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So I am interviewing College aged "kids" for after school care. Job is to pick up my son at school and watch him in my home for 2 hours a day Monday-Friday. Pay is 20 dollars an hour or 200 a week. To date, I have interviewed 3 American girls and 1 foreign girl (here on school visa)...
Interview 1 - age 19 - American
First, she asks how "flexible" the job is. When questioned on the meaning she says "well its a lot to expect me to be available everyday, what if something fun comes up and I want to go"... UMMMM. its a job! You are getting paid! The job was clearly posted as 5 days a week, 2 hours a day.. when the pay of 20 dollars an hour comes up she hesitates and says "well, i guess if I only have to look after THE 6 year old, I would not do any cooking, that would be extra"... next...
Interview 2 - age 22- American
When I ask her about school she states she has not graduated on time because it is "unreasonable" for colleges to expect students to take 5 classes a semester because it would "stress" her out. She takes 2 classes a day because it is much more manageable.
When I tell her the pay is 20 an hour, she tells me she would have to think about it because that pay seems kind of low and she was expecting more in the range of 25-30 an hour.... NEXT...
Interview 3- Age 20- Foreign student
Ahead in credits will graduate early.. taking summer classes. When I tell her about the pay she says "wow that is generous" and proceeds to state how she would be happy to do housework/tidying up as well for that pay. She has since texted me twice asking if she could come hang out with my son, for free, so he can get to know her and saying that she would really like the job.
Interview 4- age 20- American
Never showed up.
Sounds about right. I went back to school at 30 and was shocked at how lazy some kids are. One thing I will say is that it seemed like the kids that transferred from a 2 year like I did instead of going straight to the university and the foreign students were far more likely to have jobs. I went to the University of Washington, so there were LOTS of Asian kids, and almost all of them got decent grades and were hard workers.
It is off the books. Does that matter? Right now, she is my best option of the 4 (well 3). I am still looking though.
Why? You found someone who is obviously eager for the job and feels she is being overpaid so she offers to do house cleaning too. I dont think you can beat that why are you still interviewing?
Go to the engineering building at your local university and tell me that all American college students are lazy and do nothing but party.
In most engineering programs today you will find very few American students. The engineering programs that I have direct experience with are about 80% foreign nationals.
I thought my son would enjoy a young, fun, energetic person to "hang" with after school rather than someone older.
Hire a high school junior or senior with a car and a CPR certification? They tend to like to babysit more often than college students. I worked in a daycare with kids anywhere from 2 to 12 years old for my last year of high school, every day from 3pm to 6pm and I didn't get paid what you're offering, yet I was still happy to have the job. No nights and weekends.
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Why are you looking only at college students? You might be able to find a retiree looking for extra bucks and not have to deal with millennial attitude or foreign worker complications.
I am sure there are plenty of hard working college kids. Just not the 3 that I have interviewed. I was just taken back by attitudes of these kids that I met. Again, I did not stalk them. The ad I ran was pretty straight forward, they applied, i did not force them.
I was also under the impression that college kids mostly did internships during the summer, not during school (maybe I am wrong). This was supposed to be for extra money during the semester, you know for gas, food, beer etc.
My ad through the school was for after school care for my son, not an internship.
Got it. I did think it odd that you were just now advertising for it--I had "summer job" in my head!!!
As a parent to two of these 'college kids' I have a few comments.
Yes, I have no doubt that many college kids are as the OP portrayed. The thing is, the really smart, responsible college kids don't want to be child care providers. That type of work may be more desirable where there isn't a vast job market, but in city areas with a lot of industry (and I think I gleaned that the OP is in one of these areas), these college kids are wanting to actually do an internship.
My son who is a rising senior in college has worked every summer for MUCH less than $20 per hour. This summer he is working an internship for $15 per hour.
Why? My youngest graduated from UW-Madison in 2013, and her lowest paid summer internship was $27/hour.
Is your son a Liberal Arts major? If so, that explains it.
Work hard? Pick up a 6 year old and watch him for 2 hours? That's hard work?
Seems to me, this would be a good opportunity to get some study in while making a little money - win for all. You don't expect the "sitter" to devote 100% of their time to your child do you? Wouldn't sitting the child in the same room as the sitter and letting them play with their 'whatever' while the sitter sat 5 feet away and studied be good? Better yet, could this be your child's nap time?
I'm not sure why every social subject that is broached, has to be a intense debate on CD.
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