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Was your weekend job when you were young the best job you ever had?

Paul Carter

Hello everyone,

I am Paul Carter, a CIPD member and HR professional. I love to write and record podcasts about the world of work. My next blog and podcast are taking a nostalgic look at how the weekend jobs we had when we were younger shaped us and our attitude to work. We were care free, earning just enough money to have fun, buy clothes and run a car. We developed our interpersonal skills through meeting new people, being part of a team, being managed for the first time and dealing with tricky customers. A small taste of financial independence and what work would be like when we left higher education. We were dazed and confused, loving and hating it but always going back for the next shift. It may have only lasted for a couple of years but you will always remember your favourite weekend job. 

Was your favourite weekend job the best job you ever had? What did you learn from it? Do you still see people you worked with all those years ago?

Does your company employ weekend workers? A 2020 report by the Resolution Foundation indicated that the employment rate of 16- to 17-year-olds with weekend jobs had halved in a two-decade period. Should a weekend job be a rite of passage as a teenager? What are teenagers missing if they do not get this experience?

Please share your views and complete my short survey https://forms.office.com/r/VgPnf1mYLF?origin=lprLink 

If you would like to contribute to my blog and podcast, let me know.

Thank you

Paul

Parents
  • Brilliant question.

    I had multiple Saturday jobs - the main one I loved, selling jewellery for a neighbour's business on a (cold) market stand in different shopping centres in West London. However I also worked for a bakery which should have been lovely but involved sweeping up the cockroaches and being bullied by the owner, and a hairdressers which was possibly worse.

    Was your favourite weekend job the best job you ever had? What did you learn from it? No, but it was fun and taught me so much about dealing with customers that still applies today.

    Do you still see people you worked with all those years ago? My best friend today is still someone I met on that market stall, so yes!

    Does your company employ weekend workers? A 2020 report by the Resolution Foundation indicated that the employment rate of 16- to 17-year-olds with weekend jobs had halved in a two-decade period.
    No - working in a school makes that less of an option I'm afraid. It's definitely much harder to get work as a young person these days, and where it is a possibility it's often with organisations who don't have good practices in my experience.

    Should a weekend job be a rite of passage as a teenager? What are teenagers missing if they do not get this experience?
    I think it's a brilliant thing to do, and my older two daughters both had weekend jobs - but like Tania, with varying experiences. The eldest worked for a farm shop/garden centre with a brilliant approach, training, proper contracts/pay/holiday etc. My middle daughter however had massively dodgy HR experiences - dismissed during Covid because she had to isolate (working in a chemists no less), no holiday, no pay slips, no contracts. I'm not saying they weren't valuable learning experiences, but not in the way that you'd want.
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  • Brilliant question.

    I had multiple Saturday jobs - the main one I loved, selling jewellery for a neighbour's business on a (cold) market stand in different shopping centres in West London. However I also worked for a bakery which should have been lovely but involved sweeping up the cockroaches and being bullied by the owner, and a hairdressers which was possibly worse.

    Was your favourite weekend job the best job you ever had? What did you learn from it? No, but it was fun and taught me so much about dealing with customers that still applies today.

    Do you still see people you worked with all those years ago? My best friend today is still someone I met on that market stall, so yes!

    Does your company employ weekend workers? A 2020 report by the Resolution Foundation indicated that the employment rate of 16- to 17-year-olds with weekend jobs had halved in a two-decade period.
    No - working in a school makes that less of an option I'm afraid. It's definitely much harder to get work as a young person these days, and where it is a possibility it's often with organisations who don't have good practices in my experience.

    Should a weekend job be a rite of passage as a teenager? What are teenagers missing if they do not get this experience?
    I think it's a brilliant thing to do, and my older two daughters both had weekend jobs - but like Tania, with varying experiences. The eldest worked for a farm shop/garden centre with a brilliant approach, training, proper contracts/pay/holiday etc. My middle daughter however had massively dodgy HR experiences - dismissed during Covid because she had to isolate (working in a chemists no less), no holiday, no pay slips, no contracts. I'm not saying they weren't valuable learning experiences, but not in the way that you'd want.
Children