s/o college degree & working

[Granny_Weatherwax]

DD is looking for a semi-permanent position. She isn't looking for her life's work or a career, just something to help her earn and save money for current and future expenses.

 

A local hair salon was advertising for a part time receptionist; pay is minimum wage, no benefits. When DD inquired about the position she was told that a college degree was required; an AA would be considered but a BA/BS was preferred.

 

DD also answered an ad for a full time mother's helper/nanny. This was a long shot but she thought she would go for it anyway. The hours are 7am-11pm Mon-Fri and pays $12 an hour and must be claimed because the family wants the tax deduction for child care. The family desires a BA, with childcare experience. The ideal candidate will also have a car no older than 2010 and will provide transportation for the children to their various activities. No reimbursement for gas or wear and tear on the vehicle.

 

DD is a little disheartened and I am sitting here shaking my head.

[Sharon H in IL]

"Degree creep" is when the minimum requirements for jobs creep higher and higher. They do it 'cause they can.

[LittleIzumi]

"Degree creep" is when the minimum requirements for jobs creep higher and higher. They do it 'cause they can.

:iagree: When min. wage keeps rising & the economy is tight, employers want the most bang for their buck, & it becomes harder to gain entry-level employment. It's why I'm economically opposed to raising min. wages.

[FaithManor]

Wow, that's a little ridiculous! But, in our area unemployment is so high that even a receptionist job for minimum wage will see a 200 resumes. So, I would imagine that the salon figures it's a weeder requirement and that if they can get a BS/BA for that price, why not? The nanny thing would not fly. At $4.00 a gallon for gas and the creeping cost of insurance and oil for cars plus the level of responsibility, I don't know anyone who is unemployed that would take that position.

 

Now, the following are hot, tiring jobs, but if she doesn't mind, then she could try agricultural work such as de-tassling corn ( a lot of teens do that in this area) and hoeing in the corn fields. Most of these are minimum wage jobs, but a few farmers are desperate enough to pay a little bit more for the efficient teenage worker.

 

Also, does she have any experience with livestock? DD, before medic school and pre-med, made good money as a farm sitter. Many, many farmers never get a vacation because they can't get anyone with experience to mind the animals. Dd would get $50.00 per day to live at the farm and do morning and evening chores plus look over the stock for problems. This was for small farms...so maybe less than six horses to much out after, one cow, some laying hens, and a few sheep. For large farms, she charged more depending on how long chores would take. In the winter, chores take much longer than in the summer when animals predominantly stay out to pasture. So, your daughter, if she has this experience, would need to research the going rates in her area and then make her rate commensurate with her experience level. As for an hourly rate, if the farmer only needed day service and no one to stay at the farm, then she charged an hourly rate of $8.50. So a small hobby farm might only pay $25.00 for her services.

 

One other possibility is to advertise as an elder care companion. I know of a high schooler who "sits" (though never for dementia patients that have significant mental disturbances) with elderly people who just need someone with them for a couple of hours while a family member is gone. These are all ambulatory people who do not need medical care. She is there just in case, to make sure grandma doesn't leave the stove on after making tea, etc. and usually takes books to read out loud and puzzles or games to play. She charges minimum wage for this and a mileage fee if the home is more than 10 miles away. However, though she seems to do this several times a week once she developed a clientel, I can't say for certain how steady it is.

 

Faith

[Photo Ninja]

I wonder if your dd can make herself more marketable by getting some sort of certificate.

 

My dc got good paying jobs (well over minimum wage) by getting their lifeguard certifications. Two of my dc did this and got jobs lifeguarding, one coached a couple swim teams, and the other teaches swim lessons. The reason this helped is that one must have the lifeguard certificate in order to have the job, so there were fewer people applying.

 

There are other types of certificate programs that don't require a long educational process. A phlebotomist certification is one idea. It takes a few months, but that's not long when you consider your dd may be able to get a better than minimum wage job after she does it. She may not make it a career, but it is a marketable skill. Around here the courses are on weekends for 5 weeks - not a long time investment.

 

An athletic training certificate, or Zumba certification would be another idea. Again, it would open the doors for different type of employment than unskilled retail type employment.

 

Just another idea.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Wow, that's a little ridiculous! But, in our area unemployment is so high that even a receptionist job for minimum wage will see a 200 resumes. So, I would imagine that the salon figures it's a weeder requirement and that if they can get a BS/BA for that price, why not? The nanny thing would not fly. At $4.00 a gallon for gas and the creeping cost of insurance and oil for cars plus the level of responsibility, I don't know anyone who is unemployed that would take that position. I think this is why the position is still open, the local employment agency cannot find anyone willing to take the job.

