If you are like many other students at Yorba Linda High School, you’re probably thinking about getting a job very soon. Having a job as a high school student can be extremely advantageous; a job gives you access to real-world experiences, a disposable income, and a chance to meet new people, among other things.

While this all sounds great, getting a job is actually not as easy as it sounds. First, you must find a place that is hiring and an environment that will work for you. Then you have to go through an interviewing and vetting process that determines if you are even in the running for the job. Students have an extra level of disadvantages because most students can only work part-time and are not available to come into work when employers may need them in case of an emergency.

As I previously mentioned before, you have to find a place that works for you. The main types of jobs are working retail and working in foodservice. When trying to find a job as a student, you will be working an entry-level job. With this being your first job, employers have no way to gauge your experience and will most likely give you the bottom-of-the-bottom job that will require time and effort to earn a promotion. 

With this said, when you are working at a retail space, you’ll be given the jobs that other employees do not want to do, such as cleaning the floors, folding clothes, and cleaning the bathrooms. Retail spaces also have pretty inconvenient hours, especially for a student who has to be at school for 6 hours a day. In retail stores, there is also a lot of customer service involved, and if that is not your strong suit this job is probably not a good fit for you. Benefits of working retail include employee discounts, early access to products, and the opportunity to earn above minimum wage. 

When looking to work in food service you can choose to work at a place like a fast-food restaurant or grocery store where there are no tips and less reliability on you as a person. Foodservice, unlike retail, has a lot more flexible hours and differentiating shifts. One thing to remember when working in fast food is that there are no tips, so you will be working on hourly pay. A lot of fast food places like Taco Bell and Starbucks offer a number of benefits to their employees, which are more beneficial than the benefits of most retail spaces. Another thing to note is that employees will have a lot of direct consumer time and with almost all orders being made to order, employees are left liable to get these orders correct in order to avoid conflict. It is not uncommon to have extremely rude customers with complicated orders that you must fulfill. 

When you are looking for your first job, take these facts into consideration. Do the research and find out what type of environment you want to work in, and find the job that fits you. The most important thing to remember is that in order for you to enjoy your job and have a good experience in the workforce, you must be comfortable in your environment and compatible with it.  

When asking a student for a quote, one student Adil Ismail (10) said he would rather have a job in “food service because you can get free food and better hours “.