Teenage Jobs in Starkville

[Hugh's Burner Phone]

My fellow Starkville peeps. My 16 year old son is looking for a job for the rest of summer and into the school year and wondering if any of you knew of anything or might be looking to hire someone. His main interests is computer repair and building, and he had hoped to get some type of job at one of those businesses in town, but they all had a requirement to be 18. I know there's grocery stores and fast food type jobs, but OCD makes it hard for him to deal with large numbers of people (especially when they're impatient and excessively argumentative) so I don't think he would do well in those types of environments. Hoping somebody here might have something or know of something. If so, hit me up with a DM, please.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

Yup, sounds like keep him out of retail. More than enough entitled folks believe chapstick should be applied.

 

[T-TownDawgg]

PM sent

 

[Trazom]

PM sent

Ditto

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Don’t immediately discount (heh) Grocery Stores. There are jobs he can do that doesn’t involve checkout.

And having said that, I think being OCD would be a positive working at a register. He’d make Damb sure to follow procedure.

Fast food, on the other hand…. Maybe not that

Good luck!

 

[TheDawg-Pound]

My fellow Starkville peeps. My 16 year old son is looking for a job for the rest of summer and into the school year and wondering if any of you knew of anything or might be looking to hire someone. His main interests is computer repair and building, and he had hoped to get some type of job at one of those businesses in town, but they all had a requirement to be 18. I know there's grocery stores and fast food type jobs, but OCD makes it hard for him to deal with large numbers of people (especially when they're impatient and excessively argumentative) so I don't think he would do well in those types of environments. Hoping somebody here might have something or know of something. If so, hit me up with a DM, please.

Did he find anything? How does he feel about manual labor/ working outside ?

 

[mstateglfr]

Don’t immediately discount (heh) Grocery Stores. There are jobs he can do that doesn’t involve checkout.

And having said that, I think being OCD would be a positive working at a register. He’d make Damb sure to follow procedure.

I thought grocery shelf stocking and facing, but quickly thought it might not be great to see all your work continually ruined- product not aligned, holes in the product, labels spun to the side, etc.

Huh, I wonder if someone else creating that disruption would be an issue or would it be seen as an accepted challenge that never ends.

 

[dorndawg]

Seems like you see less and less teenage folks working. Maybe these kids are soft and sorry. And just generally, there's less and less "simple" jobs, that you can kinda spend a few minutes showing a 16 year old how to do and then they mostly do that for a summer.

 

[aTotal360]

Seems like you see less and less teenage folks working. Maybe these kids are soft and sorry. And just generally, there's less and less "simple" jobs, that you can kinda spend a few minutes showing a 16 year old how to do and then they mostly do that for a summer.

It's the opposite in my area. At all the fast food places, it's either teenagers or old folks. Not sure what that says about the people in the middle. Are they not working, or do they have better jobs? I'll guess it's a mix of both.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

I thought grocery shelf stocking and facing, but quickly thought it might not be great to see all your work continually ruined- product not aligned, holes in the product, labels spun to the side, etc.

Huh, I wonder if someone else creating that disruption would be an issue or would it be seen as an accepted challenge that never ends.

Being OCD & whose family had a mom and pop store for several years, I saw it as an accepted challenge

 

[mstateglfr]

@Hugh's Burner Phone - just chiming in to say that I sympathize with the struggle as I see it with a ton of teens.
I know a couple girls that are 16 and volunteering a few times a week at a hospital for SilverCord hours(not sure if thats a thing in MS?) because neither heard back from a few restaurants and grocery stores. They are both high achieving, reliable, and can hold real conversations for multiple minutes at a time.

Having gone through the teen jobs experience with my oldest kid and now entering it with my younger who at 15 is watering newly planted trees for a non-profit since that is all they could get for work...teen job availability seems quite unpredictable year to year.

Hopefully your kid gets something soon!

 

[The Peeper]

OCD makes it hard for him to deal with large numbers of people (especially when they're impatient and excessively argumentative) so I don't think he would do well in those types of environments.

Not making light of the situation but I hope you are watching his online habits and not letting him near this board?

 

[johnson86-1]

Seems like you see less and less teenage folks working. Maybe these kids are soft and sorry. And just generally, there's less and less "simple" jobs, that you can kinda spend a few minutes showing a 16 year old how to do and then they mostly do that for a summer.

