16 year old with new job...question....

[ez]

My daughter has wanted a job for a long time, and trained this week as a cashier for a nice local supermarket and had her first real day yesterday. Her schedule said she was off today (working tomorrow) but they called earlier and asked if she could come in today and bag and she told them no, she had plans. She does have plans for later in the day, but the times could have easily been adjusted. My husband and i just told her we thought she should have said yes and gone in...we were both kinda floored that she said no, I guess we are old school or something but we believe in that:get a new job and show initiative and availability thing. So whats the "new school" way of thinking, just wondering. Seems like jobs are so hard to come by you would want to go the extra mile....or is it no biggie. Appreciate your imput thanks.

 

[aprilgail2]

I am with you- I would have thought a "yes" answer would have been the thing to do. If I was the manager I might think twice about if I did the right thing hiring that person.

 

[DisneySaver28]

On the other hand, she needs to set boundaries right away too. When I was younger, I let my first boss walk all over me. I thought that I needed to be flexible in order to show I appreciated my job. Unfortunately, that meant I was often taken advantage of. My shifts were constantly changed, and it became a complete nightmare!

 

[Christine]

My daughter is 18 and is in her second job. She had her first job at 16 and she was often asked to come in outside of her scheduled time. She always did.

With her next job that she's in now, she's been unexpectedly asked to stay an extra 4 hours or so and has been called in on her days off. So far she's had nothing conflicting with that so she's gone. I think she feels that she should come in when they need her as long as it's not abusive.

 

[MIGrandma]

If her plans were not something super important like a funeral or wedding, and they could easily have been changed she probably should have gone in when asked to work extra. It doesn't look good to the boss to say no right off the bat.

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

As a PP said, unless they are plans I absolutely cannot miss or change then I cancel my plans and go into work. Especially if I am new.
If I plan on going out of town or have plans that cannot be changed I tell people up front at the interview if I know about them at that time.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Your DD better hope and pray that they don't accidentally put her on a day she really needed off. It works both ways. My DD learned that the hard way. Now she does extra shifts as needed. We would never let her work if the labor laws were being broken, but a shift here or there, I would have made her go in. And you are correct, getting a good part-time job at 16 is very hard to find in our area.

 

[msmayor]

My daughter is a college student, and she knows how hard it is to even FIND a job...she searched for weeks and weeks before getting hired. She'd adjust her schedule however she can to accommodate requests because she WANTS to be viewed as a valuable employee. Its a good attitude and the willingness to fill in whenever possible that will help her continue to work there during her major school breaks and the summer.

As a brand new employee, she should have certainly taken the extra shift if she could. It shows a willingness to learn and desire to be a valuable employee.

Tell her to remember....last hired, first fired. If she doesn't prove herself to be a valuable employee and they need to cut staff, she could find herself out of work.

 

[MrsPete]

My daughter has wanted a job for a long time, and trained this week as a cashier for a nice local supermarket and had her first real day yesterday. Her schedule said she was off today (working tomorrow) but they called earlier and asked if she could come in today and bag and she told them no, she had plans. She does have plans for later in the day, but the times could have easily been adjusted. My husband and i just told her we thought she should have said yes and gone in...we were both kinda floored that she said no, I guess we are old school or something but we believe in that:get a new job and show initiative and availability thing. So whats the "new school" way of thinking, just wondering. Seems like jobs are so hard to come by you would want to go the extra mile....or is it no biggie. Appreciate your imput thanks.

Sounds like she hasn't developed a work ethic yet. Give her time.

 

[palmtreegirl]

I don't think she made a mistake, she's only 16, it's not like she's working to pay the rent/bills etc..

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

I have been seeking employment for a few months now and every place I interviewed with asked if I would be available to come in early or on days off or stay late.
In this economy employers are looking for people willing to work the extra hours.
A PP said last hired, first hired. This has happened to me twice since January so it is definitely something to think about.

 

[MrsPete]

I don't think she made a mistake, she's only 16, it's not like she's working to pay the rent/bills etc..

A mistake? No, not really. She had no obligation to go in. It's more like she had two choices, and she didn't choose the one that would be best for her future employment.

The boss'll remember who comes in and who doesn't. And in a first-time job like this one, it could mean getting her preferred days off, getting more hours when she wants them, etc. Let's put it this way: The store probably has 12-15 cashiers, right? And probably a good number of them go to the same high school. So when all of them ask to be off the night of homecoming, the boss is going to give the day off to the girl who's come in every time he's asked. When Christmas rolls around, and several people say, "Hey, school's out from the 20th to the 1st -- could I pick up some more hours?" The boss is going to give those extra hours to his most dependable people. And, of course, there's always the value of the reference for a bigger, better job.

