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My 16 year old son just got his first job working this summer at a local grocery chain. It caught me by surprise because he never really expressed interest in getting a job before, nor have we really pushed him to to be honest.
Then one day he told us he had an interview. He went to the interview and next thing we knew he had the job. He even insisted that he get a clean cut haircut (he's had surf bum hair for the last few years).
I'm surprised he's going through with the job because its fairly strict with it's uniform...he has to wear a dress shirt and a tie everyday and his mom and I have always had to fight him about dressing up for special events. But now he basically said what he needed and he even wanted to buy a couple of different ties because he says that's the only way he can kind of vary things up.
I must admit, it is a fairly nice, welcome change, and he looked pretty slick on his first day of work. But his mother and I are kind of baffled on how he sort of went from Mr. Rocker to Mr Clean Cut in a week. His mom thinks there is a girl involved haha. But I also know a bunch of his friends all work there so there is probably some peer pressure involved.
It sounds like, somewhere between 15 & 16, it became the cool thing to have a job and be earning your own money. The question is, what's he planning to do with the income? Save it for college? Use it to buy newly-legal marijuana? Use it to entertain a gf? Buy computer gamer gear with? The possibilities are endless. Who's going to pay for his college, btw? Maybe it's time to have that conversation. You could start it out by saying how proud of him you are, that he got a job on his own, and seems genuinely into it.
I'm actually curious if he (and his age group/friends) has been subject to advertising efforts to encourage people to apply and work? I know that Facebook has been full of job fairs and such lately, the grocery stores here are saying that they are hiring people on the spot, and some of the restaurants are offering free food if you come to an interview. All of the entry level employers seem pretty desperate for applicants right now.
I think that one thing that seemed discouraging to my sons when they were teenagers and not motivated by necessity, was that you might apply and maybe never get a call back, or possibly be rejected for these same jobs, and now that feeling should be minimal. Places need the help. They won't turn it down.
Typical. If you say right, they turn left.
It will vascilate til one day the revelation.of, yikes! I have to do this for 50 years???
That's when the rubber meets the road.
I only know what my son did and he really liked earning his own money when he was a teenager.
A grocery store job would have been nice, but my kid begged a good chain saw out of me and he spent his entire summers with a good buddy, cutting and splitting firewood and selling and delivering it.
He made a whole huge pot of money doing it. Not really complaining, but he came home stinking of sweat and covered in sawdust. A nice clean dress job would have been a nice alternative.
However, he worked really hard and still has a good work ethic to this day. He'll get in there and work hard to earn his money.
Don't do anything to discourage your kid, OP.
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