With the summer fast approaching, like myself, millions of parents worldwide are wondering how their teens will occupy themselves for the one or two months they have off school.
To those people, I have two words: A summer job.
I have fond memories of my summer job, not least because I got to work with my family, and learn the family business, but because I still carry the lessons I learned doing it.
I started my summer job a little younger than most, aged 10, as a salesman (or rather, sales boy) in my grandfather’s jewellery shop.
Even if I say so myself, I was a very good salesman🙂who enjoyed great success.
My summer job also taught me a very important lesson about myself: interacting with customers and clients brought something out in me that I didn’t know was there. At school, I was one of the quieter ones, but once I got behind the shop counter, well let’s just say, you couldn’t shut me up 😁
The school introvert became the sales extrovert, a trait I might not have tapped into were it not for my summer job allowing me to explore different facets of my personality.
To me, summer jobs are a vital part of growing up, giving teens and young people the chance to dip their toes into the workplace, explore certain types of business, and learn invaluable lessons like commitment, time management, and self-motivation. Not to mention the confidence it builds and the work ethic it can cultivate and instill.
And just like me and my unlocked trait, who knows what a summer job might unleash in the teen in your life?
Note: The image below is AI generated depicting my teenage self in my grandfather’s shop.