Finding jobs that are well-suited for the busy lives of highschoolers is hard. Some highschoolers ask, “Why can’t I get hired? I need money!” One reason that they can’t, is for legal purposes. Another reason is that work hours can sometimes fall into school hours. The hours can also go late, which means that the highschooler can’t get much sleep. The last thing that is challenging about having a job as a highschool student is that some highschoolers are student athletes, being they have practices after school.
Personally, I get paid around $9-10 an hour. I work from 10:45-3 or sometimes I work till 3:30. Working around academic and extracurricular responsibilities is hard as a highschooler; students have to fit work in around your athletic schedule. Students who do not participate in athletics have it a bit easier because it is not as difficult to work on school days. In my experience as a student athlete, it is hard to work on school days because I have practices till about 5 or 5:30. One of the best parts of my job is being able to see and talk to lots of people. Another reason is my job is like a family, everyone gets along with each other, they also understand each other. When someone needs a shift taken, someone steps up and helps out.
To get another perspective from a working high school student, I talked to a senior who requested to remain anonymous. They work from 10-2 during the school weekends. During the summer, the hours for their work changed. Their jobs pay them about $15-16. They work on the weekdays when we don’t have school. They w0rk around their practices because they’re a student athlete, so practices are a big part of them getting to play. In the summer, they love working as many hours as possible to earn a larger paycheck. The best part of their job is having the most flexible, kind boss ever. If they have a conflict at work, her boss always helps her out with the conflict.
As some teenagers know getting hired can be hard, due to some of the legal purposes. But getting hired as a highschool student is amazing. Especially for the parents so they don’t have to pay for everything that the highschool student wants. Being able to work and being a highschool athlete can be hard but you have to put your head down and work through the struggles.
Out of 208 kids in the high school, only 26 of the ones that responded have jobs. 11 of them don’t have jobs.
