eastcoascrazy

"kid jobs?" Almost any job will give you a chance to show your willingness to show up on time, to take shorter than necessary breaks, to be engaged in the work, to offer to take on more responsibility, to learn quickly, to show respect to your supervisor and customer, to have a positive attitude.

I surely wouldn't be eager to hire someone to mulch my flowers, who referred to it as just a kid job. But I'm happy to hire the college "kid" down the street who has been running a seasonal lawncare business For several years, who has a couple of other kids who work for him. All of the kids who work for him treat their seasonal "kid job" as a real job.

Lots of people display a complete disrespect for starting out with A job, as opposed to THE job.

TheGFG

I do agree with you eastcoastcrazy, but I understand the job market to be exactly as Emaheevalu07 describes. That is also how my '10 son experienced things when he was in college. Although I'd like for D to obtain a relevant internship for obvious reasons, if she tries and fails, then she has to work in whatever job she can get no matter how "crappy." She need the money for college. But that's not simple either.

One problem is her school is on a quarter system and so she won't be returning back home until a good month after the local college students get out. As it is, jobs are scarce and it's likely that between the college students who get home in May, and the local teens who hold jobs during the school year and increase their hours for the summer, there won't be anything left for D. Also, it's not like she has any waitressing or retail experience, which seems to be necessary to get even those jobs. My friend's D couldn't get a waitress job this summer so far because she hadn't ever done it before and there were other people with experience who applied. What complicates matters more is that as an athlete in season, my D couldn't come home for spring break (happening now) to look for any local positions! She attends school on the west coast and we're in the NE, so it's not like she can come home for a weekend to job hunt.

Marian--she needs to make money, not spend it, so taking classes wouldn't be a good plan. Besides, with the FA we get, she'd spend much more taking a course at the local flagship than the tuition at her elite school.

Mansfield

Eastcoastcrazy, thanks for the great post. You are not alone.

Marian

TheGFG, it sounds like your daughter also cannot consider unpaid internships. That makes things more difficult.

Would her budget allow her to work in her campus community and live in a summer sublet? That way, she could apply for local positions there, and she wouldn't be at a disadvantage because she's on the quarter system because most West Coast students are on that schedule.

ellemenope

This made me laugh!

For my D1, we laughingly tell her that her favorite saying is, "Well, that took longer than I thought it would..." She always underestimates the time it takes to do any large task. Very much into magical thinking!

Emaheevul07

I wasn't saying that's what /I/ think, that was just the attitude I got in the interview process about my past work experience. I agree with you that those jobs are great jobs and are a great place to get your start. If I could do it over again, I'd have done those jobs in high school and early college, and then as a last resort if I couldn't get internships later on in college. I was just saying that, from my experience hunting for jobs, employers really didn't care about those jobs, at all, and I took a huge hit coming into my current company in terms of salary-- and as such I can understand the pressure to go crazy looking for internships even though it doesn't really make any sense. To be perfectly honest, the stuff I did in my volunteer jobs was way more valuable than what I did in my internship, but since it isn't industry related they didn't care. They had enough applicants with industry relevant experience, even at the entry level, that I couldn't compete.

mom2collegekids

we laughingly tell her that her favorite saying is, "Well, that took longer than I thought it would..." She always underestimates the time it takes to do any large task. Very much into magical thinking!


I'm going to show that to my H. He always grossly underestimates how long something will take. And, then when it does take much longer, he chalks it up to "bad luck." lol

TheGFG

One has to APPLY for even the unpaid internships...

PackMom

^^Thats what S2 is doing. His university requires that his internship be unpaid. You would think people would be happy to have free help for the summer but so far that hasn't been the case for S2.

Marian

Yes, of course, but your daughter would have no reason to do so if they don't meet the financial criteria you have established for her for the summer.

TheGFG

Well, since she has nothing lined up at present, something unpaid is better than nothing. We had discussed the possibility of her finding an unpaid internship for 20+ hours a week, and then working part-time wherever to make some money.

TheGFG

Update: Just spoke with D. She said, "If I don't get a job, it's not a big deal."
AHHH!!

bookiemom

My D was a camp counselor for two summers in college. This was at her beloved summer camp where she went for 10 consecutive summers as a child. She was a group counselor one summer and a lifeguard the next summer. She made about a thousand dollars each summer. Maybe your D could do that. Not that much salary, but you don't spend much of it either.

My D learned a ton at that job and used things that happened in several college and med school essays. She was chosen to be the counselor for a special needs girl as a group counselor, and she saved a little girl's life in the pool.

It's hard for camps to find good counselors as it's hard work and doesn't pay much. It looks good on the resume, more employment experience, and much better than hanging around your house all summer with no job. Camps all over the country hire and she could go to some other part of the country that interests her.

mom2collegekids

Update: Just spoke with D. She said, "If I don't get a job, it's not a big deal."
AHHH!!



lol...and this is the same kid that in your first post says, "Chill, it will all work out somehow."

Yep...that's the way these things go. First, they shut you up with the "it will work out" statements. Then, when it doesn't work out they resort to, "it's no big deal."


At this point, I would tell my kid...either find a paying job or you'll be volunteering at soup kitchen, hospital, church summer activities, or something.

lilmom

DS is a sophomore in college now and has finally started to feel the financial pinch. H and I resolved to stick to a strict monthly allowance which is just enough for food and necessities. Any extras would have to come out of his pocket. He had a part time tutoring job this year that gave him extra spending money. It was hard for me to not send him extra money every now and then but I'm glad I didn't. Now that he's matured a but, he is looking for paid internships.