The extra money and sense of freedom from getting a job is almost a rite of passage for teenagers. But with school work and extracurricular activities, the responsibilities associated with holding a job leads some students to question whether or not they can handle it.

The first step to getting a job is applying and then going through the interviewing process. An applicant might be expected to start the interview immediately after turning in the application. Which is exactly what happened to junior Bailey Blood at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Blood encouraged applicants to stay calm and be confident.
When a teenager first starts working they will be assigned a specific task to do, most likely something simple. Senior Kyle Pepper merely bags customer groceries or occasionally gets carts while working at a local grocery store. Comparatively senior Kendall Small usually just stands at the expo line and takes food away from tables at José Peppers. Chores that don’t seem too complicated but keep the business running smoothly and effectively. So before deciding, students need to know that their tasks won’t be as difficult as most of their school assignments, although it does require a lot of time.

A huge part of working is the way an employee reacts to the environment surrounding the job and how bosses and coworkers will respond. Senior Liran Ziegelman really admires her managers, especially the one who is paying her own way through high school and college.

Interviews aren’t necessarily pressure packed. Ziegelman said she was asked simple questions during her interview for Sonic.

“He asked me if I knew how to read,” Ziegelman said. “I thought he was being sarcastic.”

Ziegelman thinks anyone at Blue Valley could probably do it. Based on how the interview process goes a student will start to have an idea of whether or not a job is right for them at this time.

Not everyone has such a positive experience with their superiors. Pepper and Small both enjoy the company of the other employees but dislike their bosses. One manager is described as really mean by Pepper and yells or corrects him on everything he does. Pepper thinks she makes him feel less of a person.

Small had similar feelings about his boss but thankfully felt much better about the other people working alongside him. He thinks they’re cool and respects the fact that “most of them are in high school or college.” So when figuring out whether a student would like to start working it would be nice to first take a look at how they already feel about the people at Blue Valley for comparison.

One of the most crucial factors in deciding whether or not school and work can be handled simultaneously is how parents feel about it. Fortunately, guardians are usually approving.

“They were very happy that I was paying for my own gas,” Blood said.

Small’s parents were proud that he had applied and gotten a job without them having to say a word.

The final thing for teenagers to know before deciding whether or not to work is how they already feel about their schoolwork. It doesn’t make much sense for a student to add to their workload if they’re already struggling. Pepper actually had to start taking study hall in order to cope with the extra time lost at work.  But if an individual has all their classes under control and knows how to use time-management with their assignments, then it’s so much more likely for them to do well at work.

“As long as you’re willing to work hard you’ll be fine,” Ziegelman said. “Just don’t do anything stupid.”