I cannot believe that I have a daughter who started a job tonight. This is the first job she has ever had and I just can't believe it. She has been wanting a job since she was 13 years old. She has an allowance, but has always wanted "her own" money I think and so since she was 13 when we are out she has asked store owners, managers, workers, restaurant staff, even people in the drive-through window at McDonalds what age you had to be to work there. Answers always range from 15 to 18. The place she would LOVE to work is Hollisters. Hollisters is the store in the mall she loves to visit to get clothes. She always goes straight for the clearance rack praying that something good will be there. You have to be 18 to work at Hollisters. She is 15 years old.
Last week I visited a Chinese restaurant that is about one minute from my house. It is a very nice, upscale restaurant (no buffets) where the food is great (a bit pricey), the restaurant is beautiful and clean and the wait staff wears beautiful kimono-looking shirts. They had a sign on the door stating that they were hiring. I thought of my daughter. I asked the lady who is always at the front what age you need to be to work there. The lady in the front is someone I talk with quite a bit and we e-mail each other. We would go out to coffee together, but she works seven days a week and never has time, which is one reason why they are looking for help. She said she would find out after talking with the owner. She e-mailed me the next day saying that my daughter could work there and that she has the job and needs to start work this Thursday. I was shocked.
I called the lady at the front and told her it is awesome that my daughter could work there because the restaurant is so close to the house and I would feel safe that she is there because of the lady in the front. I did ask her if she could please interview my daughter because I wanted her to feel that she earned it herself and that Momma didn't just get her a job. I also wanted her to know what it was like to go through the interview process to get the full job experience. My friend said yes and I took her the other day to the interview.
Prior to the interview my daughter asked me to give her a mock interview in order to prepare. We did that several times and talked about some of the answers that she gave in order to improve her interviewing skills. The day of the interview as we were driving to the restaurant, she asked me to interview her again. This time she couldn't answer any of the questions I asked because she was so nervous and said that she couldn't think, which gave her more anxiety. We parked and I looked at her and said, "You can do this. Don't worry that you can't think right now. I'm sure that when you walk inside and they ask you a question that you will not have any problems at all."
She hated getting out of the car. I reassured her and she walked inside by herself. I sat there for 30 minutes. Then, all of a sudden, she walked outside with a huge grin on her face and a menu in her hand mouthing, "I GOT THE JOB!".
She raced to the car and said that she starts this Thursday and we needed to buy her black pants, black skid-free shoes and black socks. While shopping I told her that I would buy her first set of work clothes, but that she would need to buy future work clothes for herself with the money that she earned. She agreed.
I started my first job at 15 years of age and made a whopping $3.25 an hour. That was 21 years ago. Two Christmases ago I took a part-time job at Bath and Body Works to make some extra bucks during the Christmas season and also use the money I earned along with the employee discount I received to buy Christmas presents. I made $7.50 an hour.
Guess what my daughter is making?
She is 15 years old. This is her FIRST JOB. She will be making $8.00 an hour PLUS TIPS!!
I was floored to say the least.
I am now thinking about getting a part-time job there myself for the weekends to make some extra money. I told people at work and they are wanting to get a part-time job there as well.
Phenomenal money. I don't know what she will do with it all. Just think about it...if she works two days a week (ten hours a week total), she will make $320 a month just on her hourly wage. Who knows what she will make in tips! It is an upscale restaurant and she has the potential to make very good tips there.
She already said that she is going to save her money for a car. Her father said a long time ago that he will match her dollar for dollar on any money she saves that she earned. I told her to call her father and tell him to start saving his money now since she has a job. He laughed and said, "She'll never bloody save her money! No danger there!" (he's English, hence the "bloody"). Oh well...I think he best save. I don't think he realizes how much money she'll be making.
I picked her up tonight and she was exhausted. She got in the car and leaned on the door looking like she wanted to pass out. She said, "Momma, I'm soooooo tired! My feet hurt and I just want to go to bed!". I told her, "You don't have to do this, you know. You have the rest of your life to work. Just enjoy your teenage years. Are you sure you want to do this?" She looked me right in the eyes and said, "I need to do this. It will be good for me and help me get ready for when I'm an adult".
I'm so proud of her.
She found out tonight that this is a trial period. The first three days are for training and she doesn't get paid. If after the three days she shows that she gets it and is ready, they will hire her and start paying her along with tips. She asked that if she gets hired after training that she would like for us to be her first customer. I said that I would love to.
The rule is that her grades cannot be compromised while working. She will have to quit if they go down. I really hope that she can do this for herself. It will really build some maturity and also self-esteem.
On another note, I also started something new. I wouldn't call it a part-time job. I don't really know what to call it. It's just a fun way to make a little money. It only cost $10 to get into it and I love makeup, lotions, body and beauty stuff anyway.
I am now the little old Avon lady. Talk about getting old...sheesh!
1 year ago
