<p>Not sure why everyone here is assuming kids can get 40 hours most places. My daughter is home from her first year away at college. She hustled and put in a lot of resumes, pounded the pavement, and came away with two part-time retail jobs in two different directions away from home. Both jobs made it clear at interview that they would never be offered more than 20 hours per week. Managers who said they could work around a second job’s schedule don’t come through and daughter ends up having to negotiate with other workers so as not to have conflicts between the two jobs. Last week she had a total of 9 hours worked between two jobs. If business is slow, they are sent home in the middle of a shift. Both jobs give her more “on call” hours than promised shift hours so she can’t even make plans to do anything or go anywhere because she has to be home in case they need her. On call hours are not paid, of course. It’s rough out there. </p>
<p>@TVenee - You make an outstanding point. I have an MBA and have held a director level job, and honestly the very hardest and by far the most stressful job I ever had was as a hostess at a very popular restaurant as a 19 year old. I won’t bore you with all the details, but the restaurant had some policies on how to handle waiting customers that made customers infuriated. I literally thought I was going to throw up half the time before work. Nothing I ever did since was nearly as stressful.</p>
<p>So, when I screened resumes, I did admire students who were able to land those hard-to-get resume builders, but I definitely didn’t weed out those who had mostly worked regular jobs. </p>
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<p>I know. I mentioned this several pages back. The trend to cut ADULTS’ hours to below “full time” to avoid paying benefits is well-documented. I don’t know any kids who are magically able to get what adults in service-industry and big-box-store jobs can’t. </p>
<p>I also agree that working in menial jobs is a lot harder than a lot of office work. My son has had jobs digging post holes in the blazing Florida summer sun. My daughter worked at a pancake house where the clientele was mostly crabby old people who didn’t tip and drunk college students. It was sticky and difficult work–far more challenging than working as an intern behind a computer all day.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m not so sure there is any such thing as a full-time minimum wage summer job. Even a full-time minimum wage job, period is extremely rare and almost a myth.One of my kids is full-time but it pays more and is not a non-skilled job. Another has 2 part-time positions both of which pay a few dollars over minimum. The only minimum wage seasonal full-time job is probably located in a family business.</p>
<p>2Carolinagirls, I too, made that point That’s been the experience here too. My sons have worked for years for a township rec center over the summer–I have older kids. Last year, they set up the schedules so that getting more than 30 hours is impossible and even getting 20 hours is difficult Because the hours are assigned randomly with some absolute cannot work days maybe taken into account, trying to work another job around this one is very problematic. The only saving grace is that it is a day job for the most part, so that busboy, waiter, type work is possible in tandem. </p>
<p>My youngest will barely make $3K this summer even with one of the best schedules and first dibs. Back in the day, my older guys would make nearly double that, and then augment with private lessons and second jobs and could and did make $9K over the summer. Those days are over. They are not letting anyone make more than $3K, so my son is at the max. They have too many part timers looking for hours so that any full timer has to give up hours to them and are not permitted to take additional hours. </p>
<p>Things have changed a lot in the last 10 years in terms of the job scene.</p>
<p>I apologize for reiterating a point unnecessarily. I normally read an entire thread before adding my $.02, but admittedly did not this time. </p>
<p>I agree, a vacation is not a great excuse to not want to work. I think it comes down to how bad you want to earn the money vs. how much you think you’re entitled to free financial aid. Much of it starts in high school. If parents make their kids get jobs, they will be in the habit of working. So many parents now have their kids overscheduled with AP’s, sports, etc. that they feel they are too fragile or, sometimes, ABOVE working. Then, in the summer, the days are overfilled with enrichment camps, Europe trips, etc. </p>
<p>A college counselor told me something interesting - as everyone on CC knows, most admissions staffs are young adults in their 20’s. More importantly, most of them were tour guides/ambassadors in college, and hired on after they graduated. That means, they worked in college, perhaps on work study, because they had to. They value other students with that work ethic. So, maybe parents can give up one or two EC’s and substitute a JOB.</p>
<pre><code> If kids have a job in high school, likely they can keep that into the summer and get even more hours. If not, they need to start looking in January, for summer-type positions, especially anyplace where you earn TIPS.
