Why Job Hunting Can Be a Negative Experience for High School Students

453 Words2 Pages
Why Students Have Difficulty Finding a Job In high school, students begin to realize that, very soon, they will need to join the workforce in some capacity. As students mature, independence is gained. Parents begin refusing to pay for food, clothes, gas, insurance, or outings with friends. Thus, as cash becomes more and more necessary to the student’s lifestyle, it becomes more and more important to obtain a job. A student will search, apply, and interview for a paid position possibly several times before being hired. Locating a company that is willing to hire busy high school students can be difficult due to company age requirements and the students’ complicated schedules. The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes the requirements a young person must meet to be legally employed. Minors under sixteen years old can only work a set number of hours per day unless they are proven to no longer be enrolled in school. In addition, they cannot manufacture explosives, mine, or operate certain power tools or machines. Because of these restrictions, many companies refuse to hire high school students age sixteen and under. For ages seventeen and eighteen, the age and hour restrictions set by a company and the government lift completely. However, the students’ schedules become less flexible as the school year progresses. High school students are responsible for juggling many activities and obligations. They must attend school, study for their classes, spend time with their families, regularly perform household chores or run errands, hang out with friends, go to clubs, rehearsals, or meetings within their school or community, and find spare moments when they can eat, shower, and sleep. When it becomes necessary to add a job to this list of engagements, it can prove nearly impossible to allow more than six or eight hours a week to be spent working. Many
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