Jobs for teens

[Ginolius]

I'm not asking for double minimum wage, I'm just hoping I can get another 1 or 2 pounds an hour!

It's not about how much more you're asking for though, it's why. If you were saying 'I already get X amount from my parents so it's not worth getting out of bed for less than £5 an hour' I'd think you were spoilt and greedy, but right now it's somewhat justified if you're putting that time into studying. It's an attitude that would still bite you in the arse when that support is taken away mind.

You're not though; you think you're better than minimum wage, but you're not willing to prove it by taking the poorly paid position, working your socks off and getting promoted into a position above everyone you think you're better than, and sorry but that just makes me think you're immature and arrogant.

Yes you should look at the options and take a position with whoever offers you the most rewarding opportunity - be it monetarily, experience or enjoyment - but you've not found anything yet and it's the casual shunning of what is available to you that is just sad, but unfortunately common.

There's a lot to be said for the ability to knuckle down and if you came to me at 18 with no references and all A's asking for a job, you had better hope there was no one with similar (or even 'adequate' grades depending on the job) that they'd funded by working full time in a poorly paid job for two years going for the same position, as that shows a level of discipline, graft and maturity that too many people lack.

 

[COYS]

I don't understand what you guys are trying to tell me? Just accept the McDonald's job without looking elsewhere?

 

[spurspinter1]

An SGS4 at £40 per month. At 16.

Wow.

:lol:

It's a different world now isn't it?

Not to change the subject but...

I have a fairly strong dislike of students at uni who have the 30 quid plus a month phone, stossy gym membership, brick loads of designer label wear, the disposable income to just be able to eat wherever and whenever ie have lunch out and not think twice and also the money to spend on however much drugs and alcohol they can fit in to their spare time. These are all great things to have and I wouldn't say I'm jealous, but it's just that most of these students I know don't even have a fudging job and don't work through the summer, bastards.

I'm a student and in reasonably priced accomodation my student loan does not cover my rent. Therefore I have to earn money to be able to eat or enjoy myself, I fully understand that, I have had to work fudging hard and have during this year in particular got some very interesting experience and earnt a fair bit and improved my CV greatly as a result. Happy days.

But it's the people who have absolutely no concept of money or the difficulty of having to balance a full time degree with earning money alongside it. I'm not jealous, as there's not too much point in being jealous of such things, it's the complete obliviousness to the fudging awesomeness of their situation that annoys me, they just don't seem to appreciate it, most likely because they haven't earnt it. Some people's parents pay for their accomodation at uni, essentially making the student loan disposable income.

 

[Richie]

It's a different world now isn't it?

Not to change the subject but...

I have a fairly strong dislike of students at uni who have the 30 quid plus a month phone, stossy gym membership, brick loads of designer label wear, the disposable income to just be able to eat wherever and whenever ie have lunch out and not think twice and also the money to spend on however much drugs and alcohol they can fit in to their spare time. These are all great things to have and I wouldn't say I'm jealous, but it's just that most of these students I know don't even have a fudging job and don't work through the summer, bastards.

I'm a student and in reasonably priced accomodation my student loan does not cover my rent. Therefore I have to earn money to be able to eat or enjoy myself, I fully understand that, I have had to work fudging hard and have during this year in particular got some very interesting experience and earnt a fair bit and improved my CV greatly as a result. Happy days.

But it's the people who have absolutely no concept of money or the difficulty of having to balance a full time degree with earning money alongside it. I'm not jealous, as there's not too much point in being jealous of such things, it's the complete obliviousness to the fudging awesomeness of their situation that annoys me, they just don't seem to appreciate it, most likely because they haven't earnt it. Some people's parents pay for their accomodation at uni, essentially making the student loan disposable income.

Are your parents quite well off? I know a few people who were put in a tough situation in that their parents were pretty wealthy but unwilling to help with money through Uni, so they got the lower student loan and weren't eligible for any grants or bursary.

My parents gave me money to live on through Uni on the justification that a lot of the money they were saving by me not living to home. I know a friend of mine who came from a poorer background whose parents couldnt afford to support her but when you add in her bursary and higher student loan I was only maybe £15/week better off. This was before the student loan reforms though, so not sure how the loans may have changed.

