3 ms·

Riiight. There is always an explanation. So the theory is someone is going to hire a teenager for less than minimum wage to begin with but then will give them w

by hristov 17y ago

Riiight. There is always an explanation. So the theory is someone is going to hire a teenager for less than minimum wage to begin with but then will give them wonderful opportunities later on. Or better yet, someone working for less than min wage will use that on their resume to great effect. It would be great if we all lived in the world of conservative economists.

tc 17y ago
You may take it for granted, but a major trait that employers look for is simple employability: someone that can show up on time, not cause problems, not throw attitude, and not steal from the company. I'll take someone who spent three summers lifeguarding for the same company over someone with no work experience any day. Pretend that starting a company wasn't an option for you. I guarantee there is some minimum wage level that would have knocked out the bottom rung in your career ladder.
- warfangle 17y ago
  TBH, my career ladder didn't start until I was offered a part-time credit+pay position by my programming teacher in year 2 of community college. Before that, I was making 126% minimum wage at my first job (movie theater). So, I suppose if minimum wage had been higher I wouldn't have wasted three years of my life cleaning up used condoms and dirty diapers from the floor of a theater. But it probably wouldn't have kept me from being offered the (mostly credit) 3-month development project at the school I was going to. And arguably, that set up my career more than anything.
anamax 17y ago
> So the theory is someone is going to hire a teenager for less than minimum wage to begin with but then will give them wonderful opportunities later on. It's a lot like the "theory" that someone fresh out of college becomes more valuable after a couple of years of experience. Or, at the very least, has demonstrated how she is better than the typical college grad. Is hristov a counter-example to these theories? Has his/her actual or percieved value been completely constant over time, regardless of how s\he's spent that time? If it has, why is it absurd to think that time spent working might have some effect on one's value as a worker? Or is it that teenagers are different?
- mistermann 17y ago
  Exactly....it's not like the employer wants to be nice and give you more money, it's that they have to, or someone else will.

by hristov 17y ago

tc 17y ago

You may take it for granted, but a major trait that employers look for is simple employability: someone that can show up on time, not cause problems, not throw attitude, and not steal from the company. I'll take someone who spent three summers lifeguarding for the same company over someone with no work experience any day. Pretend that starting a company wasn't an option for you. I guarantee there is some minimum wage level that would have knocked out the bottom rung in your career ladder.

warfangle 17y ago
TBH, my career ladder didn't start until I was offered a part-time credit+pay position by my programming teacher in year 2 of community college. Before that, I was making 126% minimum wage at my first job (movie theater). So, I suppose if minimum wage had been higher I wouldn't have wasted three years of my life cleaning up used condoms and dirty diapers from the floor of a theater. But it probably wouldn't have kept me from being offered the (mostly credit) 3-month development project at the school I was going to. And arguably, that set up my career more than anything.

anamax 17y ago

> So the theory is someone is going to hire a teenager for less than minimum wage to begin with but then will give them wonderful opportunities later on. It's a lot like the "theory" that someone fresh out of college becomes more valuable after a couple of years of experience. Or, at the very least, has demonstrated how she is better than the typical college grad. Is hristov a counter-example to these theories? Has his/her actual or percieved value been completely constant over time, regardless of how s\he's spent that time? If it has, why is it absurd to think that time spent working might have some effect on one's value as a worker? Or is it that teenagers are different?

mistermann 17y ago
Exactly....it's not like the employer wants to be nice and give you more money, it's that they have to, or someone else will.