Of course that counts. Think about the skills: scheduling, logistics, budgeting, time management, customer service, marketing. Wouldn’t you want to hire that kid? I would.
When my son applied for his dream summer job in college, the job in his chosen career that was a clear stepping stone to further employment in the industry, he was asked for two job references. They didn’t want personal or academic references; they wanted to hear from people who could attest to his ability to show up on time every day and do the work. He gave two references, both for jobs in which he had done grungy, back-breaking labor. He learned later from one of his references that they called them and had a substantial conversation about his work ethic.
He got the summer job and it has already resulted in a post-college job offer. Had he not had any work experience who knows what would have happened. Maybe he would have gotten the job anyway, but I doubt it.
On a more person note, I want my kids to have summer jobs because they deserve the joy of earning their own money. Financial independence is a wonderful thing and realizing one can make a living without relying on Mom and Dad is tremendously freeing.
Sue22 makes an excellent point. My son has a hobby that costs money (golf) and a young lady that he likes to play golf with, and it makes him feel good about himself to make his own tee times and enjoy a meal with her at the clubhouse on his own dime without having to ask mommy for money. It also gives him some privacy, which he likes. This was also the first year he earned his own money for Christmas presents and it really meant something to him. They weren’t lavish gifts, but they were chosen, paid for and purchased by him and everyone knew it. It was a special thing for everyone. I’ve already given him my list for mother’s day!
I think the OP is just tro11ing and doing a good job.
Isn’t this the Parents Forum? Why are we going on 10 pages of debate with a runny-nosed high school kid about the merits of summer jobs?
“fundraised”, LOL.
As a household where both parents work, D1 did summer enrichment programs until she was old enough to be on her own during the day. As a sophomore, she participated in a rather expensive program out of state and we made it a condition of her attendance that she get a job the following summer and that half of her earnings be applied as a retroactive contribution. She got a summer job teaching remedial language arts skills to young children. This year, she was eager to work there again as opposed to an academic option. She found it satisfying and rewarding to earn money of her own and to work with a veteran elementary school teacher.
There is also no shame in working in food service, landscaping, retail, stocking merchandise, cleaning hotel rooms, etc. Top schools will not look down on you for doing honest work for honest pay, no matter how humble it might seem. A boring job at an ice cream shop will make obvious the value of a college education - to minimize the possibility of ending up in a dead-end, low-earning job for the rest of your life.
I love what you wrote about your daughter, @mamadefamilia. Love the retroactive contribution to the fees you paid out for the expensive program. Nice.
I must say I am shocked at how many ice cream parlor jobs have been the mainstay of early employment. Is this being used as metaphor/prototypical example?
“There is also no shame in working in food service, landscaping, retail, stocking merchandise, cleaning hotel rooms, etc. Top schools will not look down on you for doing honest work for honest pay, no matter how humble it might seem.”
This bears repeating. No one worth knowing looks down on people for doing those jobs. If they do, well, the shame is on them.
Btw it’s my observation that the “elite” (people not schools) are the most gracious to service employees, etc. it’s the wannabes one ring down who think that they are proving something by being rude to the waitress or leaving the hotel room a mess because who cares about the maid.
In my kids’ situation, it’s a literal ice cream parlor. Not that surprising since they both started working there in the summers.
@GoForth : Of course your son’s work experience counts. Not only is he arranging for times when he can implement his talents and skills, but he is an instructor to others, demonstrating an entirely second set of skills, discipline and commitment. He has mastery, time management and teaching credentials. Bravo to him.
my son had a little side business doing private tutoring. i will encourage him to pursue a job tutoring at the community college in the fall. he also made $1000 by being part of the NASA weather balloon project at the CC.
it doesn’t have to be a question of work vs academics, as these have been opportunities to generate income thru academic-related pursuits.
but no one should look down on any “non-academic” employment as it will cultivate valuable work skills, experience, and work ethic.
I work my job at a fast food restaurant during school and over the summer and I love it. It taught me information that I’m learning in econ, gave me experiences like filing taxes for the first time, and it taught me how to manage my time between school, sports, church, and work. Not to mention I get a little spending money.
I think it depends on the kid.
DS13 is an engineering student. We felt for him it was better to focus on academics. So he did not have a job before college. Once he started looking for a co-op I was concerned because he didn’t have any “work” experience. However because he had done research on a project with a professor he was able to get a co-op and it has turned out really well for him.
