Small time jobs

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve been considering for awhile, of taking up small jobs part time.

By small time jobs, I mean working part time helping in a small store, or those “checkout/paper route” type jobs; ones a typical teenager is qualified for.

Now, I don’t want to sound like I am undermining said jobs, but personally I see it as a waste of time for the pay that one gets, and don’t really consider myself doing something like it.

This idea has been stressed towards me by my parent. We don’t really have much of a money problem at home, so its not really a motivation (even though a bit more is always a good thing), but more for “practical skills”. So my question is, will taking up such a job be of much benefit to me? How helpful is it, to take up a “paper route” type job? Basically, is it worth the time spent?

2

I get the impression that employers like seeing any kind of work experience on a resume, even if it’s a “small time job.”

Incidentally has anyone else noticed a sudden influx of Australian dopers? This is a good thing, btw.

3

The other thing you might consider is being a bit more ambitious. There are jobs that are more interesting avalible to teens; you just have to be willing to do the work to find them. Also, this is the only time in oyur life that you can afford to take a ridiculously low paying job in a field that otherwise interests you.

Do you have any idea whatsoever about where you want to be in ten years?

4

Yes, I will probably work at something in engineering; right now, genetic engineering seems quite interesting (or something that deals with Physics).

5

Have you tried applying to work as a clerk for an engineering firm? This would be beneficial to you if you’re thinking about entering the profession because it would give you insight into what engineering entails and give you a leg up when you go to university.

Robin

6

My daughter started working part time in a used book store some years ago. She’s learned a lot about people and life in that store, AND the owner and manager allows her to borrow books from the store, as long as she returns them in the same condition.

Taking a job, any job, teaches the worker to budget time and instills good habits.

I don’t know much about the educational system in Australia, but in the U.S. going into any type of science is pretty expensive, what with the books and lab fees and whatnot. Anything that you can earn and save towards your education is good.

If at all possible, I would advise getting a job in the field you’re interested in. Even being a bottle-washer/cleanup person in a genetics lab or other lab would expose you to people in the field, who might possibly help you now or later. Just talking to people in the field will give you a great head start on learning the basics.

7

Doing any job whatsoever teaches you the great virtue of Showing Up. For best results, take a job as a grocery store bagger or such and keep it for a few months. Look around at the people who started working when you did. Well, try to - odds are, they won’t be there anymore. It isn’t because they moved on to bigger and better things, it’s because you continued to Show Up. This is possibly one of the most valuable work-related lessons you may ever learn.

Oh, and potential future employers really, really want to see that you can Show Up. Of course, volunteer work and such does the same thing - that you can be reliable. Please don’t underestimate reliable.

Besides the benefits in terms of work-ethic and resume and learning about the day-to-day work of a given field, wouldn’t you rather spend your own money? Feel that you’d accomplished something and can reap the rewards? Of course it dosen’t pay what your parents do. That isn’t the point.

8

No one ever feels like working. You’re going to have to pay dues before you score a job that pays well and that you enjoy. Most jobs are a waste of time for the pay that one gets.

Personally, I find it hard to take an adult seriously if they’ve never known a hard day’s work.

You learn valuable skills by working. For one, you experience the stress of accountability. Sure, you learn this at school, but it’s different in the “real world”, when you’re responsible for someone else’s money.

My first job was as a street sweeper at Six Flags (an amusement park). I had to wear a dorky uniform and walk around the park with a pan and broom all day. Not only was I responsible for cleaning up, but I had to answer questions and give directions and take lost kids to security. Because I was underage (15), I got paid less than minimum wage. But it was valuable experience.

  1. I learned how to handle being a “nobody”. I know people visiting the park thought I was just a stupid street cleaner, but it didn’t matter to me. I learned how to do my job proudly and with some modicum of self-respect and dignity.

  2. I learned how to be accountable. Being late for school is one thing, but being late for work is quite another.

  3. I learned how to get along with others in a professional setting. I worked with people who were my age and older, some with high school degrees and some with college experience. I learned how to balance play with work so that the day was productive, but not boring. I learned how to please the managers while still “keeping it real”.

  4. I made and managed my own money. The trip I took to Europe in the 10th grade was made possible by the money I had saved. Sure, I could have bummed the money from my folks, but it wouldn’t have been the same. I know it impressed them and earned me their trust.

I think the most valuable thing I learned was the first thing…how to handle being a “nobody”. Because I did a stint in menial labor, I have profound respect for people who work registers, flip burgers, mop floors, and change diapers for a living. It’s hard to look down on these people when you yourself were once in their shoes. Even though I’m a scientist with a Ph.D now, I’m still the same person who dug cigarrette butts out of the flower beds for $5.15 an hour. Keeps me grounded when I remember that.

9

To clarify my earlier post, employers know all of Monstro’s points as well which is why any kind of work experience is good. I got my current job because I’d listed some volounteer work with a home for disabled kids - they specifically said in my job interview that that’s why I got called.

10

On the other hand, work’s not that bad. It gives you something to do, and you get a little money. I’d concur with the idea of clerking in an engineering firm, or something allied to that. My last “small-time” job was as a filing clerk in a law office (I had no intention of becoming a lawyer, but it was a way of filling a summer before starting grad school). As dreadfully boring as that might sound, I found that I usually had a sufficient variety of tasks to do and things to keep track of that the days went by very quickly. MOst of the attorneys treated me and my fellow records clerks with respect and valued our contribution.

