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Jobs for teens

Crawley said:
Could you come and have a chat with him so he hears it from someone else then ?;)
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:) Apparently I'm a bit scary. My 2 boys are very different and so the motivation is different. My eldest can be a complete lazy arse and clothes, girls, gigs, gadgets etc are important to him. When he left school and realised that I wasn't going to fund the lifestyle he wanted, he then had to get a job. As well as the usual stuff, he has bought himself an expensive gaming pc and a car.
Son number 2 wants to work, earn money and get on in life and has been phoning and emailing lots of pubs etc and was contacted a few days ago about a job in a pub kitchen.
If your son has ambition dreams etc then explain how important work experience and references are. My Mother-in-law works for the Economic and Social Research Council in some high up job and said to my boys that if she had school leavers or graduates go for a job there, then she would more likely choose a person who had already worked and had a reference, and it doesn't matter what the job was. Experience of work also gets bought up a lot in college interviews. I'm actually quite shocked by the amount of my eldest son's friends who have never worked but live off of their parents. Most of my friends when I was a teen had a weekend or evening job.
 
This takes me back!! When I was 13 (Bit younger than your lad) I wanted to lay in and do bugger all so my mum marched me down to the local army cadettes where I spent 2 great years. Hated it at first but quite enjoyed it afterwards.

It got me in a great routine and I started doing a paper round for £13 a week, delivering free papers for £3 a week and working in a flower nursery in Crews Hill 8am-6pm Saturday and Sunday after my paper round. It went so slow but they paid me £2.50 an hour so at the end of work on a Sunday I'd get paid £50 and felt like a millionaire!!

I worked harder at 14 than I do now!!!

Just don't give him an option Crawley. No doubt you pay for his luxuries like phone etc so once that stops I reckon he will be more aware of what he needs to do.
 
Some good suggestions here guys. Thanks for that.

I do feel like I've tried most of them already in some format (apart from the pills and weed one, of course) but still without success.

I think denial of priviledges will be the way to go first. No money to go out, stop paying the mobile bill etc.
Encouragement doesn't seem to work, as he classes it as nagging. And the idea that experience on a CV counts tremendously is met with indifference (even though the missus is a recruitment advisor in her job for an airline).
 
I started in retail aged 18. I'm a computer guy so got a job at a Mac reseller. Worked perfectly for me cos I was interested + the discounts were an added bonus.

Working retail can be a tough gig but it's definitely helped build my confidence.
 
Crawley said:
Some good suggestions here guys. Thanks for that.

I do feel like I've tried most of them already in some format (apart from the pills and weed one, of course) but still without success.

I think denial of priviledges will be the way to go first. No money to go out, stop paying the mobile bill etc.
Encouragement doesn't seem to work, as he classes it as nagging. And the idea that experience on a CV counts tremendously is met with indifference (even though the missus is a recruitment advisor in her job for an airline).
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Sounds like my eldest, so the hard line works better. All we do for him is make sure he is fed and warm, pay for educational stuff, petrol money to get to college and I buy him some needed clothes. Any luxuries like phones, going out, clothing that isn't essential etc he has to fund.
I try to be fair as my parents were very strict and tighter than a ducks backside. I worked every sunday selling eggs and then underwear at a market at the age of 13 for £5 and during the summer holidays age 14 I worked in a laundry for £5 a day. Slave labour and would be highly illegal now but I needed to earn money somehow.
As with all things in parenting, its getting the balance right.
 
Another trick that apparently works is the 'matching' principle.

If you say to him you'll take away what you pay for currently and he has to earn it, he'll resent working, as now he has to put effort in for what he got for free.

So you offer to match his earnings. If his mobile contract is £30 per month, he has to earn £30 (which he keeps) before you pay it - same goes for any other luxuries. Whilst most of us grew up with the hard line, it doesn't work for everyone - especially as most of us probably have more expendable income than our parents did.
 
WhoopWhoop said:
Your 16!! Why would you get anything other than minimum wage? Attitude of the youth today no surprise this country is fudged.
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I'm 16, and in all my GCSE modules so far I have achieved all As and A*s. I feel like I should be doing a little better than standing in front of a till all day in the boiling heat (Summer + McDonalds kitchen) taking people's orders for burgers for little over £4 an hour. I'd happily take the next up minimum wage of over £5 an hour, but why should I accept £4?

I'll try my luck elsewhere soon but right now I have 14 exams to worry about.
 
COYS said:
I'm 16, and in all my GCSE modules so far I have achieved all As and A*s. I feel like I should be doing a little better than standing in front of a till all day in the boiling heat (Summer + McDonalds kitchen) taking people's orders for burgers for little over £4 an hour. I'd happily take the next up minimum wage of over £5 an hour, but why should I accept £4?

I'll try my luck elsewhere soon but right now I have 14 exams to worry about.
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While I have no doubt you've worked hard, your exam results don't mean anything. Everyone and his uncle can get multiple A and A*s. I teach some Computer Science modules at University and you wouldn't believe the number of students who have a false sense of ability when they come to University because they have always achieved top grades. Students who struggle with even the most basic concepts all have straight A's.
 
