My 16-year-old daughter has been job-hunting. As she has neither license nor car, she is relying on either her father or me to drive her around. As such, there is a limit on how far away she can work…considering our drive time to take her there, come home, then go back out to get her when her shift is over.
Today, she had an interview at Wal-Mart. She got dressed up in a nice dress, including pantyhose and a pair of low heels, had interviews going up the corporate ladder, was praised for her responses, and told once she passed her drug test she could start orientation on Feb 2.
She was so excited…her first job! So, we finished our errand running, but realized she’d left her picture id at home, so she’d have to do the drug test tomorrow.
When we get home, there’s a message from Wal-Mart on our answering machine. My daughter calls back, and it turns out the lady she was replacing as fitting room attendant decided not to leave, so my daughter doesn’t have a job after all.
I know this is par for the course when job hunting at entry level positions, but dammit, my little girl was so excited to be earning her own money and she got the rug yanked out from under her in a matter of hours. Tomorrow, her father will take her out again, but crap…what a way to learn one of life’s lessons.
I’m sorry for her disappointment, but she gained some great interviewing experience, and she should gain some confidence knowing that she did well enough for them to want to hire her. Good luck to her.
Hey Mom? Do your kid a favor, take her down to Publix. Anyone I have ever talked to has enjoyed the hell out of working for them. Even if it is a little farther from you, the crap she’ll have to take there is metric shitloads less than at Walmart.
I also feel she dodged a bullet, and should forget about Wal-Mart. Almost any other employer would be better. (And maybe she could find one that doesn’t require a drug test. Can’t believe that crap is still legal.)
I don’t understand that. She is looking for a part time job that is close enough to be dropped off at. Not a career. No worse than most teenage jobs. A lot better than fast food. As a teenager I worked retail in a few different places including Kmart (Walmart was in New Jersey at the time). They are all about the same when you are talking about a teen working a few hours a week. If she was looking for a fulltime job then I would agree with you.
Why would it be illegal? Its not like they are forcing anyone.
In general, a private company should not be able to require a prospective (or current) employee to submit to a search that, if performed by the police, would require a warrant based upon probable cause. But we’ve had numerous threads about that, so let’s not hijack this one.
I would say replace “in general” with “in my opinion”. Not a good posting tactic to place an opinion in a post and then ask to not hijack when someone comments on it. In my opinion.
Who you work for when you are young can matter, though often it does not. There are employers who are proactive in providing training and even benefits to beginning workers – I went to college with a woman who was there in part thanks to employment benefits from her employer (which was the predecessor to Target, that’s how old I am). The much hated (at least amoung Dopers) Best Buy has this reputation also, as does Publix and to a lesser degree Kroger. Some banks are quite well known for it.
There are also jobs which are worse than others, especially during the school year – jobs where kids are actively pressured to violate either wage and hour laws or safety regs. Wal Mart has acquired this reputation, particularly in relation tot he former, though in the case of any particular store the MMV of course.
It is also possible to view even a teen job in the long term, as more than just pocket money for the moment – working at the zoo or library or taking part in a county or city job corps for teens can indeed allow kids to explore their interests and get paid for it as well. In the short term it usually pays less, but it can pay off in terms of flexibility and future options for work if that is the direction of the child’s interest.
Publix is closer, but they’re not hiring. I think we’re going to wait a bit…she had a judo tournament at the end of the month, and needs to have her wisdom teeth pulled. I think it would be easier to find a job without having to ask for days off immediately after starting.
A lot of service-sector employers like teen- and college-age workers because they’re cheap and don’t demand benefits. Unfortunately, too many of them (especially large corporations) expect the world from these kids. I’ve known more than one person who got fired from a low-wage part-time job because management called them in for a shift that conflicted with school. A few of these people worked for Wal-Mart.
That being said, even an entry-level job can hurt you later. One or two of the aforementioned people ended up with “terminated for cause” and “not eligible for re-hire” on their record, which hurt their chances for their first real job. As far as MegaCorp. is concerned, the reason you didn’t show or refused to work is irrelevant.
So it’s probably for the best that Wal-Mart bailed. It sucks now, but it could suck worse later.
What is this record you speak of? After I became an adult I didn’t see much benefit for putting my teenage jobs on a resume. There was no record for anyone to look at. I was fired from a Supermarket when I was 16 because I got sick and couldn’t work for a couple of days. I have no idea how anyone would find out if I didn’t tell them.
A lot of it is ignorance on the part of the applicant, frankly. I’ve taken multiple classes on how to write a resume, and most of the time, people are told to list their jobs going back 5 years or so, but no one says it’s OK to leave stuff off. So when Real Employer does a background and reference check, MegaCorp pops up with “terminated for cause” and “not eligible for re-hire.” And, occasionally, it is possible to get hit with a nasty surprise. A manager can tell you to your face that you’ll still get a positive reference, but when another potential employer checks, it pops up with a negative reference.
If you apply for a professional license (acupuncturist I know for sure; I’m sure at least some others as well) from the State of Illinois, you must provide a complete work history for all months that you’ve worked, ever, at any job. Doesn’t matter if it’s related to the licensure profession or not. If there are *any *gaps on your form, your paperwork is delayed while you are contacted by the DPR and provide notarized affidavits stating why you were not employed at that time. (I went through this on my boss’ behalf when they first started licensing acupuncturists. The fact that her son was born during the “gap in employment” wasn’t intuitive enough for the DPR.)
Would they know that you lied if you left something off? Prob’ly not. But after reading the fine print above the signature panel, I wasn’t willing to risk the consequences of perjuring myself on something like that. Payroll and social security payment records can, I’m assuming, be subpoenaed if someone in power cares enough. Nothing is really private anymore.
I had to do that when I applied for my insurance licenses, as well. I had to list every company I’d ever been appointed to, whether I’d sold anything for them or not. I also had to list all gaps in employment, including the time I was in college. And I had to go back ten years, instead of just the customary five.
I tend to agree. I understand the point about it just being a few hours a week for a teenager. But she might learn some lessons there that are just better left unlearned. She’d end up working most likely NOT with other youngsters like herself, but a bunch of bitter, horrible old women who treat her like something they just stepped in. Being treated that way is seriously NO WAY to start your job history. And the dressing room is the worst job in the store…lowest pay, some of the yuckiest work, and you get to deal with the worst public. Homeless guys trying to get you to measure them for shirts, kids hitting you with stuff while they wait for parents, etc.
I’ve never had to do food service, but I wonder if a part-time job making sandwiches in a relatively friendly environment wouldn’t be better.
I think a plus in her favor is that she’s homeschooled and can pretty much work any hours, something a normal teenager can’t do. I think I read somewhere Chik-Fil-A offers scholarships to their workers, and you’re guaranteed Sundays off.