<p>Work experience teaches young people so much that they can’t learn at home. I’m sorry your intern did not take advantage of the experience, cnp.</p>
<p>My oldest’s first job was drying cars at a car wash. Hot, tiring, long hours. His next job was processing photos at a drug store–there he learned about customer service. In college he progressed on to office type internships.</p>
<p>My middle child worked at a kennel for 3 years and also at a barn. She too learned what hard labor is and how to deal with the public. This child is now working as a server as she has been able to find a job in her field. Today she called and said 3 servers were fired after a week of training because they acted as if they could get by doing whatever they wanted—they found out there are many waiting to take their place.</p>
<p>Youngest child has worked golf course maintenance, cart boy, waiter, and an unpaid internship in a pathology lab. </p>
<p>From each of these experiences they learned how hard people work at the lower, unskilled jobs. They also learned much about interpersonal working relationships, how to get along (even if you don’t agree), responsibility and a sense of pride in a job well done (no matter what the job).</p>
<p>Somehow doing chores/jobs around the house did not have the same effect as praise from an employer.</p>
<p>Yes, despite being paid around minimum wage there’s nothing like a three-dollar feast (it’s insane what an employee discount can buy) after knowing that you put hundreds of industrial-scale dishes through three different solutions and 7 steps of cleaning, all while cashiering and preparing buns and bacon.</p>
<p>My teen learned a lot in his first job. He hated it because he had to wear a bright orange polo shirt with a 3" frog embroidered on it. One day, he wore a vest over the shirt. The owner happened to come in and was upset, telling him mall security reported a “stranger” hanging around the business. My son didn’t believe this at all, but should have realized that he was “out-of-uniform”, a point I emphasized afterwards. My son got mad at the owner, feeling he had lied, and turned in his resignation a week later. After not being able to find a job this summer, that frog shirt isn’t looking so bad.</p>
<p>He also learned a lot from the other employees. One had to quit as she was being sent to jail for a DUI and drug conviction and another teen had a baby she was raising. Welcome to the real world!</p>
<p>My niece was so surprised when she worked at a chain Mexican restaurant when the manager was so surprised that she showed up for work each day and on time! She had no idea that people would take a job and then not show up or called to say they had to take their mother to the doctor (for the 5th time in a week!) Her parents had taught her skills that she just assumed everyone knew; it never crossed her mind not to go to work because she wanted to play with friends that day.</p>
<p>I sub at the high school level, and I am shocked by what kids are allowed to do in school. Work can be turned in late. Food can be eaten during class. Kids text during lectures. Kids put their feet up on the tables & lounge at their desks. Shoddy work is given an A. Extra credit is given to help kids who didn’t study or do work get a good grade. Kids expect their assignments to be fun. So … I imagine many expect work to be more of the same.</p>
<p>My D works at an ice cream place (the kind where you scoop by hand). It’s really hard work. She can’t believe the number of teens her boss has to go through to get a “keeper.” The ones he keeps are great workers … there are plenty of teens who are … but the others … </p>
<p>I worked at McDonald’s in high school. We were told, “If you have time to lean, you have time to clean.” We did NOT get to stand around … if we did, we weren’t kept on as employees. My former supervisor is now a McD’s owner, and he tells me that he wouldn’t have many employees if he still enforced the rules we worked under. I find that sad.</p>
<p>My first job was at getting the carts from the parking lot and then putting them back by the store. I hated the job so much esp since it was in the summer, but I learned a lot. In the working world (or atleast the teen working world) it doesn’t matter how smart you are you don’t deserve a certain job cuz you’re smarter than someone. Also, don’t judge people on their job. Just cuz someone is in fast food or something doesn’t mean they’re lazy or whatever.</p>
<p>My second and current job is as a cashier. I kind of actually like this one. It has taught me more about the job world. Also, that somethings take time to learn like running a cash register. And how mean some people can be. Some people have no patience at all…grrr</p>
