Welcome to Disadvantages of After School Jobs!
If you clicked on this post, I’m guessing that you either have a job and want to quit it or you’re thinking about getting a job but you’re not sure if you should.
When it comes down to it, you need to make a list of pro’s and con’s that you can refer to when making your final decision.
My goal is to help you with that my providing a list in this post of both pro’s and con’s of having a job as a teenager.
But, it’s important to remember that these aren’t going to be the same for everyone. You will have individual reasons that will impact your decision.
So as much as I hope that this post helps you, you will still have to do some thinking on your own.
Without further ado, here are the disadvantages of after school jobs!
Disadvantages of After School Jobs
Less Time Available
Obviously the biggest disadvantage of after school jobs is that you will have much less time available for other things in your life. You’ll quickly notice that time will pass you by much faster and you’ll have less and less time to do other things that you want to do.
When you think about this, it makes sense. There is only 168 hours in a week. You should spend about 56 hours sleeping if you are sleeping 8 hours a night. School is 35 hours a week. On top of school, homework can take 10 hours a week. Transportation, hygiene, and meals take up another 20 hours easily. Extracurricular activities can take up another 10 hours. This leaves only 30-ish hours a week for free time, family time, and homework.
But, once you add in 10-20 hours a week at your job. Your free time is cut in half and you are left with very little time each week.
Scheduling Issues
Another major thing to consider is how your schedule will be effected by having a job. Let’s say you like to go to football games on Friday nights, youth group on Wednesday nights, and some sort of club on Mondays. Sadly, I highly doubt that you will get to do all of these activities each week.
Very few employers are flexible enough to do that. Some employers might give you 1-2 days that you won’t be scheduled, but most weeks, it will vary greatly and you won’t get much say in your schedule.
Hard To Get Time Off
On top of that, you will have another issue with scheduling whenever you need an extended period of time off for a trip or vacation.
Depending on the business you are working for, there might only be a few employees available for scheduling.
So when Christmas comes around, and half of the employees are going on a vacation, it will be hard for the business to function.
As a result, you might not get the time off that you want and you might be forced to stay home and work or risk losing your job.
You might get frustrated by this, but think about it from the employer’s point of view and I bet that it will make sense.
Grades Will Be Harder To Manage
Keeping your grades good in school will also become a difficult task. All of the sudden with your job you’ll find that you are working two school nights a week.
If this is the case, you’ll have a lot less time for homework. If you happen to have a lot of homework due the next day and you work that night, you might be in trouble.
You don’t want to stay up all night doing homework after you get home form work, so instead you should try to avoid these situations as best you can.
The key is to stay organized and use the time that you do have. If you know that you have a project due on Friday and you work on Thursday, then you need to have your project done on Wednesday.
Don’t let this stress you out though, because you actually have tons of time available to you throughout the day. We all know that some classes throughout the day are just a waste of time.
But instead of sitting there doing nothing, you could be working on your homework in order to try to get ahead before you work.
Here is how you can balance work and school!
More Stressed
I’m sure that all of this sounds a little stressful to you, and you’re right. Having a job in high school is really stressful. But, it’s only as stressful if you make it.
It can get difficult navigating deadlines, anticipating due dates, and not having much time to work on things.
However, stay organized and work on things one step at a time. You don’t want to spend too much time about how you’re going to get something done. You should just start working on it right now!
Less Time Hanging Out With Friends
If you have a job, there’s a chance that you might miss out on spending time with your friends.
Depending on what your friends decide to do, you could be working the day that the rest of them are getting together.
It might be a little sad, but it’s not the end of the world. Odds are, once you’re out of high school you won’t even be friends with these people.
Sometimes it’s better to work on your financial goals than to spend time with friends.
But, don’t get me wrong, you should still spend time with your friends. So, do your best to get together with them in the future, and don’t beat yourself up too much right now.
Worse Mood
You might find that all of these disadvantages really start to take their toll on you. You’re absolutely right. Having a job can really affect your mood.
It’s a combination of a lot of factors. One, you’re probably somewhat upset that you have to spend your time working instead of other things. You might be missing out on things that you want to be at. On top of that, you’re probably also feeling the added stress from trying to manage your schedule and keep your grades up.
Don’t get discouraged though! You’re learning some very valuable real-world skills through this process!
Advantages of After School Jobs
While it may seem like having a job really sucks, there are some positive advantages that come from it as well.
Consistent Income
Obviously the biggest one is that you get paid! It always feels great to have that paycheck deposited in your account.
But, this also opens up a lot of opportunities for you with having a consistent income. You can start to spend money regularly on things that you want to spend money on.
You also get the opportunity to take some responsibility with your finances when it comes to paying whatever bills you have.
There are ways to save money as a teenager without a job!
Improve Social Skills
One of the huge benefits I saw from having my job was that my social skills improved dramatically.
At my job I was having to interact with customers all the time. I got used to making small talk with strangers to the point where I became much better at it.
My friendship skills also improved as I developed many work friends.
Money Management Skills
With your new income, you’ll have the opportunity to start spending some of your hard-earned money. And with that, will come some new money management skills.
You’ll make some mistakes, but that will help you grow into a more responsible person financially.
You should start budgeting, saving, investing, and making other smart choices in order to set up for a long life of financial success.
If you’d like to learn more about budgeting, here are 10 budgeting tips for teens!
Time Management Skills
Some of the disadvantages on this list can also be advantages! One of those is learning time management skills. With your free time cut down significantly, you’ll have to step up and use your time more responsibly.
Learning to use every bit of your time effectively will be a great skill to have once you reach adulthood.
Experience
If you have a job, you will get some valuable experience from it. This will translate nicely into whatever jobs you get in the future.
You’ll most likely get experience in customer service, teamwork, and hard-work in almost any job that you get.
Networking
Perhaps one of the greatest advantages to having a job as a teenager is that there are huge networking opportunities associated with a job.
You’ll get the chance to connect with several influential co-workers, supervisors, and even customers.
You never know who you may end up working with in the future, so it’s a good idea to always treat everyone respectfully.
Looks Good On a Resume
Having a job in high school looks really impressive on a resume or a college application.
On a resume, future employers will get to see the skills you have and the experience you have working in a certain industry.
On a college application, colleges like to see that someone is responsible enough to balance both work and school.
If you’re able to have a job, it will definitely pay off in the future.
Work Friends
One of the things I love about my current job is the friends that I have built from it. I’ve always been more on the mature side of my age group, so I really enjoy getting to have older friends at my job.
I’ve built friendships that are just as strong as the relationships that I have with people at school.
It makes work a lot more fun to when you think about it as hanging out with friends and getting paid for doing so.
Here are some more benefits of teenage jobs!
The Takeaway
If you are considering get a job or quiting your current job, it’s important to consider the advantages and disadvantages of doing so.
After-school jobs do have quite a few disadvantages such as having less flexibility in your schedule, struggling to maintain good grades, and having extra stress in your life.
However, there are also some powerful advantages that come from having a job such as learning money management skills, time management skills, and gaining experience.
Overall, I would encourage you to get a job if you are thinking about doing so. Although it might add some extra stress, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in my opinion.
But, if you’re just looking to make money, you could also consider starting a business. Here are some business ideas for students with low investment!
Best of luck!