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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

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  • What a great question and a chance to look back.

    My first job was working as a 'Saturday girl' for a retail store and I used to sub in on any department that was short staffed and rotate around. Similar to my business as an interim now.

    I then went on to be an usherette at a seaside theatre and then worked in a pub. I learned such a lot from all of those jobs - communication skills, persuading skills, how things worked, how to deal with tricky customers and work with colleagues as well as interviewing skills to find the job. I also found work via networking which is also similar to today.

    I keep in touch with some but not many of the people I worked with largely due to geography and because I am not on Facebook which tends to be the place where people catch up with people.

    I used to say my bar job was the best job I ever had. it was a real learning experience - my maths skills improved hugely from the mental calculations and my social skills, which I thought were great improved too as you can get some sticky situations when people have alcohol inside them. It also helped me to avoid student debt.

    Some of the clients I have worked for do recruit younger people especially as cheaper labour and I'd like to hope they try and train and give them a good experience for their formative careers.

    I had to work so I am biased but I definitely think it's a good grounding and made me more employable when I graduated. I still think the entry at that stage was a shock but it would have been worse if I had no experience at all.
  • 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.
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