11

I think the single most important thing anyone could learn from a “small time job” would be that no one single person is entitled to simply have success handed to him or her on a silver platter.

Just because you go to university and come out with a PhD in Particle Physics Nuclear Engineering* doesn’t mean that employers will knock each other over to offer you a gajillion dollars a year.

You are not all that.

If you learn something about yourself, about life, about whatever – anything – then no time is wasted, IMHO. So let’s say you learn to be responsible and accountable and you also learn that you have a false sense of entitlement which in turn will help you remember to work hard as an adult, before expecting any sort of reward… then the crappy pay you earned on that small time job will be worth every penny and more.

  • Not a real major.
12

Oh, something I forgot - working small-time jobs makes you go to college. Nothing like mopping floors or running the Fryolater to tell you you do not want to do this for the rest of your life. It sounds silly, but it’s important. It also teaches you more respect for people in those positions - people who have waited tables are never, ever rude to the waitstaff, in my experience. It’s a good life lesson.

13

Small-time jobs are a great way to find out what you don’t want to do, and to find out that – for example – “genetic engineering” has very little to do with “engineering.” You should take a job that really lines up with your interests, but without a degree, not many places will hire you as much more than a gofer or a strong back. For example, if you’re interested in mechanical engineering, you might get a job as a machinist’s apprentice or an HVAC technician.

Economics - assistant at a broker’s office
Civil Engineering - surveyor or road crew member
Genetic Engineering - lab assistant in a biotech shop or university
Electrical Engineering - telephone lineman, ISP electronics tech, etc.
English - research librarian
Political Science - campaign worker
Pre-med - veterinarian’s assistant or doctor’s receptionist

I’ll draw a parallel to the military: the best officers are the ones who know what the enlisted men go through. Most of us haven’t been enlisted, but are eager to know what life is like for them so we can be better leaders. Likewise, once you get a college degree, you will almost certainly end up being responsible for people, money, or toys (erm, physical resources). An understanding of your subordinates’ position makes you a more effective manager and a more attractive hire.

Those “assistant” type jobs don’t sound interesting? Look around. You can get great jobs, like cabana boy (I did it for two years!). You work two hours setting the umbrellas up on the beach, spend four hours drinking water in the shade and watching lovely girls walk by the ocean in next to nothing, then spend another two hours taking the umbrellas down. Payment and tips are all in cash, daily.

Before that plum of a job, I worked in a restaurant. Not as fun, but the people were great, and Ilearned a lot. I learned how to cook a steak, how to keep fish from curling up when you fry it, how to treat burns so that they don’t scar, how to patch deep cuts until the paramedics show up, how to keep cool in a hundred-degree kitchen for eight hours without passing out… and I got paid, too!

Not interested in doing the grunt work? Guess what – damn few people are. “It builds character” sounds like a cop-out, but it’s the truth. I would much rather hire someone who had been a grunt at some point. It tells me as a prospective employer that they know what it means to work a full day, and it tells me that they didn’t shy away from the work.

I went to college with some folks who never held a summer job because daddy was always there to help out with money, and personally, I’d rather hire the guy from the restaurant with no college degree who showed quick wits when a deep fryer overflowed or a gas grill flamed up.

14

Welcome, Consumer. Jobs are good, even small-time jobs. I was interested in Physics, too - I ended up getting a degree and working in civil engineering. When I was a teenager, I worked as a waitress at a Bingo hall pretty much weekly. As an older teenager, I worked at a grocery store as a deli clerk. Both jobs have been really beneficial. You learn a lot about life and how to read people and so on. Plus, it helped me snag my engineering internships, because the interviewers at engineering companies wanted people already schooled in the art of Showing Up, as Zsofia said.

Also, if you haven’t heard, us engineering types are famed for having bad “people skills.” Having had those small jobs really helped me out, because I was able to show that I have pretty solid communication skills and the ability to think on my feet - which can be rare amongst engineers. :wink: My grocery store job also bought me my textbooks, since engineering is additionally famed for having expensive textbook lists.

15

Surely this is a mistake, but:

Librarians have masters degrees. High school students are shelvers, or sometimes circulation clerks.

16

My apologies for digging up this old thread (I thought I had done replied already; evidently not).

I’d like to thank you all for your responses, they are truly insightful and very helpful.

17

Technically, your parent(s) don’t have much of a money problem at home because they have jobs. On, on the other hand, have no money other than what they choose to give you.

Working any kind of job as a kid is important. If nothing else, it helps keep you from turning into a lazy shit as an adult.

I worked as a retail store clerk, fast food worker, plant nursery worker, ice cream store clerk, mail collater, call center operator, postage meter tester, box factory worker, supermarket shelver/bag boy, copy boy, MVP ballot counter, warehouse picker/packer, injection molding machine operator, deli clerk and busboy (a lot of these are temp or summer jobs, not like I couldn’t hold a job for more than a month or anything). These jobs taught me one important thing - they suck and I had better get a degree in something I can make a living at.