There are way fewer teenagers working. There are plenty of college graduates now that finish college with basically no work experience (I think it's like over 20% now). While you always have older people complaining about the new generation, it really does present new challenges when people enter the workforce at 22 or 23 with no real work experience.

I assume it's going to get worse as more areas move to almost year round schooling. Hard to justify hiring a teenager as a summer worker when they are only going to be there 6 weeks. And I feel like even before that, most places with any safety risk had basically moved away from teenagers being considered.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

Being OCD & whose family had a mom and pop store for several years, I saw it as an accepted challenge

This mom and pop store triggers all the ocd in this family. Neither kid wants to be anywhere near here. Haha.

 

[johnson86-1]

@Hugh's Burner Phone - just chiming in to say that I sympathize with the struggle as I see it with a ton of teens.
I know a couple girls that are 16 and volunteering a few times a week at a hospital for SilverCord hours(not sure if thats a thing in MS?) because neither heard back from a few restaurants and grocery stores. They are both high achieving, reliable, and can hold real conversations for multiple minutes at a time.

Having gone through the teen jobs experience with my oldest kid and now entering it with my younger who at 15 is watering newly planted trees for a non-profit since that is all they could get for work...teen job availability seems quite unpredictable year to year.

Hopefully your kid gets something soon!

This is probably somewhat an indication of living somewhere with a decent workforce. Plenty of places in Mississippi, small businesses will bend over backwards to have an employee that they know will work when they are not being watched and won't steal from them. When we were in high school, my brother basically ran a cash heavy business for a week so the owners could take their first vacation in years because they didn't have anybody they could trust to tend shop. I'm sure some of this was maybe their fault to an extent. I knew a couple of business owners that could not leave their business, but would not pay enough for even their highest paid non-family member employee for them to treat it as a long term career option. But this particular business probably didn't make enough to do that.

 

[Bulldog45]

Probably too late for this but my favorite job I’ve ever had was working for the parks dept. Would mow/weed eat and get fields ready during the day and go back and umpire at night.

 

[dorndawg]

Not making light of the situation but I hope you are watching his online habits and not letting him near this board?

Username checks out **

 

[BulldogBlitz]

This is probably somewhat an indication of living somewhere with a decent workforce. Plenty of places in Mississippi, small businesses will bend over backwards to have an employee that they know will work when they are not being watched and won't steal from them. When we were in high school, my brother basically ran a cash heavy business for a week so the owners could take their first vacation in years because they didn't have anybody they could trust to tend shop. I'm sure some of this was maybe their fault to an extent. I knew a couple of business owners that could not leave their business, but would not pay enough for even their highest paid non-family member employee for them to treat it as a long term career option. But this particular business probably didn't make enough to do that.

Sounds very much like us. How much is "pay enough"? I know all the entry level spots on this corner of 20 or so businesses, we are top end for pay.

In our situation this store does many things. I can do every bit of it. I am the master of all. My wife can do 65% of it (remaining 35 is untouchable), our one employee is maybe up to 50%. I dont do anything that special, but I would not try and find an individual with my skillset. Max would be 70% of the store offering.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Don’t immediately discount (heh) Grocery Stores. There are jobs he can do that doesn’t involve checkout.

And having said that, I think being OCD would be a positive working at a register. He’d make Damb sure to follow procedure.

Fast food, on the other hand…. Maybe not that

Good luck!

Kroger in Hernando hires kids like that all the time. I’m sure the one in Starkville would do the same.

 

[rynodawg]

There are way fewer teenagers working. There are plenty of college graduates now that finish college with basically no work experience (I think it's like over 20% now). While you always have older people complaining about the new generation, it really does present new challenges when people enter the workforce at 22 or 23 with no real work experience.

I assume it's going to get worse as more areas move to almost year round schooling. Hard to justify hiring a teenager as a summer worker when they are only going to be there 6 weeks. And I feel like even before that, most places with any safety risk had basically moved away from teenagers being considered.

I think the increase in travel sports and after school activities affects it as well. For my kid I consider school his primary job,, but marching band takes a significant time for a solid 2 weeks in summer,, plus 3 nights per week in school year. There are lots of kids with similar schedules and not many places will hire a kid that is just unavailable 3-4 nights per week and out of town often on weekends.