<p>My older son worked many jobs as a young man–pool refreshment stands, restaurant bus boy, cleaning/painting schools, etc. He worked in the library all four years of college. My proudest moments as a mother were when each and every one of his supervisors praised his character and work ethic. It served him well when he acquired a paid internship his senior year in an accounting firm along with another student. The other student had more experience and a higher GPA, but guess who was hired permanently after graduation–my son. I am an RN and I’m shocked by the new graduate nurses and their behaviors on orientation–they mention they don’t work on Fridays!, they have to have three days off, they text during lectures, don’t come back on time from lunch and on and on. When I was an orientee 30 years ago, if they would have told us to work 24 hour shifts we would have done it with a smile!!</p>
<p>Surprisingly enough, I had a similar experience with a student teacher this year. This attitude is not confined to teenagers! My student teacher argued with me repeatedly (did I mention this was a STUDENT teacher? a guest in our classroom?) talked on the cell phone incessantly, spent an inordinant amount of time leaning on a desk and inspecting her hair for split ends. Even refused to teach a lesson when she was disappointed in an evaluation (pouting!). The part about not coming back after lunch was telling, too. Same thing here. FOR A TEACHER! Well, I didn’t pass her. What are these young people thinking? Then she had the nerve to cry and say that teaching was all she ever wanted to do. Heck, I don’t care if you have spent years in college and this is your heart’s desire - you have to perform! Maybe we would have better teachers if more cooperating teachers just got a spine and held student teachers accountable instead of feeling sorry for them. </p>
<p>“If you have time to lean, you have time to clean…” I LOVE that. </p>
<p>It’s not just teenagers. I supervise food service employees, who range in age from 40 - 80+ (no I’m not kiddding). We have some great workers, and some who are only there because the union would raise holy he** if we fired them. We have one worker who took 23 sick days between Sept and April, only had a dr’s note for a single 3 day absence, then got mad that we wouldn’t promote her to a higher level. She also took a day off to attend a funeral for “an aunt that I’m really close to,” except that when pressed she couldn’t remember the aunt’s last name (the funeral was on a Friday, of course). We have some that we have to remind to shower and wear deodorant. We have some who cannot manage to count out 6 chicken tenders per tray, and some who cannot remember to count exactly 40 quarters to a roll when counting their money at the end of the day. We have a woman who filed an accident report because she bumped her nose on the wall in the ladies’ room. But the worst are the ones who are so busy worrying about what their co-workers are NOT doing that they can’t do their own work. We have tattle-tales who come into the office to report what other people are/aren’t doing, and cliques where this person won’t speak to that person. I thought junior-high cliques were bad, until I saw a 60 year old woman bring in a tray of candy that had one too few for the number of workers, and label it “for GOOD girls.” It’s truly pathetic. I’d love to fire half of them and hire teenagers in a NY second. At least teens are young and trainable. 60 year olds are pretty set in their ways.</p>
<p>edit: “Maybe we would have better teachers if more cooperating teachers just got a spine and held student teachers accountable instead of feeling sorry for them.” I feel the same way - if my boss would just document every time she has to talk to/discipline a staff member, and stand up to the union, maybe we could get rid of some of these people. But she just says “we can’t do anything, they’ll file a grievance.” I say let them file, and maybe the truth will win out!</p>
<p>When does inexperience become incompetency?</p>
<p>Work ethic is one thing, but how common is it to make mistakes during the first few weeks on the job? I mean, like major, embarrassing mistakes. </p>
<p>Like getting orders mixed in in the drive-thru and charging the customer’s credit card for the wrong order such that the manager has to come over and fix it. Twice. In two days in a row. And occasionally missing cars such that they don’t wait at the first window but pull up the second window so I have to squeeze-rush through the food production line and make sure the bills don’t fall into the fryer. -_- And getting told by the shift manager, “You need to make sure you don’t miss cars.” </p>
<p>It’s basically because I have to multitask – that is, my shift requires drive-thru cashiering, washing dishes and preparing various food items for entry onto the production line, and comes with frequent glove use and handwashing. We get notified through a beep on the headset if a car comes, but sometimes, the waiting is so long (and thus the idleness) and the washing load so humongous, that I think I can squeeze several dishes in through the waiting. I think I missed about 7 cars today? The store didn’t lose money though, since I (or another coworker) generally caught them in time. But it’s embarassing.</p>
