December, 2022
By Liliana Castillo and Emily Chalambaga, Staff Reporters
As more high school students begin to enter the workforce, many are faced with the challenges of not knowing what to do or where to work. Things like interviews, core responsibilities, and how to balance school and labor are frequently asked but are usually met with dry responses. Having to find stability with both is no doubt incredibly stressful and is likely to cause students to fall behind in classes, but also allows students to receive more learning opportunities to help build on future careers and gain experience with jobs in general.
Since America’s workforce primarily consists of service jobs, like fast food and retail, over half of the youths living in the U.S will have some sort of experience with customer service by the time they turn 24. This means that while in high school, several students will at most have experience in many types of workplaces involving customer service.
Students
As students have more and more questions about the workforce industry, we interviewed students Brittany Centeno and Jermiah Luna about their experiences of having jobs and their opinions on balancing school and work.
Throughout the interview, Brittany and Jermiah go on to tell us about their experiences and expectations of babysitting children and working retail. Since Brittany babysat for her first job for one of her neighbors, her first interview was taken in an informal environment. Despite this, many valuable questions were asked to ensure she was the right fit for this particular position. “My neighbor, she was interviewing me. And of course, I understand all those questions like ‘Do you know how to call 911?’ or “Do you have any emergency exits just in case anything happens?” I have to take care of my health and I can not put the child at risk at all. So It’s a big responsibility, taking care of another human being who relies on you so much”
Meanwhile, Jermiah tells us about his interviewing experience when applying for various retail duties. “They asked me where I lived at, that’s basic, you gotta have your basic needs ready, where you live at, your phone number, your email all that needs to be ready before you go there. But you also have to be ready for them to ask you, “What kind of person you are?” and there might even be a personal question that comes up that you need to be ready for.” Through both of their experiences, we learn that interviewing varies from job to job. Even though there’s no certain way to make sure your interview goes perfectly, being prepared to understand what you’re getting into will help a lot.
Adding on, the most common reason for students wanting to work is the need or desire to make money. Paychecks from individual people are a lot different than paychecks from companies since the pay is based on a variety of factors. For example, Brittany expresses this by stating, “I got paid 20 to 50 dollars an hour, depends who I’m taking care of”, showing us how much her pay fluctuates based on her customers’ critiques of her. In Jermiah’s interview, he gives us an insight into the struggle to handle money by saying, “I didn’t handle my money well at first. And I feel like, you should always have someone there financially to help you or tell you how to handle whenever you get big amount of money at first.” Jermiah explains how young people are more likely to make more mistakes financially, leading to many problems that persist in the future.
Students often struggle with finding jobs due to having to find a balance between work and school. For example, Brittany had her first job while she was a freshman in high school. This meant having to focus on both her work and her academics, leading to a difficult situation. “I did it during school, the quarantine, freshman year, and it was a bit, like a little bit difficult for me. Since I had to pause my studies, take care of the kid, feed it and make sure it has everything it needs. Then, like the time I had spared while the kid was sleeping, I started doing my schoolwork.” This type of situation is common with students, leading to several obstacles that prevent one from being 100% focused. Jermiah’s experience in handling work and school differs from Brittany’s experience quoting, “Surprisingly, if you tell your job beforehand, you can get your schedule set to your school, and this is with a lot of jobs. As far as for yourself, stamina-wise, if you feel like you can handle it, then you can handle it. I felt like, I could like, I was getting enough sleep and still had enough time to do my schoolwork.”
Teachers
Seeing as how teachers have more experience with jobs, we also interviewed Corral and Muñoz about their first service encounters and shared their advice for students wanting to learn more about careers. They both had their first jobs based on customer service, meaning they were both working around with people in order to meet their wants and needs.
Muñoz states that she had her first job at Forever 21. Although this was her first, she explicitly expresses that it was the worst one she’s ever had. “Like, literally clothes are on the floor, like the accessories are a mess like it’s just so unorganized… It was very humbling though, I will say, for it being my first job.” This shows that some jobs may be very challenging experiences for people, so having an open mind and not making assumptions would likely benefit you in the long run. Meanwhile, in Corral’s interview, she states her first job was in a toy store recommended by her father, and was eventually employed as a candy sales associate. She had various responsibilities such as unloading shipments, checking if candy was old or expired, being a cashier, and assisting people to get candy.
Corral’s interview took place in her future working environment, while Muñoz’s interview took place in a food court near Forever 21. Muñoz was faced with questions concerning why she was interested in this particular role, such as, “ “Why do you want to work for us? Why Forever 21?” and I was like “it was my dream job”. And so by the end of the interview, like we were even cracking jokes because I guess I was impressing him with my responses. I will say, like obviously, no one taught me how to have an interview but when I think about the interviews I’ve had now I’m like, what was I thinking?!” Her reflection helps us come to the conclusion that job interviewers really have no set rules, and it’s important to try to remain as professional as possible. Meanwhile, Corral was fortunate enough to have her father recommend her a position at a toy store. “One of the questions that made me think the most was, “What do you know about this store? then I said “I actually don’t know anything about this store, I’ve never been in here” Questions like “What interests you?” “What are some of the things you like about toys?” “What were your favorite toys as a child?” were asked.”
We also asked teachers about their experience of handling work and school. Munoz states “So, I applied by the end of my senior year… and then I went to college, so it was kinda like a summer job”. Here she explains to us how she didn’t really have that kind of problem, seeing as how she applied near the end of her senior year. This allowed her to focus all of her time on her job and not have to simultaneously worry about school. Adding on, Corral talked about her schedule saying “I got out of school at 1:16 in the afternoon, so the schedule in Las Vegas was geared towards kids going to work.” It was always planned for kids to go to work after school”. This shows that Corral also didn’t really need to worry about school since kids were encouraged to go to work as soon as school ended.
Advice
The most common tip shared by both teachers and students alike is to come prepared for the interview. Simple things like having questions ready for when they ask to do your research so you seem invested in the company are really going to boost your chances of getting hired.
Brittany’s advice includes finding a job that will benefit you in the future, “Try to find a job you’re somewhat interested in” & “Do the work you should experience in the future for your future career. Or if you want to do something fun, I don’t know, work at canes, go for it, that’s your happiness. Do what makes you happy.” And Jermiah’s advice consists of being driven to work and putting yourself out there when looking for a job. “Just keep submitting applications” & “Don’t be scared if you really need a job or you really want to get started.”
Corral and Muñoz both had really similar advice for students, and that is to do your research! Corral says, “Research the job. I know that some people are just like it’s just a paycheck, but no, research it because getting those really quick and easy jobs and researching and knowing how to do an interview is really gonna help you when you start looking for that full-time job that’s gonna pay you a lot more money.” Adding onto Corral’s response, Muñoz states, “I will definitely say the biggest tip that I can give is, do your research, don’t just go in there blind-sighted. Like at the end of the day, you want to impress the person and so by you doing the research of let’s say a company or something. Like knowing facts you can mention in the interview is going to impress them.”
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