 

Now, the following are hot, tiring jobs, but if she doesn't mind, then she could try agricultural work such as de-tassling corn ( a lot of teens do that in this area) and hoeing in the corn fields. Most of these are minimum wage jobs, but a few farmers are desperate enough to pay a little bit more for the efficient teenage worker. Unfortunately, DD's current condition negates this type of labor.

Also, does she have any experience with livestock? DD, before medic school and pre-med, made good money as a farm sitter. Many, many farmers never get a vacation because they can't get anyone with experience to mind the animals. Dd would get $50.00 per day to live at the farm and do morning and evening chores plus look over the stock for problems. This was for small farms...so maybe less than six horses to much out after, one cow, some laying hens, and a few sheep. For large farms, she charged more depending on how long chores would take. In the winter, chores take much longer than in the summer when animals predominantly stay out to pasture. So, your daughter, if she has this experience, would need to research the going rates in her area and then make her rate commensurate with her experience level. As for an hourly rate, if the farmer only needed day service and no one to stay at the farm, then she charged an hourly rate of $8.50. So a small hobby farm might only pay $25.00 for her services. In our rural area there are a number of farm sitters already.

One other possibility is to advertise as an elder care companion. I know of a high schooler who "sits" (though never for dementia patients that have significant mental disturbances) with elderly people who just need someone with them for a couple of hours while a family member is gone. These are all ambulatory people who do not need medical care. She is there just in case, to make sure grandma doesn't leave the stove on after making tea, etc. and usually takes books to read out loud and puzzles or games to play. She charges minimum wage for this and a mileage fee if the home is more than 10 miles away. However, though she seems to do this several times a week once she developed a clientel, I can't say for certain how steady it is.

 

Faith

The elder care companion is something I am going to propose to her. She can do that inour area and where she is moving in a couple of months. She is a certified CNA so that should be beneficial.

 

Thanks for the idea.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I wonder if your dd can make herself more marketable by getting some sort of certificate.

 

My dc got good paying jobs (well over minimum wage) by getting their lifeguard certifications. Two of my dc did this and got jobs lifeguarding, one coached a couple swim teams, and the other teaches swim lessons. The reason this helped is that one must have the lifeguard certificate in order to have the job, so there were fewer people applying.

I had to giggle at this. Every other teenager in our small city is a certified lifeguard. The city hired over 50 guards this summer and gave them all between 5-7 hours a week. These kids are all scrambling trying to find other employment because they aren't making enough to keep gas in their vehicles. It also doesn't help that we have had a cool wet summer and the pools were closed for most of June.

 

There are other types of certificate programs that don't require a long educational process. A phlebotomist certification is one idea. It takes a few months, but that's not long when you consider your dd may be able to get a better than minimum wage job after she does it. She may not make it a career, but it is a marketable skill. Around here the courses are on weekends for 5 weeks - not a long time investment.

 

An athletic training certificate, or Zumba certification would be another idea. Again, it would open the doors for different type of employment than unskilled retail type employment.

 

Just another idea.

 

I think I may have her look into Phlebotomy, although there are no hospitals where she is moving in August. She would have to commute back into our area for that job. Hmmm....I wonder.

 

Thanks for the idea.

[elegantlion]

A BA for a receptionist job?! :svengo: I have no degree and receptionist was one of the jobs I would try to get because you could get in with a good company without a degree. That was eons ago however.

 

What about tutoring? Or pet sitting, although she probably shouldn't be cleaning litter boxes.

 

Wow, a BA for a receptionist, that one gets me.

[twoforjoy]

A BA for a receptionist job?! :svengo: I have no degree and receptionist was one of the jobs I would try to get because you could get in with a good company without a degree. That was eons ago however.

 

What about tutoring? Or pet sitting, although she probably shouldn't be cleaning litter boxes.

 

Wow, a BA for a receptionist, that one gets me.

 

I applied for numerous receptionist/admin assistant jobs a few years back. Every single one required a BA, most wanted 5+ years of experience, and not one paid more than $20K/year.

[texasmama]

Wow. :001_huh:

 

What about phlebotomy training? I know that is probably left-field, but it seems pretty flexible, doesn't require a tremendous amount of training and I would think the pay wouldn't be too bad. I knew a lady in college who worked her way through college doing phlebotomy.

[Renee in NC]

The elder care companion is something I am going to propose to her. She can do that inour area and where she is moving in a couple of months. She is a certified CNA so that should be beneficial.

 

Thanks for the idea.

 

Can she not work as a CNA?

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Can she not work as a CNA?

Not at the moment. She has certain restrictions due to the pregnancy.

[Renee in NC]

Not at the moment. She has certain restrictions due to the pregnancy.

 

Getting a job while pregnant is likely to be just about impossible if she is showing. I would go with a temp agency since she isn't likely to be working long-term anyway.