Dear Owls,
Last year, I came to you crying my words out about a job. I was in dire need of finding a summer job and it was so difficult because nobody wanted to hire a 16 year old girl in summer.
But little did I know... what they really wanted was a 17 year old girl in summer.
Yes my owls, I did it.
I got a job.
It's only for two months and I'm not officially an employee for legal reasons, but it worked. I'm hired and getting paid for my efforts.
And it's funny because being at home, I hear enough about people wanting to lose weight, and now that I'm working at a Nutrition Center, it's all about weight loss. Everybody that comes in there just wants to complain about the same thing; they can't lose the weight!
Of course all of them say they don't eat and that they think it's a metabolism or hormonal problem that must have been the issue ALL these years.
I'm not sure if this is customer confidentiality... but today a customer came in wanting to lose 10 kilos in less than a week?! How could that even work?
You know what's the best part about all the people that come in? They're not even that thick. They don't even need to lose the fat. They're buying supplements and creams, and although I should be promoting them, I just don't believe in anything but the 'natural way to lose the bust'. It has been quite a tackle to be honest. Considering I haven't taken Biology or Chemistry in the past 3 years and I have no knowledge of most of the things the Doctor keeps taking to me about, she's actually a pretty good teacher. I've learnt more about the body and it's functions in the past two days than I have learnt anything in school in the previous years of study.
In the winter, I went for an art center and comparing the both is just hilarious. They're two different kinds of jobs. Although this job teaching me more social skills and promotion techniques, the art center just made me feel at home. I dealt with amazing kids from the ages of 6 to 10 and they were just the cutest things ever. They made me want to kill them at times, but it was the good kind of murder, the one where you stop for a second and go, 'awe no'. The kids were fun. It was really hectic though, because sometimes they don't listen and I need to raise my voice and say something really mean like "Okay kids, no snack time" and the look on their faces just broke me from the inside.
In hindsight, the past two jobs that I found for myself and took seriously didn't come to me easily. Recently, a teenager wanting to find a job said to me in desperation, "I'm looking everywhere, and I can't believe I can't find anything. I looked online for days and I just can't find anything."
But I'll tell this to every kid that wants to find a job, especially in Dubai. Never expect to find a tag that says *We need a TEENAGER to work for us in summer PLEASE*
like, that's never going to happen.
The advice I'd give first of all is the following:
- Fix up your CV to look extra amazing. Since you're only so much younger than all the other applicants, you have to give them an excellent first impression and that's not going to come from your face as you apply online.
- After fixing up your CV, I strongly suggest you ask someone you know, or your parents know who has good connections with people. By "connections" I mean... don't ask someone who's unemployed or doesn't work because they are less likely to know about people who need someone to help around. Once you've asked, don't keep nagging, but do follow up with the person so they know you're serious.
- Make sure you know the legalities in your country for hiring younger ones. If they're really strict, then I suggest you look for summer camps and centers that offer summer courses. They are likely to need someone who has a limited knowledge on office work or in summer camps, how to deal with kids. You're going to need to call the manager or the HR dept. if that place has one. Calling is very risky and I would mostly suggest sending an email with the attachment of your CV.
- Be prepared for any disappointments that come your way. Many people, especially those with a serious work schedule, won't be willing to hire teenagers to accomplish the tasks at hand.
- It's always good to have good social skills and a willingness to smile. Never EVER use your phone to text while waiting for an interview. Try talking with any of the employees that are free (aka; the secretary) so that they know you're mature enough. Strike a conversation about your family or ambitions, even if you don't want to. Usually during interviews most of the analyzing happens before the interview to see how you handle yourself and if you're patient. For one of my interviews, they made me wait 45mins for the sake of it, just to see if I would wait long enough.
- If it doesn't work out one year... keep at it. With each year I got rejected, I got a better sense of the money I'd be getting paid at each place and experience to know who to ask and who not to ask. I found that places at malls could be willing to hire you if it weren't for the legalities. Places at summer camps and centers are very likely to be willing to hire. Of course, when it comes to the pay, I wouldn't be very eager. It's always about the experience you'd be getting and the people you'd meet. So, if you're looking for extra money, I'd suggest promotion booths where you get extra bonuses with each customer that buys from your booth.
That's all the advice I have to give, but the experience I got, for each of the jobs I got accepted and rejected for, was worth all the trouble. Of course you could always spend your summer in a different way and not bore yourself to death, but there's always another option right?
Anyway, it's all easier said than done and I'm so glad someone offered me a job because it gives me an amazing time to learn new things and even read when there aren't any customers.
My next aim is to find a job at a Cinema! A friend of mine did that and she said it was actually super fun. Well, she didn't, but it looked super fun!
For now, nutrition center it is.
With the best of smiles,
Me.
