Activities - did anyone's kid list that an impressive job was obtained on his/her own?

[Anonymous]

Paramedic, emt certified.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my kids’ best friends (possibly my favorite of the bunch) is off to Yale in the fall, and she listed her job working for several years as a waitress. At graduation, I asked her mom if she had any big summer plans to celebrate, and she said “just waitressing”. I know most parents here want their kid to get the fancy internship, but, honestly, just a normal, regular, unimpressive job stands out. It shows commitment, responsibility, maturity, groundedness.

My son's summer daycare teacher is also Yale-bound this year. She has worked there FT every summer since she was 16. She is of Chinese descent, premed, etc. - she is not URM or some obscure major. I can only imagine the work experience helped.

[Anonymous]

My DC noted they were “competitively selected” by [a named impartial entity].

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Paramedic, emt certified.

Did your kid get their paramedic in high school? Or just EMT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid listed his lifeguard job with our city pool. The fact that he’s held a municipal job for a few years (started out as a pool attendant before certifying as a lifeguard) seemed to make him standout.

Kids can start working at age 14. It was the best thing we could have encouraged him to do.

I hope he "courted the ladies" too. That's a huge fringe benefit of lifeguarding. It's a shame to waste it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Paramedic, emt certified.

Did your kid get their paramedic in high school? Or just EMT?

Paramedic volunteering job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my kids’ best friends (possibly my favorite of the bunch) is off to Yale in the fall, and she listed her job working for several years as a waitress. At graduation, I asked her mom if she had any big summer plans to celebrate, and she said “just waitressing”. I know most parents here want their kid to get the fancy internship, but, honestly, just a normal, regular, unimpressive job stands out. It shows commitment, responsibility, maturity, groundedness.

My kid unhooked at an Ivy just had an ordinary service job in summers too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Paramedic, emt certified.

Did your kid get their paramedic in high school? Or just EMT?

Paramedic volunteering job.

At the ambulance crew that my kid volunteers with, they can start riding as part of the crew and study to be an EMT at 16, but they have to be 18, and a HS graduate to study to be a paramedic, and then the paramedic training is about a 20 hour a week commitment for a year.

So, I guess I am asking whether your kid found a way around that, or if they took a gap year and did it, or maybe you’re in a state with different rules?

My kid is hoping to take a gap year to get certified as a paramedic, but he’ll apply to colleges before he gets certified.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Paramedic, emt certified.

Did your kid get their paramedic in high school? Or just EMT?

Paramedic volunteering job.

At the ambulance crew that my kid volunteers with, they can start riding as part of the crew and study to be an EMT at 16, but they have to be 18, and a HS graduate to study to be a paramedic, and then the paramedic training is about a 20 hour a week commitment for a year.

So, I guess I am asking whether your kid found a way around that, or if they took a gap year and did it, or maybe you’re in a state with different rules?

My kid is hoping to take a gap year to get certified as a paramedic, but he’ll apply to colleges before he gets certified.

No, DC is volunteering at paramedic, not paramedic certified. The paramedic needs a full year commitment, as you stated. I don't think there is a way around it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Paramedic, emt certified.

Did your kid get their paramedic in high school? Or just EMT?

Paramedic volunteering job.

At the ambulance crew that my kid volunteers with, they can start riding as part of the crew and study to be an EMT at 16, but they have to be 18, and a HS graduate to study to be a paramedic, and then the paramedic training is about a 20 hour a week commitment for a year.

So, I guess I am asking whether your kid found a way around that, or if they took a gap year and did it, or maybe you’re in a state with different rules?

My kid is hoping to take a gap year to get certified as a paramedic, but he’ll apply to colleges before he gets certified.

No, DC is volunteering at paramedic, not paramedic certified. The paramedic needs a full year commitment, as you stated. I don't think there is a way around it.

Has DC filled at the Common App, because "at paramedic" isn't the way it's expressed in English, and would probably be misinterpreted as him claiming to have a certification that he doesn't have. It could cost him a spot at college. If your kid is a rising senior or younger, you want to say that he's volunteering as an EMT, or on an ambulance crew.

I don't mean this to be snarky, just trying to be helpful.

[Anonymous]

Is there a reason people feel the need to respond to this post with information not asked about?

- not asking about waitressing or other restaurant work even if moved up
- not asking about lifeguarding
- not asking if a service job helped get into an ivy
- not even asking about types of impressive jobs of teens

Only asked if your kid had an impressive job, did they list on their common app that they got it on own. I think one person in two pages answered it saying no, but a CEO wrote a supplemental LOR about how the kid got the job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a reason people feel the need to respond to this post with information not asked about?

- not asking about waitressing or other restaurant work even if moved up
- not asking about lifeguarding
- not asking if a service job helped get into an ivy
- not even asking about types of impressive jobs of teens

Only asked if your kid had an impressive job, did they list on their common app that they got it on own. I think one person in two pages answered it saying no, but a CEO wrote a supplemental LOR about how the kid got the job.

Can you describe what you think is an impressive job? Because, to me, lifeguarding and serving in a restaurant are impressive because they meet real needs.

[Anonymous]

I think AOs smell BS on "impressive jobs" and would prefer the "real life" jobs that kids get on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Applied” or “selected” out of ___ applicants ?
Depends on the role/company?

Example: Google software engineering intern. 1 of 3 chosen from 5000+. Started junior year never having written a line of code.

This is comical. This year even CMU grads can't find an internship. A high school junior? [/quot


URM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a reason people feel the need to respond to this post with information not asked about?

- not asking about waitressing or other restaurant work even if moved up
- not asking about lifeguarding
- not asking if a service job helped get into an ivy
- not even asking about types of impressive jobs of teens

Only asked if your kid had an impressive job, did they list on their common app that they got it on own. I think one person in two pages answered it saying no, but a CEO wrote a supplemental LOR about how the kid got the job.

Can you describe what you think is an impressive job? Because, to me, lifeguarding and serving in a restaurant are impressive because they meet real needs.

I mean, I assume you already know if someone says her kid is a lifeguard, you are not thinking, “OMG who does this kid know to get this job??” Meaning, lifeguarding is not what this post is about.

It would mean jobs that are impressive sounding AND could mean something if kid got it on his own. Cold called 100 professors and got a job researching, sent out 200 resumes and works in a news station writing copy, submitted independent research to several physicians and is asked to work in a lab, extensively researched and proposed a new law to a congresswoman which resulted in an internship offer. Something like that…