As a PhD student I live with freshers as a warden and it seems to me that now the fees have gone up, students are a fair bit smarter with their money.

 

[Ginolius]

I don't understand what you guys are trying to tell me? Just accept the McDonald's job without looking elsewhere?

No, of course look elsewhere, see what's about. If you get a better job opportunity then well done, I hope you do and will only congratulate you.

But don't be so dismissive of jobs, and don't assume you're worth more than someone else based on exams which have very little to do with the sorts of jobs you'll be doing.

The McDonald's analogy has gone on too long but some of the best warehouse workers are academically weaker than their peers yet they don't get as bored, distracted or wound up so easily and they should be getting paid enough to reflect that. Why should you get more because you know fermats last theorem?

You're 16, your concept of money is distorted to the point that you see a contract worth £960 - that's £960 of your money for a phone - as a sensible investment, but work hard and you'll get your just rewards. You can't do that nearly as effectively if you feel things are beneath you.

 

[Richie]

I don't understand what you guys are trying to tell me? Just accept the McDonald's job without looking elsewhere?

No, that's not it, but if you couldn't find a job with better pay would you be willing to work for McDonalds for £4/hr?

P.S. I really hope you don't take this thread too personally, I think a lot of it is using your situation to have a general rant about todays yoof.

 

[Skinhead in a Suit]

But............how do you convince a teenager that he would need to go out and do what you did?
The problem here (especially in my sons case) is they think these things will come to them, rather than they go get them.

Your point above isn't really what my little rant was about tbh. I was trying to make the point that if COYS feels that he can do better than 4 quid an hour at a menial job then he should pursue that.

To address your post, I can only talk about my personal experiences as a teenager. I grew up just down the road from you in Haywards Heath, and my main motivation for working was to go out with friends (Sterns outside of Worthing mostly - greatest club ever!), so I would use this as his motivation rather than the whole "I was working 14 hours a day down t'mill when I was your age" argument. That one always got my back up and would only worsen the situation. The more my Dad would preach to me, the more I would want to do the opposite, and to be fair, the world is a different place than when you or I were kids. You cannot expect your kids to experience the same world as you did. If your son can figure out a way to spend time with his friends without having to work a brick job (and without selling drugs, doing cars over etc) then fair play to the lad. That's a life lesson of sorts too. No matter how much you might want him too, a son doesn't have to live the same life his Dad did. If you can figure out a way of steering him towards the correct choice without making it obvious that you are doing so, you may have more success by letting him think it was his idea in the first place.

PS - I don't have any kids so I am merely looking at this as I did when I was a bloody-minded teenager.

 

[Crawley]

Your point above isn't really what my little rant was about tbh. I was trying to make the point that if COYS feels that he can do better than 4 quid an hour at a menial job then he should pursue that.

To address your post, I can only talk about my personal experiences as a teenager. I grew up just down the road from you in Haywards Heath, and my main motivation for working was to go out with friends (Sterns outside of Worthing mostly - greatest club ever!), so I would use this as his motivation rather than the whole "I was working 14 hours a day down t'mill when I was your age" argument. That one always got my back up and would only worsen the situation. The more my Dad would preach to me, the more I would want to do the opposite, and to be fair, the world is a different place than when you or I were kids. You cannot expect your kids to experience the same world as you did. If your son can figure out a way to spend time with his friends without having to work a brick job (and without selling drugs, doing cars over etc) then fair play to the lad. That's a life lesson of sorts too. No matter how much you might want him too, a son doesn't have to live the same life his Dad did. If you can figure out a way of steering him towards the correct choice without making it obvious that you are doing so, you may have more success by letting him think it was his idea in the first place.

PS - I don't have any kids so I am merely looking at this as I did when I was a bloody-minded teenager.

That's a good post mate.

I would say though, if you had kids, you too would use the line "do you know what i was doing at your age?"

 

[Skinhead in a Suit]

That's a good post mate.

I would say though, if you had kids, you too would use the line "do you know what i was doing at your age?"

