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<p>Dishonesty is dishonesty.</p>
<p>As an employer of young people, I ask point-blank about their educational situation or plans. And I don’t think I have ever been lied to about their availability for fall. I don’t hire for summer only. However, there are a few schools where the schedule is off between Thanksgiving and Christmas. That meets my needs – if they are willing to come home from SCAD or Carleton or wherever and start working 20-30 hours/week until they go back to school.</p>
<p>We also have a discussion, before they are hired, about how to leave. I tell them that as much as I wish they’d stay forever, I’m quite sure they have bigger ambitions than the pet shop and at some point they will leave me. Therefore, they need to know how to do that, and the answer is to tell the truth. It’s not working out for you and you would like to resign, effective in 2 weeks (or sooner or later or whatever is the true deal). The wrong way to do it is to either stop showing up or (even worse) to act out and misbehave until they have to be fired.</p>
<p>cnp55, </p>
<p>but how would you react if the kid started outlining all his constraints before you asked about his study plans?</p>
<p>I don’t think outlining constraints is the same thing as lying about only being able to work for a month. That’s a pretty significant “constraint”, not on par with “I have a wedding to attend one Saturday in October”.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine hiring a teenager and not asking when they return to high school or college. But I suppose if the employer doesn’t ask then not mentioning it is probably fair game. I just can’t imagine an employer not asking. </p>
<p>As for pregnancy, being asked about that by an employer is illegal if I’m not mistaken.</p>
<p>I have pretty clear expectations about how many hours they need to work to keep their job. I also have a fairly large pool of potential employees and I’m willing to say (gently) I’d love to hire you, but you don’t have enough hours available to make it work out.</p>
<p>They HAVE to have 10-15 hours per week available to work when I need them. They can’t be switching days around. They have to be available for shift schedule. That means if you attend church at 11 am on Sundays and it’s an inflexible commitment, you are unavailable for Sunday shift which is 10-5. Or if you run track and it’s a 5 days after school plus Saturday mornings, you don’t have enough hours available to have a job too.</p>
<p>One of my kids had a huge constraint every summer. He was gone for 4-6 weeks for a music festival of one type or another. He was sure he would never find a job. BUT guess what…he did. He worked for the same restaurant for many many years. He got here in May, worked until the beginning of July…and then worked at the end of the summer too. He also worked during school breaks. He was very upfront with the owner, and they were really very supportive and accommodating. BUT my kid would do anything from washing dishes to weeding the gardens. He was not picky.</p>
<p>My kids started as lifeguards, with very few, random hours. They also had a long run of comm service where they did the same hard work as the adults. So, when a great camp job came up, they could fill out a decent app, with good refs. Neither got the camp job, the first year she applied. This summer, both had great internships fall through (one was offered a non-pay slot, which she can’t afford,) so it’s back to camp, plus subbing at the local pool. This is what covers their duffs. </p>
<p>Trust me, very little of this happened because they had their own knack for finding work. OP doesn’t seem to have this same guidance many of us gave our kids- or the parental effort to get him/her to the job. </p>
<p>I hope the point he or she can take from this thread is that you have to keep trying, get out there early, and keep going back, in case they have an unexpected opening. My kids’ camp job is sewn up by April 1 (interviews in late Feb/early Mar.) One of the internships had a March deadline.</p>
<p>^^ Yes. I agree with lookingforward. Most employers ‘get’ that kids can work more hours in the summer. Most employers should “get” that kids will either cut back their hours or quit when school starts of have some sort of rhythm like Thumper’s. All three of mine had “different” circumstances so different hire/quit cycles. None of mine would have any trouble getting a reference. If employers are upfront about their expectations and kids are upfront about their availability it works out. One of my kids was blindsided by a business that told them they would get 20 hours per week and then for 3 weeks straight scheduled them for 10 hours. That kiddo went and told the owner he could not continue to work there unless he could get 20 hours. This is all good experience for kids…working through these things, learning to deal with a managers. And learning how to open their mouths and tell someone what their situation is. The other thing I drilled into my kids was don’t quit your job until you have another one or if you need 1 month or 3 months off, talk to your manager and see if you can stay on payroll, but not get scheduled so you can come back after the other commitment. This works well if you are in a seasonal area. The employer knew they could call my kiddo if they need help once in a blue moon or over the holidays during the school year but come spring they can jump back in regularly through the summer. There is only dishonesty involved if one of the two parties employer or employee are dishonest about their intentions.</p>
<p>I don’t want to sound like I’m attacking your Mom, but did she lose her job recently? You said she lost her license over the non-paying of child support, so it sounds like a court ordered child support payment. At least here in NY, child support payments are not just based on number of children, but the non-custodial parents income. If the court came up with an amount that she is required to pay, she should be able to pay it. For instance, my sister’s ex at one point was paying $25 a week for two kids! And it doesn’t matter if she doesn’t like how your father spends it, he’s paying for a roof over your head, heat, food, etc. When my sisters ex had a good job back, his child support payment was increased. Because they had such a horrible relationship, she knew he’d probably rather go to jail then pay his child support to my sister. Because she had basically (financially) raised the kids herself and knew she wasn’t likely to get anything and what good was he in jail (he did have visitation, bought the kids a few items) she agreed to drop her attempts to get back support if he paid the EFC. He agreed to this because it went directly to the kids, not for her to spend (his words). </p>
<p>Otherwise, take the loan. Maybe next semester or year your parents will be able to pay, or want to pay, and you may not end up with as much debt as you think.</p>