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

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

3743 views
  • In reply to Sharon:

    Hi Sharon, thank you for this fantastic contribution which I will use for my blog. Please let me know if you would like to contribute to my podcast.
  • Quite honestly all I remember from my first jobs were being paid buttons and treated very poorly. Work experience as a teen was VERY questionable and not a safe space for a young person.

    After my first initial taste of 'work', I got a weekend job in a bakery, the pay was horrendous and was spoken to awfully, despite working my bum off. After that I got an apprentice admin job in a law firm, again, paid horrendously but learnt a lot about myself and my ethic. All my early working experiences taught me a few things, mainly that i have a very good work ethic and that i learn by doing, i am not an academic, give me a challenge or a task and i will figure it out.

    However, back to the original question .... Was my weekend job the best i ever had ... absolutely not !!