Page 3 | Thoughts on 16yr old having a job

GranPepper · 27/11/2024 20:04

youareadarling · 27/11/2024 06:14

My 16yr old daughter has an interview on Fri for a fast food establishment. I'm unsure if I'm happy that she would be working some nights a week until 10 when it's her GCSE yr however I don't know if I'm being ridiculous. What's the consensus?

There are very specific laws on under 18s working hours. One of the reasons is because it's known many in that age group have education too. Maybe look on acas.org or Citizens Advice for more info. I used to be a senior union rep and companies (sadly) often seem to operate on the basis youngsters don't know their rights and they can exoloit them.

Luminousalumnus · 27/11/2024 20:07

As we see all the time on here, young people are coming out of Uni and not getting even fast food type jobs because they have no work experience and they have missed the boat in getting any. No one is going to recruit a 22 year old cafe assistant when they can have a 16 year old. She need to be able to hold down a job AND get her A levels. She also needs to work alongside Uni if she goes.
Please encourage her to get a job.
DS had so much work experience before he even went to Uni and he built on it while he was there. He was freelance writer, call centre operator, a paid extra in the pantomime, a fair ground ride operator and a qualified life guard. Its so good for their confidence and actually reminds them that they are a perfectly competent person in real life, even if school still treats them as children.

BobbyBiscuits · 27/11/2024 20:07

It's great she's getting a job. Presuming she isn't struggling with her studies, and wants to quit in favour of full time work in fast food? Not that there's anything wrong with doing that. But obviously want her to complete her schooling before full time work.
It's a great way to learn responsibility, she'll have a few quid, probably make some new friends. And yep, free burger and chips on each shift! Loads of my mates worked in McDonalds at that age. It was considered one of the more preferable Saturday jobs.
Also if it's a chain she'll be able to hopefully get work in another branch if she moves away for college/uni.

teacoffeeorpassthegin · 27/11/2024 20:09

Luminousalumnus · 27/11/2024 20:07

As we see all the time on here, young people are coming out of Uni and not getting even fast food type jobs because they have no work experience and they have missed the boat in getting any. No one is going to recruit a 22 year old cafe assistant when they can have a 16 year old. She need to be able to hold down a job AND get her A levels. She also needs to work alongside Uni if she goes.
Please encourage her to get a job.
DS had so much work experience before he even went to Uni and he built on it while he was there. He was freelance writer, call centre operator, a paid extra in the pantomime, a fair ground ride operator and a qualified life guard. Its so good for their confidence and actually reminds them that they are a perfectly competent person in real life, even if school still treats them as children.

A levels yes- my daughter had a job with A levels but not GCSEs due to work and clubs!

FaceLikeACrackedScreen · 27/11/2024 20:09

Haven't RTWT but I think it is fine in moderation. Depends on the kid. DC1 would have been fine with a shift a week before GCSEs, DC2 wouldn't have coped.

DC2 is in A level exam year and does a five hour evening shift once a week and every other Saturday. Seems like a reasonable balance and yes, work experience is important, but only if grades don't suffer.

OhshutupSimonyounobhead · 27/11/2024 20:12

Depends on how academic she is. DD never had a job until Uni (now has 2 PT jobs) and spent all her spare time studying. DS has worked PT since he was 16 in hospitality and is now working circa 10-20 hours a week in his Uni City.

Smallinthesmoke · 27/11/2024 20:56

I've asked my 17 year old about this, based on her own experience working and that of her friends.
She says, if your DD wants to do really well in her GCSEs then it's not a good idea to work "some nights till 10pm" in her GCSE year. If your DD doesn't particularly mind dropping grades OR if she could work for a bit now then drop the evening shifts to cram academically in the Spring, then she thinks that would be OK. She saw that her friends who continued to work long hours eg full weekends in cafes in the runup to/ during the exam period, didn't do as well as expected. That doesn't mean don't get any job (my DD has variously worked in a cafe, a shop, petsitting, babysitting) but be careful with the hours or she'll be knackered.

NewName24 · 27/11/2024 21:12

Luminousalumnus · 27/11/2024 20:07

As we see all the time on here, young people are coming out of Uni and not getting even fast food type jobs because they have no work experience and they have missed the boat in getting any. No one is going to recruit a 22 year old cafe assistant when they can have a 16 year old. She need to be able to hold down a job AND get her A levels. She also needs to work alongside Uni if she goes.
Please encourage her to get a job.
DS had so much work experience before he even went to Uni and he built on it while he was there. He was freelance writer, call centre operator, a paid extra in the pantomime, a fair ground ride operator and a qualified life guard. Its so good for their confidence and actually reminds them that they are a perfectly competent person in real life, even if school still treats them as children.

This.

I am staggered by the number of threads on here where parents are saying their 22 yr olds have no work experience.

BeatriceAndLottie · 27/11/2024 21:17

Luminousalumnus · 27/11/2024 20:07

As we see all the time on here, young people are coming out of Uni and not getting even fast food type jobs because they have no work experience and they have missed the boat in getting any. No one is going to recruit a 22 year old cafe assistant when they can have a 16 year old. She need to be able to hold down a job AND get her A levels. She also needs to work alongside Uni if she goes.
Please encourage her to get a job.
DS had so much work experience before he even went to Uni and he built on it while he was there. He was freelance writer, call centre operator, a paid extra in the pantomime, a fair ground ride operator and a qualified life guard. Its so good for their confidence and actually reminds them that they are a perfectly competent person in real life, even if school still treats them as children.

Nobody needs to hold down a job on top of A levels. Don’t be so ridiculous. Full time education is called full time education for a reason. I don’t see many adults working another job on top of their 9-5! You do understand that work experience can be voluntary/shadowing too?

DD got her first part time job at the age of (shock horror!) 19. Absolutely no issues with getting hired despite huge competition - it was her first and only application. It’s a lovely job, even I’m a bit jealous! She adores it and they clearly like her as has already had a promotion 3 months in. She will not be working alongside uni as she’ll be studying Physiotherapy which requires long hours both on placement in hospital and on campus. Why would she jeopardise her grades and wellbeing if she doesn’t have to? Somehow I think she’s going to turn out just fine!

ratatattatochristmascat · 27/11/2024 22:31

I think as this thread demonstrates it depends on the child, as I mentioned upthread working has been the making of my daughter confidence wise and I've been so impressed with how she approaches her work and studies. she doesn't work evenings but we've said it's an ongoing process and if we ever feel her studies are suffering then we'll look at things again but it's been great for her sense of independence. It's great also she earns her own money but it's about so much more than that.

Motheranddaughter · 27/11/2024 23:31

While still at school our DC focused on school work,hobbies ,youth organisations , sport ,music

All progressing fine in the real world

Thoughts on 16yr old having a job

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