Why Upscale Families Now Push the Kids to Do Paid Work in High School and College

Forget camp to improve tennis or violin skills. The kid isn't going to backpack through Europe. And no do-gooding in volunteer whatever.

Ambitious parents, most of them upper-income, have their offspring get paid jobs during college and even high school. They have gotten the memo that paid work on resumes, no matter how menial such as cleaning pools or scooping ice cream, significantly increases the odds of being hired post-graduation. That's what employers want to see on a resume.

Sure, good grades still count. But not as much as once assumed. And that assumption was always faulty any way. Unless the family was directing the kid to an elite law, medical or business school. On those kinds of career paths grades, along with performance on standardized tests, are the great deciders. 

None of this about the power of paid work is new. That is, that real world work experience in high school and college predicts sustained success later on. 

When I was a first-generation college close friends from privileged backgrounds clued me in to this reality: The "C" students become the bosses of the "A" students. That's because the latter were probably doing paid jobs and learning how the business world actually operates while the former were delighting in absorbing beautiful theory.

The message was: Don't kill yourself getting the best possible grades, figure out what gets you ahead, make contacts. I did graduate with honors, but not the top kind. And I was offered a job in public relations with the telephone company I had worked at part-time since I was a junior in high school. (Instead I took a temporary wrong turn in the road and accepted a fellowship into a doctoral program at an Ivy. Shame on me.)

And, think about it. Even in professional services such as joining a prestigious law firm, early failure often happens among those who don't get the performance metrics, optics and politics of work. Up to that, they had booked it, piling up loans instead of working for income part-time. I know that the legal giant, who added on global motivational speaking, John Tarantino washed dishes in college.

Unfortunately, there is a falloff in paid work for youth still in school. Less is available. So, the playing field from the get-go isn't level for all socioeconomic classes. Lower income kids are more likely to be closed out getting, holding and moving on to better work. They might lack the guidance how to go about that and/or the connections.

However, what is open - and it's for all classes - is early entrepreneurship. Heavy snow? Go around with a shovel. Lots of folks aging-in-place? Pitch moving their lawns for less than a formal service. Stuff left out on the sidewalk? Recycle on Facebook Marketplace or NextDoor as used. 

My early experience at the phone company prepared me well. The oldest of the Boomers, I continue to have opportunities to do paid work.

Career Paths? So Over. It’s about Earning a Good Living. No matter what.

Complimentary consultation. No Pressure. Street-smart Guidance. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.