DS17 is not academic. He does not know what he wants to do other than its not going to be a STEM job. So for him I think having a job is important. I doubt there will be co-ops out there for him once he is in college so he will need some sort of work experience to put on his resume when he is looking for a “real” job.
DS19 is academic. He wants to be an engineer. He is the only one of our 3 kids who has been finding ways to make money since he was in 2nd grade. Back then it was selling origami to the kids at school. He uses the money he makes from doing stuff for people to buy new computer parts and electronic stuff to build things. I have no doubt once he turns 16 he is going to go out and find a part time job in the summer…
“Back then it was selling origami to the kids at school.”
I love that origami has been showing up among our kids’ interests in the past few weeks.
A summer job is great, and certainly 10x better than “hanging out and playing video games.” However, I think that for most students the time is better spent elsewhere.
In the US today 74% of students taking the ACT do not achieve college readiness scores in all 4 ACT subjects. Parents and students should be focused on what they need to do to help their student achieve these standards. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/08/20/act-college-preparedness-remains-flat-for-high-school-graduates
It seems to me that many wealthy suburban posters forget how poor the general state of education is in the US for the majority of students. For the 3 out of 4 students who have not mastered even a base level of skills needed to succeed in a generic college, a job is a summer luxury that they can not afford. Parents should consider working with their guidance counselor to guide their student to use the summer effectively to develop this base level of reading, writing, math, and science skills they need. If they are able to also hold a job, that would be great.
College readiness definition: students whose scores suggest that statistically they have a 50 percent chance of obtaining a B or higher, or a 75 percent chance of obtaining a C or higher in credit-bearing first-year college courses without the need for remediation.
My son’s lowly minimum wage job that he had from summer of his junior year in high school all through summers during college and during breaks (he also had a job on campus during the year) spurred him to looking into this corporation (multinational Fortune 200 company) seriously and morphed into him being accepted into their executive management training program after graduating (from a top 20 LAC.)
Not only did he work his min. wage job throughout college, he also had internships two summers - completely unrelated to the company’s field - interned for a Judge and interned at a NYS govt agency during the day and worked the min. wage job nights and weekends.
Not only do I believe his lowly job gave him a boost when applying for the training program (only 15 applicants are chosen out of the initial 3000 or so who apply and a very intensive interview process) I believe it gave him a boost in his college acceptances. Applied to 9 schools and got in at all of them.
Believe me - he never thought when working his min wage job all those years ihe would end up at Corporate earning a starting salary with a $5 in front of it. He has only been there 10 months, has had two raises and will get another raise with a promotion on his year anniversary.
He gets calls every week from companies trying to steal him away.
Btw, he was a pol sci major and history minor - nothing at all related to the business he is in,
I have been silently reading and following along but, after post #111, I have to comment:
"Okay, here are three reasons why I think the high school summer job mandate is out of date and most frequently counter productive:
- Only about half of all college students will end up graduating.
- 5 and 6 years to graduate has become the new normal.
- Global competition has made slots at even state schools increasingly difficult to obtain — especially in more selective engineering and business departments.
Using summers to shore up academics confronts all three."
My DD did not attend a single summer academic program. She was not interested and we could not afford it. She worked the 1st 2 summers of HS as a babysitter. Last summer and this, she is working at a construction company in the estimating department. She works every winter as a ski instructor. She has saved enough money that she is going to Italy for 10 days after HS graduation. She will be an electrical engineering major at one of the top programs in the country. She was accepted to the #3 ranked program but declined. She received a note from the AO commenting on her essay which was about teaching 4 year-olds to ski and be self-confident. She will graduate in 5 years but only because she will co-op - again, that pesky work thing. Your assumptions are patently false.
No Doubt- The life skills you will take away from a teen job (summer or year round) more than any semester college course you will take in 4 years of college. You learn about people, money, managers, physical labor, and most importantly EMPATHY for your fellow human being. A teen job is priceless.
Am wondering if OP’s parents wanted him to get a job so he could work on skills of diplomacy and courtesy.
Both my kids worked as soon as they were able, but both attended a summer program once. The one kid went to Operation Catapult at Rose-Hulman (loved it) and the other went to Explosives Camp at Missouri S&T. I don’t know if it helped with admissions (well, one of them only applied to instate directionals anyway) but both benefitted from the experience. Especially Explosives Camp.