Tired of this...

[Overnight]

Like others have already said, it's the gaps in employment, not changing jobs, that employers and interviewers are going to care about.

None of the interviewers with whom I've spoken cared that I've done a bit of job hopping over the years. They don't expect potential employees to start a job at age sixteen and stick with it until age twenty-eight or some such thing. They care if you've been fired from a string of jobs for joyriding in your supervisors' cars or some such thing, I'm sure, but simply changing jobs? Not so much.

But they do care about employment gaps. Back in February, when I interviewed for my temp job at Voldemart, the managers wanted to know about a small employment gap from 2002. I offered a good explanation (medical discharge from the Army in late 2001 - bad knee had to recover so, while I was working on that painful little problem, I was getting my merry butt into college, which I started in '02 along with a work-study gig).

The interviewers ceased to care about the gap after hearing the reasonable explanation and one even said, "Oh, okay, that's fine. It's not like you were lying around the house not wanting to get up and go to work." (Exactly.)

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

[octopi23]

I am officially not going to apply. My mom slammed on the brakes at 50mph as we were discussing it, threatened to abandon me on the road if I pursued it any further.

[Geek King]

I am officially not going to apply. My mom slammed on the brakes at 50mph as we were discussing it, threatened to abandon me on the road if I pursued it any further.

Ok, I know a lot of kids thing their parents are unreasonable. But in my professional opinion,

Octopi, your parents are being completely unreasonable.

Since the 90's, no one in hiring really care how many jobs you've worked if you show good reasons for moving around. Good reasons include losing the job for one reason or another (not fired! shop closes, temp work, ect.) or bettering yourself money- or time-wise. Your parents are stuck in a different time, and do not have a grasp of the realities of the current workplace.

Of course, being sixteen, this still leaves you in kind of a bad situation. Let the emotions cool down, then sit them down and talk again. Take the time before you bring it up again to look up articles on the internet studying the effects of multiple jobs on a resume. You should find enough to make your point. Be calm, but insistant. Don't rise to the bait to raise your voice, as that will let your parents just dismiss you as being disrespectful. If they threaten grounding, or somesuch, stay calm and remind them that you need to learn how to make these decisions on your own sometime, and you will be moving out in a few years, even if just for college. Learning how the workplace operates is part of that. You should also point out that the Library will be a better position for all the reasons you mentioned. Show them you've thought about it.

Good luck, octopi. You sound like a good kid, and I hope you do well.

[scruff]

the world is very different now than when our parents were our age. My Dad kept his job for 30 years, but that's almost unheard of now.
If you can get a teacher or repected neighbour/uncle to support your job hunting and explaining to your parents, that might be useful.
otherwise, be reasured that you are in the right, and that later, your correct and sensible attitude will help you get a better job, even if it ain't going right right now.
good luck.

[octopi23]

the world is very different now than when our parents were our age. My Dad kept his job for 30 years, but that's almost unheard of now.
If you can get a teacher or repected neighbour/uncle to support your job hunting and explaining to your parents, that might be useful.
otherwise, be reasured that you are in the right, and that later, your correct and sensible attitude will help you get a better job, even if it ain't going right right now.
good luck.

I have a personal friend that works at that library who referred me to it. I just hate working where I work right now because of the customers (although that's a given), the hours, and the fact I stand outside in 90-degree heat for up to 10 hours on end (given one small break in between) and waiting an hour to get a damn bathroom break.

[Mikkel]

Let the emotions cool down, then sit them down and talk again.

You may even show them this thread? I agree, let the emotions cool off but I think the answers here are very well reasoned.

[octopi23]

You may even show them this thread? I agree, let the emotions cool off but I think the answers here are very well reasoned.

I know, but I can't talk to them again. My mom says that if I do, she'll force me to call into my current job and quit, leaving me jobless.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I am officially not going to apply. My mom slammed on the brakes at 50mph as we were discussing it, threatened to abandon me on the road if I pursued it any further.

You will just have to talk about something else. Why don't you tell them, in excruciating detail, all about the suckiness you have to deal with every day from customers, coworkers and bosses? Repeatedly, ad nauseam, etc.

I know, but I can't talk to them again. My mom says that if I do, she'll force me to call into my current job and quit, leaving me jobless.

Gee, that would mean you would have to find another job.

[MaseMan]

Your parents seem like they're being kind of unreasonable. Frankly, I would think working in a library would look better on a resume to most employers than working at an amusement park anyway. To be honest though, after you graduate college, most employers aren't really going to care where you worked when you were 16.

I agree with the advice from another poster that you should sit down with your parents when they are calmed down and lay out your thought process on this.

[EricKei]

Wait --

You're a minor, and they have you working ten hours...??

File this under "to the best of my knowledge":

Unless they are giving you two hours worth of breaks, evenly spaced-out across the work day, that is BLATANTLY illegal. As in, see if your parents will speak to the Labor Dept on your behalf -- research it for them, make it easy ^_^

Not allowing someone to use the restroom when it is "needed" is illegal, as well.

[octopi23]

You will just have to talk about something else. Why don't you tell them, in excruciating detail, all about the suckiness you have to deal with every day from customers, coworkers and bosses? Repeatedly, ad nauseam, etc.



Gee, that would mean you would have to find another job.

And they wouldn't let me look for another one.

[octopi23]

Wait --

You're a minor, and they have you working ten hours...??

File this under "to the best of my knowledge":

Unless they are giving you two hours worth of breaks, evenly spaced-out across the work day, that is BLATANTLY illegal. As in, see if your parents will speak to the Labor Dept on your behalf -- research it for them, make it easy ^_^

Not allowing someone to use the restroom when it is "needed" is illegal, as well.

Excuse this other double post, but I checked the DoL website, and nothing breaks the law, unfortunately. I'm waiting for a reason to quit. They once extended the time of my break last season to compensate for me being late to leave, but that was at least a year ago.

[Julesy]

the world is very different now than when our parents were our age. My Dad kept his job for 30 years, but that's almost unheard of now.
If you can get a teacher or repected neighbour/uncle to support your job hunting and explaining to your parents, that might be useful.
otherwise, be reasured that you are in the right, and that later, your correct and sensible attitude will help you get a better job, even if it ain't going right right now.
good luck.

I agree especially with the bolded, and especially after the last update.
It sounds like it is really time for a reasonable adult to step in.

[octopi23]

Apparently, I need to learn discipline, and quitting at "Seven Flags" means I'd be running away from that job. However, where is the line between learning discipline and being taken advantage of? They're absolutely refusing to listen.

[EricKei]

You are being taken advantage of by the "fair". That line has already been crossed.

I'm sorry that you are in that situation.

Perhaps they will come around with time. Might I suggest asking one of them just come to the park one random work day (preferably a busy one) -- and have them observe you from a distance? Preferably when you don't know that they're actually present, if possible. It sounds to me like they simply do not BELIEVE that the place is all that bad.

You may wanna check your state's local labor site, too (it's best that you NOT mention which state in here; anonymity is wise) -- They usually decide how long minors can work.