Job hunting sucks. I have done enough of it throughout my life to know that it is some of the most unfun you can have, but I have never experienced it through the eyes of my children until now. My son got his job without much effort at all without ever having set foot in any of the places he was applying to until the last one where he got the job. My daughter on the other hand is looking for a job that will give her a little insight into the career she is interested in pursuing. Well, she is having a hard time finding a place willing to hire her because she isn’t 18 years old. This is a new practice some places have taken where it comes to hiring, one which I do not agree with. Teenagers already are competing with other applicants who have more experience (seeing as they are adults) for the jobs that used to be designated teen jobs (thank you economic fall in our area years ago. We still haven’t fully recovered here), but to take jobs that were once in that category and remove the teen element (she wants to be a nurse, so she wanted to work in dietary in one of the local nursing homes) makes this extremely small job market even smaller. She has tried to apply at quite a few (in person no less) and found out immediately that she isn’t qualified because she is 16 and not 18. One of these places I worked at when I was 16 years old. Another kid I have known since he was a baby is also struggling to find a job. He is 18 and seems to have applied everywhere without finding success. I truly believe that teens need the opportunity to learn some essential skills that can only be taught through having a job. Earning your own money to provide some things for yourself and learning the importance of budgeting in order to get what you want are building blocks in the foundation of our lives. Customer service and learning how to deal with tense situations in a peaceful and respectful way are essential. These things must be taught to our future caretakers, aka our children, before they go out into the world to fill the positions they will take in this world. Okay, enough preaching for the day. Oh, and no post for Thursday this week. I was out all day trying to solve a few issues in our little world for my bratpack.
