14 year old starting work

[Anonymous 1]

DD is starting her first little job next week. It's part of a work program through her school but it's in a regular retail business outside of the school. I'm nervous for her but trying not to let her see that!
I didn't do any work until I was in my 20s and only worked for about 10 years so I feel a little out of my element here. What should I be telling her that I may have forgotten? I'm trying to treat it like a "real job" to help build her comfort level for the future.

[Anonymous 2]

Wear comfortable shoes.

[Anonymous 1]

That's a good one, thanks! I think we'll go buy some new ones today.

Wear comfortable shoes.

[AZOldGal66]

Definitely to come into the job with a thick skin in place as retail can be tough work and customers can be rude and disrespectful.

Don't wear a lot of jewelry or perfume.

Be friendly and smile even if it's hard to do.

[Olioxenfree]

Main thing would be to take it seriously and to practice professional ways to have discussions with others when you disagree. I had a job from when I was 14 and those are the two things that my parents taught me that really helped me get ahead.

Now with my eldest son, it’s really helping him out because a lot of his peers come in thinking they can talk to their supervisors or the customers the way that they talk to their friends and it doesn’t go well for them. It’s actually what got him the job, he yard work and other chores for the owner and they asked if he could come work in their store when he turned 14 and could get a work permit, because they’ve heard him voice his opinions before and he’s able to do it professionally without the “it’s not fair” “that’s too much” every time they are asked to do a task they don’t like and can answer a phone with with more than a “yeah.”

[Della]

Don't display any support for Arabs.

[Anonymous 1]

Good points! Thank you! She sort of has "RBF" (as do I) and I've always let it slide because I'm not a fan of telling people to smile all the time but it was a talk we had to have since she'll be around customers. I'm hoping she doesn't get any AH customers but I do need to go over that possibility with her just in case.

Definitely to come into the job with a thick skin in place as retail can be tough work and customers can be rude and disrespectful.

Don't wear a lot of jewelry or perfume.

Be friendly and smile even if it's hard to do.

[Anonymous 1]

Thanks! She's generally pretty respectful so that shouldn't be an issue but your response helped me remember that there will be at least one other girl there who is a school peer so it's probably worth mentioning to her to watch how she talks to others when customers are present, and in a work environment in general.

Main thing would be to take it seriously and to practice professional ways to have discussions with others when you disagree. I had a job from when I was 14 and those are the two things that my parents taught me that really helped me get ahead.

Now with my eldest son, it’s really helping him out because a lot of his peers come in thinking they can talk to their supervisors or the customers the way that they talk to their friends and it doesn’t go well for them. It’s actually what got him the job, he yard work and other chores for the owner and they asked if he could come work in their store when he turned 14 and could get a work permit, because they’ve heard him voice his opinions before and he’s able to do it professionally without the “it’s not fair” “that’s too much” every time they are asked to do a task they don’t like and can answer a phone with with more than a “yeah.”