessons to be learned with your standard minimum wage job. </p>

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<p>As far as getting a job, she needs to tell her friends who have jobs that she is looking and ask them to let their manager know she is interested. With regards to spending money, on a small town campus I would think $25-$30 would be sufficient. </p>

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<p>Is she a strong swimmer? If so, have her take a life guarding class now so she can lifeguard in the summer. Pools always are short on guards in the summer. </p>

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<p>My youngest D did not have a job until after her freshman year in college. She was a competitive equestrian through high school and did not have time. She did pet sit for a lot people in our neighborhood so she really played that up in her applications since she had been doing it for many years. She ended up with a job at Nordstrom and has been working there ever since during summers and holiday breaks from college.</p>

<p>If your D is interested in babysitting there are several good online sites she can put up a profile and apply for jobs. My D has been working a babysitting job this semester while also going to college. She picks up a 13 year old girl 3 days a week and takes her to after school activities or home to do homework. D is making $150 a week for 10 hours of work so it is a great part time job that doesn’t interfere with school and homework.</p>

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<p>No, she’s a lousy swimmer. And overweight so she hates swimsuits. She’s definitely staying away from the pool jobs. lol</p>

<p>I know she has asked people about jobs - that’s where the CVS thing is coming from, since she knows someone there. There are a few produce markets that hire kids - I’ll suggest that as well. Thanks for all your suggestions.</p>

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<p>If you have a local Target in your area, they are very good at hiring high school kids and allowing them to continue there at holidays and over summer breaks.</p>

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<p>Like others have said, school and location make a big difference. My D covers her day-to-day costs plus books. Her college is a bit of a “bubble” with most kids living and socializing on campus.The school has a generous dining dollar program tacked onto her dining package so she has not spent a dime of her own money at campus cafe’s and the market. Laundry is free. Most campus events are free or like 5 bucks if it’s an outside performance/movie on campus.She is scheduled to work 4 hours a week at the campus museums but generally picks up another 2 to 4 hours covering other student shifts and working special events. With the job, the lack of places to spend money on top of the campus perks, her account is only down 500 dollars from where she started and that includes having purchased all her 1st time dorm gear, 1st semester books, birthday gifts shipped home for our B-days, some off campus restaurants and a 4 day trip to DC (where she didn’t need a hotel since staying with roommate’s family but did pay for her own transportation, entertainment and at least one meal a day.) She’ll take a hit with Spring semester books but at this point, she’s looking at coming home with at least half of the 2K she started with and she doesn’t feel like she’s scrimping or depriving herself. I don’t know if that would be the case if she were in New York or Boston and living in the heart of the city. A different campus might offer the same sort of freebies of discounts. I do throw 10 bucks a month on her student ID. I don’t NEED to and she doesn’t ask me for it. It just makes me feel connected I guess. She uses it at the campus post office and the vending machines.</p>

<p>I certainly recommend a campus job over a community job if possible. There can be a lot of perks to a campus job not only with flexibility and more chance of trading shifts with co-workers when needed but like, D’s museum job sponsors all sorts of cultural outings free to the student employees. D found the job during the summer on the school website and interviewed on the phone. It’s a cushy job… most of those tend to be filled by the time school starts.</p>

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<p>My daughter had her first punch in/punch out job this past summer working at a restaurant a couple minutes away from our cabin. She worked about 20 hours a week in the kitchen all summer. We had her apply there specifically because they rely on high school and college kids in the summer. She’s guaranteed summer work all through college as long as she’s a decent employee. In all likelihood she’ll be waiting tables this summer and will make far more than she did in the kitchen. She’ll be working there over Christmas vacation too. She just finished up a CNA class and has talked about working as a CNA this summer, but we’ve stressed that she can easily do both part time CNA work and restaurant work and if she has to choose between them she should go for the restaurant work. We’ve known so many kids who have worked at this place every single summer all through high school and college. So I’d recommend your daughter look into working at a restaurant that hires extra help in the summer. My daughter surprised me with how much money she still has in her account from the summer, so I’m feeling pretty optimistic that she will have a nice stash of money when she starts college and will know how to make it last.</p>

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<p>My son is attending his dream school, and working his tail off doing class work, and ECs.
We have an agreement. I ask that he work as hard as he is able on classes, and to focus on the ECs that make his university experience extraordinary. The amazing financial aid at the university gives us the ability to cover the other costs.
I provide about $75/wk in ‘walking around money’. He will shovel snow in the neighborhood during winter break, and cut grass over the summer. He cuts and clears the older neighbors for free, and charges a reasonable amount for the rest. I prefer that he does not take a school-year job. Life is a one-trip salad bar, and I want him to get the most out of college. He is a self-motivated, hard-working kid. Work-ethic is not my concern, work-aholism might be!</p>

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<p>I agree with Blossom. Try local establishments…not national chains. Emphasize the ability to work evenings and weekends. The national,chains all have online applications. The local places deal directly with the applicant in many cases.</p>

<p>Have her go to restaurants. They are busy this time of year. Dishwashing jobs are usually available. Not glamorous but a good job.</p>