No, she didn't do WRONG by not coming in. But she did miss an opportunity to make herself look good, to stand out from the crowd.

 

[pioneer89]

Wow, this is a tough one to answer.

If she is worried about making a good impression, she should go to the manager on her next work day, and spell out what she expects.

If she wants extra hours, she should tell them that she's very sorry she couldn't come in, but she had personal plans already made that would have been very hard to break, but she will certainly be available for call-in most other times. (Tell her to in no way make up an excuse. "Personal Plans is the truth, even if those plans were to sit around and watch MTV. If pressed, she just has to repeat that they are personal.)


If she's not worried about making a good impression (not a bad thing by the way... it's just a temporary job, and the manager has likely been through dozens, if not hundreds of kids like her.) Then just go into work as scheduled, and don't have a second thought.

On a semi-related note, "making a good impression" is highly dependant on the manager. At the retail level, the quality of managers ranges from: "why are they not CEO?", down to "Why are they not in prison?". The worst managers (and there are plenty of them) will walk all over her and never thing twice. Even if a good impression is completely wasted because all the good hours, good duties, promotions, etc are doled out based on how badly he/she wants to get into your pants, or how good of a drinking buddy you are.

Even some of the better managers will never see her as a person, and their impression of her will start and stop with "Does she show up when scheduled and not make me look too bad?" At 16, in a retail job, they know the odds are 100 to 1 that they will even know your face in 6 months.

 

[RitaZ.]

Your DD better hope and pray that they don't accidentally put her on a day she really needed off. It works both ways. My DD learned that the hard way. Now she does extra shifts as needed. We would never let her work if the labor laws were being broken, but a shift here or there, I would have made her go in. And you are correct, getting a good part-time job at 16 is very hard to find in our area.

Absolutely! It's a give and take situation.

She is 16 and this is her first experience with a real job. Explain to her the reasons why it would have been a better idea to go in today. It's a learning process.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

The timing of the request by the boss almost suggests that it was a "test" to see if the new employee was willing to be flexible and adjust to conditions at the store.

maybe thats how he/she evaluates a new employee on flexibility? and use's that knowledge later in making work schedules.

 

[maelstrom]

I work at a supermarket and I HIGHLY value my days off from the customer nonsense. Unless the store was ridiculously crowded and really pressed for extra cashiers, I'd say no to coming in on my day off too. I have stayed late when the store was unexpectedly busy, I have stayed late when someone (usually a CSM) needed to get their last break in before the cashiers went home and she was going to be stuck on register without a break for the next three hours, etc. I will make allowances like that, because I understand that things happen. But barring the circumstances outlined above, I'm NOT coming in on my day off, especially when I'm scheduled six days a week like I am most weeks.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

This is a tough one. I would've said YES being so new on the job just to make a good impression.

I'm afraid in retail, however, she is going to get SO many calls like this on a regular basis due to no-shows, people calling in sick, vacations, etc.

 

[dimimi]

My daughter has wanted a job for a long time, and trained this week as a cashier for a nice local supermarket and had her first real day yesterday. Her schedule said she was off today (working tomorrow) but they called earlier and asked if she could come in today and bag and she told them no, she had plans. She does have plans for later in the day, but the times could have easily been adjusted. My husband and i just told her we thought she should have said yes and gone in...we were both kinda floored that she said no, I guess we are old school or something but we believe in that:get a new job and show initiative and availability thing. So whats the "new school" way of thinking, just wondering. Seems like jobs are so hard to come by you would want to go the extra mile....or is it no biggie. Appreciate your imput thanks.

I am with you...my son does the same thing! Funny thing is, typically the kids call each other to work, so really his "supervisor" never knows. He's a lifeguard. I agree with you, my husband and I would have both said yes!

 

[Disney Doll]

She has to learn to walk that fine line between being used by saying yes all the time when being called to work extra, and saying yes enough to let them know that she is willing to be a team player but won't get walked all over.

It's a fine art to be abble to discern the difference.

Tell her that the stock response for "no" is "I am so sorry but I have another commitment that I just cannot break this time, but if I could I would".

 

[mamacatnv]

Caller ID is a very valuable tool. DS spent 6 years working for a waterpark as a lifeguard and would only answer the phone if he knew he was willing to go into work, this way he was never in a position to have to say no.

I agree that showing flexibility is valuable and I would have encouraged my child to say yes.