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What's the Ideal Age to Get a Job? Why?

Raindrop14

Soldier for Christ!
Joined
Jan 29, 2011
Location
E-Arth
Well this is highly opinionated, and of course it must differe for each persnon. It also has to do with what you want to do in life, and if you want a job or not. But my opinion would be 16. Partly because most people only hire at 16, but also party because you should enjoy life while you can. Yeah, save up money for college and all that, but don't start super early. Start at 16 or later. If you start earlier, you will be stuck forever, and you won't be able to enjoy life like you should. I don't have a job (although I'm 16), but most ly because I have quite a bit of things to do that a job would just get in the way. I do however intend to get a job after the winter time, because I want to save up for something that I love to do. So anyway, 16 is the ideal age to get a job. No sooner.
 

SinkingBadges

The Quiet Man
Interesting question, I happened to consult that with my father a while ago to see if he told me anything useful since he happens to know a ton about working from a young age. To specify, he had to do it when he was around 14-16 out of necessity because my grandpa never thought careers were a particularly useful thing, not to mention it wasn't easy to study anywhere beyond middle/high school, so it he didn't think it was worth going through the problem of paying for it either. Maybe that influenced my dad's responses a little too much, depending on your outlook, but he said a few things that I agree with. These was more or less what he said:

- If you have a way to pay for all the classes you need (scholarships or your parents/guardians/you or whoever takes care of that, you just might have other things to worry about and a job might put some time you could use on studying or maybe not unecessarily biting more than you can chew.

- You can find another way of learning responsibility. A job is a good way to learn it early on, but it's not the only one.

- Note: This one probably applies more to me, but I'll put it here anyway. There are other ways to get around other than a car (if you plan to buy one with your job money, that is). See that long distances aren't really a problem over here since I live in a small town, so walking isn't too much of a problem.

- If you want money, wouldn't you rather get better paid after waiting than a poor paid starting early?

So yeah, I'm not really sure if I'll follow any of that advice through, but I think he makes some good points. Especially the first one, if you think you're responsible enough, don't care about having your stuff paid for, plan to take a particularly long time studying whatever you want and have a way to pay for it without the money (a lot of people do so I'm counting that one in), I'd say you're fine at whichever age you finish studying.

Kazumi said:
It's probably just me, but I hate it when my parents buy things for me, cook for me, ect. I try to be as independent as I can because I know that's how I'm going to be living most of my life.

Same here, actually. Might not look like it from what I said above, but this is definitely one of the reasons I still haven't discarded getting a job either. Might as well mention I'm 18 and haven't gotten one. Not because of laziness as much as just not needing it.
 

Night Owl

~Momentai
Joined
Oct 3, 2011
Location
Skybound Coil Tree, Noctilum
Gender
Owl
It depends on the person and circumstances.
Some people can handle or need a job at a younger age,
while others need time to mature enough or just don't need a job that young.


I'll be turning 18 here in April, so I'll probably get a job this summer.
If I lived in the city, I might have had one at 16 or 17 that is within walking distance.
I've worked elections as a clerk though a few times.
 

elliotstriforce

trollin for booty
Joined
Sep 29, 2009
Location
somewhere.
i believe that someone should get a job at least their sophomore year of high school. that's when i started looking but no one wants to hire a punk like me. to get away from my parents and their "need to take care of me" i started making things and selling them. i've been living this way for a little more than a year by now. i just want to support myself and prove that i can. those are my ideals and reasons for myself i will not speak for other people.
 

misskitten

Hello Sweetie!
Joined
Jun 18, 2011
Location
Norway
I don't necessarily think the specific age is important. Getting a job is about seeking independence, learning responsibility, not to mention the value of money. Not everyone is going to be ready for it at the same age. I was 14 when I got my first job. I wasn't really looking, just happened to stumbled upon the opportunity and took it.

I can't really say what is the ideal age, just that getting some kind of part time job while you're young and still in school can only be a good thing. Just having a little bit of experience under your belt, references to put on your resumé, and getting that opportunity to grow and finding out what you're good at (I ended up learning I was quite a good salesperson, for instance). But you need to be ready, need to be motivated, otherwise it's not likely to end well.
 

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