Probably! :lol:

Can I ask a more personal question? Do you think that yours and Mrs. Crawley's attitudes are partly based on jealousy ie. the fact that you weren't able to live that life when you were his age? Not trying to be a dingdong, but a lot of what has been posted in this thread does sound like that. If he's getting good grades at school, not getting into any trouble with the Old Bill and pulling two birds at the same time, why not let him enjoy his youth?

 

[Orbital]

What life-skils is COYS going to learn at MacDonald's? How to flip a burger? How to take orders from a superior? Big deal. If I was an employer, I would be more impressed by someone who wasn't satisfied with the norm and sought out better opportunities that probably required a little more intuition on his behalf. The attitude that "this is all you deserve" is utter flimflam. Nobody "deserves" anything. You fight for what you want in life and if COYS is wanting something better and willing to fight for it, then he will get to where he wants to be.

The attitudes expressed by several posters in this thread is exactly why I left England and moved to the US when I was 23. I now live in an amazing apartment in an amazing city, doing a job that 99% of people would give their right arm for. It's not because I am "better" or "more deserving" than anyone else, but merely because I made a decision long ago not to settle for average. I have one shot at this life, and I'll be damned if I'm going to spend half of my waking life doing some boring job that doesn't satisfy me. Don't be afraid to dream a little. Here endeth the lesson

He is 16. He needs work experience, not dreaming about his future experience. Or "fighting for better" experience. He will learn how to satisfy customers, how to deal with the public, how to be on time, how to present himself and work hard. This is not what he "deserves," this is what he needs. You can't pretend this is his career job, this is how he is getting into work. He will get turned down from bigger and better things in the future because he has nothing on his CV because people will advise him now that he deserves more in life, but they're not even thinking 18 months into the future.

You are not the only one here who earns well, and some of us managed to do it here in London where it is not easy at all. And I am happy you live in America, but I wouldn't say any of their cities that I've been to are a patch on London, which is the best city in the world - even if it does have flaws. That is why we are the financial capital of the world and that is why big boys come to play here.

 

[Crawley]

Probably! :lol:

Can I ask a more personal question? Do you think that yours and Mrs. Crawley's attitudes are partly based on jealousy ie. the fact that you weren't able to live that life when you were his age? Not trying to be a dingdong, but a lot of what has been posted in this thread does sound like that. If he's getting good grades at school, not getting into any trouble with the Old Bill and pulling two birds at the same time, why not let him enjoy his youth?

No, I don't think so.

Sure, financially I had less at his age, as my parents were quite low paid. But saying that, I certainly don't earn big money myself now.
For me, it is much more about being seen to be willing to try. And as mentioned earlier, with the missus working in recruitment, she knows exactly what impresses on a cv.

 

[Crawley]

I wonder if the re-introduction of national Service of some kind would teach a lot more of our yoof a greater sense of respect and discipline?

Seems to me that is a big miss these days.


*I bet this kicks some big arguments off!!!!!!

 

[Richie]

I wonder if the re-introduction of national Service of some kind would teach a lot more of our yoof a greater sense of respect and discipline?

Seems to me that is a big miss these days.


*I bet this kicks some big arguments off!!!!!!

A couple of my best friends are Greek and I've spoken to them before about their national service. All Greek men have to do a year in the army, they have mixed views about it. Nobody who is doing national service will ever see combat (presumably except for exceptional circumstances), that is left to the professional soldiers.

They have both said it's good that you end up socialising with people you would never otherwise meet.

 

[Superhudd]

I wonder if the re-introduction of national Service of some kind would teach a lot more of our yoof a greater sense of respect and discipline?

Seems to me that is a big miss these days.


*I bet this kicks some big arguments off!!!!!!

It would sort out the obesity problem in kids

 

[Skinhead in a Suit]

He is 16. He needs work experience, not dreaming about his future experience. Or "fighting for better" experience.

Couldn't disagree more. What on earth is wrong with "fighting for better"? He's a teenager, let him dream a little. It might be the last chance he gets.

He will learn how to satisfy customers, how to deal with the public, how to be on time, how to present himself and work hard. This is not what he "deserves," this is what he needs. You can't pretend this is his career job, this is how he is getting into work. He will get turned down from bigger and better things in the future because he has nothing on his CV because people will advise him now that he deserves more in life, but they're not even thinking 18 months into the future.