In my subdivision I see many kids that I know are involved in sports etc that offer to mow lawns, basic landscaping, basic maintenance in summer. Girls will often offer to pet sit, etc. Part time gig work like that, or volunteering somewhere part time, is about all they have time to schedule.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

@Hugh's Burner Phone - just chiming in to say that I sympathize with the struggle as I see it with a ton of teens.
I know a couple girls that are 16 and volunteering a few times a week at a hospital for SilverCord hours(not sure if thats a thing in MS?) because neither heard back from a few restaurants and grocery stores. They are both high achieving, reliable, and can hold real conversations for multiple minutes at a time.

Having gone through the teen jobs experience with my oldest kid and now entering it with my younger who at 15 is watering newly planted trees for a non-profit since that is all they could get for work...teen job availability seems quite unpredictable year to year.

Hopefully your kid gets something soon!

Tons of teen jobs in Flowood, my three worked the whole way through HS. Food service, Car Washes, etc. Many folks apply online, but the key going to the establishment when the manager is there and talking directly to him/her.

 

[jethreauxdawg]

Seems like you see less and less teenage folks working. Maybe these kids are soft and sorry. And just generally, there's less and less "simple" jobs, that you can kinda spend a few minutes showing a 16 year old how to do and then they mostly do that for a summer.

Yup. Chicken or the egg? Did the job go away because the kids won’t work or did the kids quit working because the job went away.
Or are mom and dad just giving so much to the kid they don’t need money for anything?

 

[johnson86-1]

Sounds very much like us. How much is "pay enough"? I know all the entry level spots on this corner of 20 or so businesses, we are top end for pay.

In our situation this store does many things. I can do every bit of it. I am the master of all. My wife can do 65% of it (remaining 35 is untouchable), our one employee is maybe up to 50%. I dont do anything that special, but I would not try and find an individual with my skillset. Max would be 70% of the store offering.

I think that's market specific, but in the particular case I was thinking of the business owners had a good employee and he left to be a teacher. The hourly wage they were paying, when multiplied by 2,000 hours, would have been a little less than a starting teacher salary at the time. Had I been them, I would have gladly paid him $10k to $15k more (which still would have been a worse deal for him considering the difference in hours and benefits, but with the promise to let him buy the company from them, he probably would have stayed). This particular business I know could have afforded that, and to me it would have been a no brainer to pay that much extra for the benefit of being able to leave for a vacation once a year and also have a built in buyer that they could probably owner finance over time, so keep a stream of income going in retirement (when they sell, it's probably going to be for nothing and they're going to end up owner financing somebody with no or little experience).

I think that's generally probably a good barometer for most markets though. Unless you've got somebody capable that's older and just never went to college and it won't make sense for them to go get a college degree and teach (or possibly if you are in an area where you aren't basically guaranteed a job as a teacher if you), you are going to have to pay at least what a starting teacher in the area gets and have some clearly identifiable upside so they can envision making up for the difference in time and benefits. Even if the person would never in a million years voluntarily teach, there are going to be other employers making similar calculations that you will be competing with.

 

[johnson86-1]

I think the increase in travel sports and after school activities affects it as well. For my kid I consider school his primary job,, but marching band takes a significant time for a solid 2 weeks in summer,, plus 3 nights per week in school year. There are lots of kids with similar schedules and not many places will hire a kid that is just unavailable 3-4 nights per week and out of town often on weekends.

In my subdivision I see many kids that I know are involved in sports etc that offer to mow lawns, basic landscaping, basic maintenance in summer. Girls will often offer to pet sit, etc. Part time gig work like that, or volunteering somewhere part time, is about all they have time to schedule.

Yup. Chicken or the egg? Did the job go away because the kids won’t work or did the kids quit working because the job went away.
Or are mom and dad just giving so much to the kid they don’t need money for anything?

I think it's all of the above. Lots of companies outside of retail will just not hire high school age kids, some of that's because they've decided they're unreliable, some of that is fear of legal risks. Lots more kids don't have enough free time so it's maybe harder to have job models that rely on them. Lots more kids just aren't expected to pay for things on their own. And it's a mixed bag of how good it is. I'm a fan of kids not spending every day after school working and spending their summers working full time jobs. Definitely not the worst thing if that's happening, but while I want my kids to work some, I do want them to have the type of freedom and time that they're not going to have after school is done until they can retire. But it's definitely not ideal when you finish high school and have not had any real responsibility other than school. And it seems much worse if you're graduating college if that's the case. I think I'd prefer the work every day after school and full time in the summer all through high school over the no work ever route.