>>357984Bad minimum wage laws and massive teen unemployment have made entry into the workforce more awkward than previous generations. So many kids with a masters degree in whatever want a job to pay off massive student loans but have never filled out a timecard or have been expected to fulfill the basic responsibilities of employment.
In previous generations when some young 22-year-old wanted to start a professional career and was looking for work employers could feel more confident in him by checking his work history. Maybe a paper route and a job or two. Old managers used as references can tell you that they didn't pay much but if he still showed up on time and put in the effort you can feel good about hiring him.
Teen unemployment has been so bad the perception has changed. Working is actually thought of an "adult only thing" and many kids don't even thinking about getting a job until they're 2X. Actually getting a job at 14 or 15 is often legally difficult, before that can nearly impossible, and even at 16 you're seen as going in very "early." But your teen years are your opportunity to grow up, that means starting to live independently and form the skills you'll need in your life while your brain is still developing and highly active. You should not be putting it off until your early 20s. By you 24 you should have nearly a decade of work experience. You should not have the same amount of work experience as a 8-year-old, aka none.
Getting a job is scary to these kids, they feel like they'd rather go to school and be "exposed to lots of things" before choosing a job. But that's just a cop out, the best way to get exposed to lots of things is to start working early and work a few different jobs. I don't know if you'll meet more people on your jobs compared to school, but you will meet more experienced and actively working people, and will more directly expose you to whatever industry you try working at as well as all the other industries working with you.