COYS has stated several times that he is looking for a better paid job than 4 quid an hour. He has also reached out to his local MP about working for him. Both of these are more impressive to me than a willingness to accept the first, mediocre position available.

You are not the only one here who earns well, and some of us managed to do it here in London where it is not easy at all. And I am happy you live in America, but I wouldn't say any of their cities that I've been to are a patch on London, which is the best city in the world - even if it does have flaws. That is why we are the financial capital of the world and that is why big boys come to play here.

I agree that it is not easy to make a good living in London. That is why I decided to head elsewhere to seek out that opportunity. I didn't follow the same path as my friends and family but decided to think a little outside the box (I hate that phrase btw but it fits what I'm trying to say) and that is all that COYS is saying. There is more than one way to make a decent living for yourself in this world, and working a minimum-wage job for a multi-national corporation that really doesn't give a brick about you is not the be-all-and-end-all IMO. COYS is young and he has questions about life that a couple of shifts at MacD's every week isn't going to answer.

 

[Lily White]

You get what your bloody given.. would have been my reply, if you had of moaned I would have taken your phone away and got you a galaxy ace or something and put you on a 12 month sim at Tesco @ £7.50/month. :lol:

Or do as i do, my children buy and pay for their own phones. My 18 year old has a contract and pays for that himself and son no 2 has a cheap PAYG Nokia which he tops up with money earnt doing jobs for me. My daughter is too young for a phone.
I always thought I was too soft on my children, ready this thread I come across as evil and mean

 

[Roy1983]

It's a different world now isn't it?

Not to change the subject but...

I have a fairly strong dislike of students at uni who have the 30 quid plus a month phone, stossy gym membership, brick loads of designer label wear, the disposable income to just be able to eat wherever and whenever ie have lunch out and not think twice and also the money to spend on however much drugs and alcohol they can fit in to their spare time. These are all great things to have and I wouldn't say I'm jealous, but it's just that most of these students I know don't even have a fudging job and don't work through the summer, bastards.

I'm a student and in reasonably priced accomodation my student loan does not cover my rent. Therefore I have to earn money to be able to eat or enjoy myself, I fully understand that, I have had to work fudging hard and have during this year in particular got some very interesting experience and earnt a fair bit and improved my CV greatly as a result. Happy days.

But it's the people who have absolutely no concept of money or the difficulty of having to balance a full time degree with earning money alongside it. I'm not jealous, as there's not too much point in being jealous of such things, it's the complete obliviousness to the fudging awesomeness of their situation that annoys me, they just don't seem to appreciate it, most likely because they haven't earnt it. Some people's parents pay for their accomodation at uni, essentially making the student loan disposable income.

A student who works with me just got a £900 student loan out. What for I asked him and he replied '£300 on an amplifier for my guitar, a few games for my PS and a weekend in Amsterdam'. 'Its not a problem, he added, I won't have to pay it back for years'.

People wonder why I can't stand students.

 

[Superhudd]

Or do as i do, my children buy and pay for their own phones. My 18 year old has a contract and pays for that himself and son no 2 has a cheap PAYG Nokia which he tops up with money earnt doing jobs for me. My daughter is too young for a phone.
I always thought I was too soft on my children, ready this thread I come across as evil and mean

Yeah but value for money that £7.50 sim deal saves you money in the long run.

250 minutes
5000 texts
500MB data

Besides that's an 18 year old, I'd expect him to buy me a phone. :lol:

 

[Superhudd]

A student who works with me just got a £900 student loan out. What for I asked him and he replied '£300 on an amplifier for my guitar, a few games for my PS and a weekend in Amsterdam'. 'Its not a problem, he added, I won't have to pay it back for years'.

People wonder why I can't stand students.

And in 5 years time when the baliffs come calling they will have to pay it back at 50p every month in a deal over the next 150 years.

 

[Baleforce]

I don't understand what you guys are trying to tell me? Just accept the McDonald's job without looking elsewhere?

both, flip the burgers and leave when you find something else