<p>So if I hope to be promoted within this summer (still useful after school starts because I can requests transfers to other outlets), have I basically killed my chances? I don’t know of other teenage workers who make the gaffes I do.</p>
<p>If I follow the “if you can lean, you can clean” philosophy, I will have the risk of missing cars occasionally. However, if I ensure I catch every car, there’s a lot of time spent idle and thus spent inefficiently. Is this is a common struggle in the fast food industry? Or am I just plain incompetent? Please advise.</p>
<p>I worked volunteer fast-food as a fund-raiser. It’s a whole lot harder than it looks, and I have a lot more respect for fast-food workers now! </p>
<p>Galoisen, perhaps you should as your manager about your dilemma. Would he/she rather you clean/stay busy every second, or do they want you to focus on the cars coming thru the drive-thru? Once you know your manager’s priorities, you can make them your own. :-)</p>
<p>A bunch of my Bunco friends all work at a large business near here. I’m inventing these specific details. But you should hear the stories they tell… </p>
<p>Jane comes in late and leaves early but her supervisor can’t do anything because he uses office equipment on the weekends for a personal business. Bill next door knows about all of this but he can’t do anything because he hasn’t corrected any of his clerk’s errors in years because she is high a lot and if he fusses at her or anyone else it might leak out that he is going for long weekends (on the company’s dime) with a VP.</p>
<p>I don’t know if you can follow that but basically all of the employees know dirt on others and so no one can compel them to do their job or fire them.</p>
<p>This is epidemic . . . a friend who is the dean of the College of Engineering at a major state university told me he was visiting a major defense contractor a year or so ago and they yelled at him because so many of their new engineers are coming in with a sense of entitlement (you want me to do what? you want me to show up on time? etc.). I asked him if they were complaining about their employees they hired from his university (and thus he might be able to do something about it) but no . . . it was from all schools. He just had the bad luck to be there!</p>
<p>In my opinion, part of the blame lies with us . . . the parents of this generation. These kids have been coddled since birth, told everything they do is wonderful, get medals for simply showing up, and so forth. I can’t tell you how many students have complained to me that they deserve an A because they tried. Sorry, trying is no longer enough . . . you have to produce!</p>
<p>On the other hand, I’ve had the privilege of working with many young people who are bright and industrious. We just need more of them!!!</p>
<p>Inthebiz, my friend is a community college chemistry prof. She has so many stories of kids who are truly shocked when she explains that they are failing (she does so when the end of the drop period is approaching, to allow them to get money back before it’s too late). They just can’t believe she would actually flunk them (she will!). Many figure she’ll give them extra credit assignments or just let them slip through. The ones who do not believe her find out the hard way that she means business. I do think that parents are part of the problem.</p>
<p>And Galoisien, it takes time to learn a new job. PLEASE make sure to ask for help or clarification … or just tips on how to handle it all. The summer before I started college, I worked on the line in an auto plant. I had absolutely NO idea what I was doing. Someone showed me my job, gave me my tools, and left me alone. I had no idea whether or not I was doing my job properly. I didn’t know when lunch was, where the cafeteria was, where the bathrooms were, who to ask for help. It was awful! The nice thing was, when I later worked as a production supervisor, I made sure all my new workers were well trained.</p>
<p>Again, look at my post #30. It’s NOT just teenagers - I have older people who have an even higher sense of “entitlement” based on “seniority.” Never mind that they accomplish at most 1 hours worth of work during a 3 hour shift, they’ve been here since God was a boy, so they think they are entitled to keep their job and make life hell for newer workers who actually WORK. </p>
<p>I also agree with MichaelNKat’s post #18, there is indeed a flip side to this. There are a lot of employers who totally take advantage of teen workers and treat them with no respect whatsoever, especially during the hiring process. It’s as though since they’re young, they don’t deserve any common courtesy whatsoever.</p>