4 ms·

My 18 year old son has been trying to get a job for 2 years, without success. All of the jobs that used to go to high schoolers are now going to adults who are

My 18 year old son has been trying to get a job for 2 years, without success. All of the jobs that used to go to high schoolers are now going to adults who are working low end jobs to help make ends meet. And then the quarantine hit making it even harder to find work.

collegeburner 6y ago
I'm 18 and am working two jobs this summer, though I have had one for over a year. While I'm in development, I've got several friends who are working as lifeguards at a pool. It stinks that your son can't find one, but there are jobs.
- irrational 6y ago
  Are your pools still open? All of ours closed down at the beginning of quarantine and they have already announced that none of the pools or rec centers will open this summer ( and possibly this year).
  - collegeburner 6y ago
    Open-ish. They've got physical distancing enforced, and some have limited hours, but yes. Water isn't known to transmit the wuhan coronavirus (and these pools are chlorinated), so I figure it's decently safe as long as people aren't dumb when out of the water. No lounging around on pool chairs, though.
    - collegeburner 6y ago
      Follow-up: why the down-votes in response? I'm very confused given that my prior comment wasn't.
      - Doxin 6y ago
        I imagine it's due to calling it "wuhan coronavirus" instead of simply "coronavirus" or "covid-19".
        collegeburner 6y ago
        Coronavirus isn't descriptive. SARS-CoV-2 is unbearably clunky. Covid refers to the disease caused by the virus (it's short for "coronavirus disease"); people don't communicate a disease, they communicate a virus. This is like the HIV/AIDS distinction: you can't "catch AIDS". Hence my terminology. Talk about petty, though. It's from wuhan, so calling it "wuhan coronavirus" or "chinese coronavirus" strikes me as more than reasonable.
toomuchtodo 6y ago
Has he explored working holiday opportunities in other countries, perhaps Australia or Europe? Not a solution to the employment situation in the US, but perhaps an improved chance of success.
- nine_zeros 6y ago
  > Has he explored working holiday opportunities in other countries, perhaps Australia or Europe? Not a solution to the employment situation in the US, but perhaps an improved chance of success. Why are people downvoting this? Teenagers in EU and Australia routinely travel around the world for jobs. Once they grow up, they become excellent hires at "real" jobs because of skills gained at such jobs.
  - bojo 6y ago
    > Why are people downvoting this? Probably due to the travel ban being imposed against people from the US by those places right now.
    - toomuchtodo 6y ago
      Travel bans aren't going to last forever.
      - kiwidrew 6y ago
        The travel bans will last as long as it takes for the US to get their pandemic under control, and given the current (lack of any) progress towards that outcome "forever" might not be much of an exaggeration.
- dogma1138 6y ago
  Mexico is hiring...
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
peetle 6y ago
As an 18 year old, I had zero job experience so I could never find a job. I bought a lawnmower on craigslist and started putting up flyers. This set me back ~$75 at the time. I also did odd job painting and handyman jobs. I found a solid collection of clients fairly quickly and just walked around the neighborhood.
contingencies 6y ago
trying to get a job for 2 years, without success Encourage him to start a business, do all the financials, etc. and set up a scheme whereby you get a percentage ownership in lieu of rent. Step one might be management accounting literacy, specifically financial projections. For bonus points, demand a board report and get an experienced adult friend of yours to be a proxy board member for thorny issue resolution. You can start with non-monetized assets, like crops grown on personal property for repayment in kind. This way, capital outlay is minimal and real skills are developed, and there is even scope to involve others in exchange food and an education in business, without needing to crash-tackle tax accounting or financial services.

collegeburner 6y ago

I'm 18 and am working two jobs this summer, though I have had one for over a year. While I'm in development, I've got several friends who are working as lifeguards at a pool. It stinks that your son can't find one, but there are jobs.

irrational 6y ago
Are your pools still open? All of ours closed down at the beginning of quarantine and they have already announced that none of the pools or rec centers will open this summer ( and possibly this year).
- collegeburner 6y ago
  Open-ish. They've got physical distancing enforced, and some have limited hours, but yes. Water isn't known to transmit the wuhan coronavirus (and these pools are chlorinated), so I figure it's decently safe as long as people aren't dumb when out of the water. No lounging around on pool chairs, though.
  - collegeburner 6y ago
    Follow-up: why the down-votes in response? I'm very confused given that my prior comment wasn't.
    - Doxin 6y ago
      I imagine it's due to calling it "wuhan coronavirus" instead of simply "coronavirus" or "covid-19".
      - collegeburner 6y ago
        Coronavirus isn't descriptive. SARS-CoV-2 is unbearably clunky. Covid refers to the disease caused by the virus (it's short for "coronavirus disease"); people don't communicate a disease, they communicate a virus. This is like the HIV/AIDS distinction: you can't "catch AIDS". Hence my terminology. Talk about petty, though. It's from wuhan, so calling it "wuhan coronavirus" or "chinese coronavirus" strikes me as more than reasonable.

toomuchtodo 6y ago

Has he explored working holiday opportunities in other countries, perhaps Australia or Europe? Not a solution to the employment situation in the US, but perhaps an improved chance of success.

nine_zeros 6y ago
> Has he explored working holiday opportunities in other countries, perhaps Australia or Europe? Not a solution to the employment situation in the US, but perhaps an improved chance of success. Why are people downvoting this? Teenagers in EU and Australia routinely travel around the world for jobs. Once they grow up, they become excellent hires at "real" jobs because of skills gained at such jobs.
- bojo 6y ago
  > Why are people downvoting this? Probably due to the travel ban being imposed against people from the US by those places right now.
  - toomuchtodo 6y ago
    Travel bans aren't going to last forever.
    - kiwidrew 6y ago
      The travel bans will last as long as it takes for the US to get their pandemic under control, and given the current (lack of any) progress towards that outcome "forever" might not be much of an exaggeration.
dogma1138 6y ago
Mexico is hiring...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

peetle 6y ago

As an 18 year old, I had zero job experience so I could never find a job. I bought a lawnmower on craigslist and started putting up flyers. This set me back ~$75 at the time. I also did odd job painting and handyman jobs. I found a solid collection of clients fairly quickly and just walked around the neighborhood.

contingencies 6y ago

trying to get a job for 2 years, without success Encourage him to start a business, do all the financials, etc. and set up a scheme whereby you get a percentage ownership in lieu of rent. Step one might be management accounting literacy, specifically financial projections. For bonus points, demand a board report and get an experienced adult friend of yours to be a proxy board member for thorny issue resolution. You can start with non-monetized assets, like crops grown on personal property for repayment in kind. This way, capital outlay is minimal and real skills are developed, and there is even scope to involve others in exchange food and an education in business, without needing to crash-tackle tax accounting or financial services.