Richie said:
While I have no doubt you've worked hard, your exam results don't mean anything. Everyone and his uncle can get multiple A and A*s. I teach some Computer Science modules at University and you wouldn't believe the number of students who have a false sense of ability when they come to University because they have always achieved top grades. Students who struggle with even the most basic concepts all have straight A's.
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Yes, that's the point. I work hard. My exam results don't come out of nowhere. My point is I deserve more than £4 an hour.
 
You should take your son to see some grown-ups working in crappy jobs with crappy lives.

And some other grown-ups with better lives, and let him work it out.

Oh, and kick him out onto the street.
 
GHod, every time this kind of discussion comes up, some of you seem a little harsh on COYS!

It isn't like he's saying he wouldn't work for low wages, £5 sounds rather low to me. As long as he's working hard and goes to university to do a good degree and then does relevant job experience, he'll be fine.

As for your boy Crawley, I quite like Scara's idea. Also, a bit cheesy I know but perhaps try to find some way of showing him just how lucky he is to be in the position that he's in with his parents providing for him compared to so many other kids?

Failing all that, if he already knows what kind of thing he wants to do, perhaps you can push him to try to get some relevent work/ work experience in that field? ie if he wanted to be a dr, a health care assistant, mechanic, in a garage etc etc?
 
COYS said:
I'm 16, and in all my GCSE modules so far I have achieved all As and A*s. I feel like I should be doing a little better than standing in front of a till all day in the boiling heat (Summer + McDonalds kitchen) taking people's orders for burgers for little over £4 an hour. I'd happily take the next up minimum wage of over £5 an hour, but why should I accept £4?

I'll try my luck elsewhere soon but right now I have 14 exams to worry about.
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:lol: So because you are expected to get good GCSE grades that means you are above doing any sort of work that might be in the normal wage bracket for a 16 year old. My eldest got A's and A*s but due to the fact he had never had a job and so no experience he didn't take the snobby above himself attitude and applied for a part time job in mcdonalds and has continued to work there whilst doing his A levels.

Year 21 and over 18 to 20 Under 18 Apprentice*
2013 (from 1 October) £6.31 £5.03 £3.72 £2.68
2012 (current rate) £6.19 £4.98 £3.68 £2.65

This is the minimum wage for the various ages. You are effectively saying that you deserve to earn more than a 18-20 year old on minimum wage.
 
Lily White said:
:lol: So because you are expected to get good GCSE grades that means you are above doing any sort of work that might be in the normal wage bracket for a 16 year old. My eldest got A's and A*s but due to the fact he had never had a job and so no experience he didn't take the snobby above himself attitude and applied for a part time job in mcdonalds and has continued to work there whilst doing his A levels.

Year 21 and over 18 to 20 Under 18 Apprentice*
2013 (from 1 October) £6.31 £5.03 £3.72 £2.68
2012 (current rate) £6.19 £4.98 £3.68 £2.65

This is the minimum wage for the various ages. You are effectively saying that you deserve to earn more than a 18-20 year old on minimum wage.
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What bit of difference does age make? You can get some 18 year old chav with no determination and can't be arsed, or you can get a 16 year old who wants to work hard and do well, and if you think the 18 year old deserves more money, then perhaps we're beginning to get to the real reason this country's fudged.

When I mentioned my module results so far I was just saying I'm willing to work hard. Does some 18 year old necessarily deserve more than me simply because he was born 2 years before me?
 
This 'get what you're given' mentality is gonads! Why should I just happily accept low pay when I can strive to do better?
 
COYS said:
This 'get what you're given' mentality is gonads! Why should I just happily accept low pay when I can strive to do better?
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You are basically saying that you are better than other 16 year olds and deserve to be paid more. I'm not really sure what job and wage you expect to have at your age. We all have to start somewhere and gaining work experience is just as valuable as high exam grades.
I'm trying not to have a go at you but there is a culture in this country of seeing certain jobs as being beneath most people. I remember watching a programme a few years ago with these youngsters turning down fruit picking jobs and prefering to stay on the dole and then people have the audacity to complain when Eastern europeans etc come here and take these minimum wage hard work jobs.
Maybe you are hard working and will do well in life but if you go for a job now, people won't look at what GCSE results you are expected to get and think 'oh he has a great work ethic' because sitting in the classroom or at home revising is completely different to the workplace. There are different scenarios, different stresses, having to deal with people differently etc.
The Country isn't in a great place economically and if a job comes up that wants a student and the wage is over £5 ph there will be plenty of competition. You might find that you won't have choice. If you really want a job you might have to take whatever you can find (which is what most of us did as students) or just use the low wage as an excuse to live off of your parents if they are happy for you to do that.
 
I'm sure there's a shop around here that needs someone work on the till on the weekend, and are willing to pay £5 an hour for it, considering the minimum wage for an over 21 is over £6 an hour.
 
While your still in full time education take anything you can to earn a bit if pocket money.
 
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