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<p>Parent 1337 5k? Wow! Were you going to school in town? If it’s not to nosey of me what type of work was it? I live in the Midwest and that type of money can be made by the detasslers here. The other jobs are as others describe. Employers bend over backwards to keep those hours way under 40. </p>
<p>I think it’s true you learn something new every day. TVenee, I had to google “detassler”!</p>
<p>^Gee, I was thinking it would be something more along the lines of Girls in Burlesque acts. How disappointing. :"> </p>
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So you don’t ever plan on taking any, yourself?</p>
<p>No apology needed. It’s a point well worth making. It’s a serious problem our country is facing right now that is not adequately reflected in unemployment stats and other numbers. It’s bad enough that our high school and college kids are so afflicted, but it’s a travesty that adults, families are suffering through this. Juggling 2,3 jobs and still not able to make $15K a year is not uncommon due to what is happening here.</p>
<p>Several of you mentioned lifeguarding as a great summer job for kids. My nephew (a college student) is a lifeguard for Newport Beach CA during the summer and makes about $18/ hour. It is a grueling, demanding job, however, one that comes with very substantial risks. </p>
<p>Tragically, last week, one of his colleagues – an extremely experienced lifeguard – died while rescuing in swimmer in heavy surf. </p>
<p>While a death of a lifeguard is extremely rare, my nephew says that he has experienced close calls during rescues where he wasnt sure if he or the swimmer would make it. And the job is utterly physically exhausting. My nephew has to log his activities; a single shift may involve 100 contacts with beachgoers with issues ranging from minor first aid to major rescues. And these kids are regularly faced with life and death situations. Just to give one example, a couple of days before the lifeguard died, a swimmer broke his neck one tower down from my nephew’s. </p>
<p>I guess what I am trying to convey is that lifeguarding – at least at an ocean-facing beach with heavy surf – is a job that requires dedication and a desire to serve that goes beyond the need to make a few bucks over the summer.</p>
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<p>S had an internship at the State Department that paid nothing and for which he received no credit. He had to cover the cost of living in the DC area himself. He applied for a stipend, which was supposed to be need-based, but didn’t get one. Since at the time he was on a virtual full ride in college, it is difficult to imagine who does get one.</p>
<p>Another factor I haven’t seen mentioned here is transportation. We live in a town of about 8,000, and there are probably fewer than 15 potential employers–all small-- and no public transportation whatever. Kids I knew who had jobs had a car devoted to their own use. (I wonder how much they made for the summer if THOSE expenses were subtracted…) The kids I knew who had school year jobs in HS generally did no sports at all, since practice schedules were incompatible. Those who picked up summer jobs in college most often seemed to work for family members or family friends, except for the few who were able to return to summer jobs they had in HS. Adults work fast food/convenience store/part time agricultural jobs here.</p>
<p>The once summer he was home, S made a valiant effort to get tutoring work in his primary foreign language, using craigslist, a mail campaign to area HS teachers in advance, etc. He eventually got one student. He did pick up a few weeks of temp work. He put out resumes and visited a number of employers, to no avail. It didn’t help that due to his school’s unusual schedule, he wasn’t home until mid June. They didn’t care that he could stay longer: all the jobs were gone. It would have helped if he had come home and searched at spring break, but he didn’t get that until it was too late.</p>
<p>One kid I know got a job with a friend’s aunt who ran a landscaping business, but part way through the summer gave up and returned to his college town in another state because he wasn’t getting any hours. </p>
<p>Another fact I’ve observed is that in summer retail and restaurant jobs looks matter a lot. Kids with acne, for example, need not apply. </p>
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<p>@TVenee I worked two jobs. One was mowing for the parks department starting at 6AM till 2:00, and one for the veterinarian at the horse racetrack from 3 to 8. Both jobs did not always fall on the same day. The vet also hired me to work for him on my days off from mowing. I didn’t detassle, but I know many who got on the bus and suffered through weeks of that. Hard work, great pay. </p>
<p>If you do not get paid internships or research grants, work on campus and stay on campus for work exchanges. You will realize that at the end of you summer break you will make just about $3000.00 if not more.
It is always better to discuss with your school prior to the summer on this issue, if you do not have any connections out of school. They will work something out with you.
Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>@nottelling Wow. Indoor lifeguarding is a lot different, at least where I live. A lot of the work at the public pools here is teaching swim lessons, which is really popular especially during the summer. Of course, there is lifeguarding during the swims, but because it is an indoor pool, and perhaps also because kids are required to take a swim test before entering the deep end, there are very few rescues. Perhaps one or two per quarter (10 weeks) at most. One person I know has been working as a lifeguard (indoor during the school year and beach during the summer) for nearly 10 years and he’s only made 3 rescues so far. The pay is still pretty good at $15/hour (more if you get promoted).</p>
<p>Wow. I know wages here are depressed (higher COL and lower wages, welcome to the paradise tax), but my 18 yr old S makes only $8.25/hr. as a lifeguard at the Y, and he’s had to haul a couple of kids (and at least one large adult who slipped in the spa) out of the water. He’s gotten one, 25-cent raise, after he passed the probationary period. He’d be THRILLED to earn $15/hr.!</p>
<p>He’s been able to get more hours this summer than ever before (29/week). No way will he make $3,000 over the summer. He might have been able to do a little better (and have a lot less stress) if he’d pounded the pavement for an IT job, but he decided to stick with the familiar (a decision that he was regretting, just this evening… lessons are being learned…sigh).</p>
<p>I am sure that after this year he’ll probably stay on the mainland over the summers, since he can make more (and spend less to live) there. I understand that the going rate for most lifeguard jobs in Denver is about $10/hr.; in fact, most all the jobs posted on the University job board are about that. I am going to miss him so.</p>
<p>Part time jobs are VERY difficult for students to come by where I live now. They are competing with unemployed adults for jobs in foodservice, retail, etc. We also live in a small town with a very small business base. Probably the biggest employer is the grocery store and from what I understand from other other parents they give the kids paltry hours. As someone else said, teens need a car dedicated to their use to work in surrounding towns (no public transportation) which my D has. However, gas (20 minute commute via highway each way to her job at a quick service restaurant chain), oil changes, etc are her responsibility and she pays for her own extra clothes and entertainment expenses (I think she’s gone to a whopping two movies this summer). This week, she was scheduled for FIVE (5) hours at her job. No, she will not make, let alone save, anywhere near $3000 by the time she leaves for college. I will be thrilled if she can save enough to cover her text books this year. She is planning to look for a part time job on campus when she gets to school. </p>
<p>Mine, too, would be thrilled with $15 an hour as anything! The pool manager makes $12 and change. D coordinates the city swim lessons for $10-something, but only during lesson hours. When she’s on deck, she makes 8-something.</p>