Pushing a rich kid to an undesirable sales job

[Anonymous]

I do not approve at all of your approach, and think if a kid is old enough to get a job, then they're old enough to pursue the type of job they'd enjoy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with sales being undesirable job. It's a hard job and if you don't make sales, you don't get paid. Many people will not take that responsablity. It links performance with pay, gives one an understanding of p&l, how to work to a goal, and an understanding of how businesse work. Companies highest compensation is to their sales and marketing employees. But many times, getting a corporate sale jobs depends on having successful sales record.

It depends on your personality. I'm more of an introvert and sales is absolutely undesirable to me. OP, I get where you're coming from, but please don't force your children to take a job they'll hate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any job will be a good learning experience. Don't force the harsh, failure-prone jobs on them.

This. You already know your kids don't have the temperament or talent for sales. Why in the world would you push them into work you know they will suck at and hate.

I disagree. My family growing up was not rich but we were comfortable enough. My parents made me get summer jobs, I ended up selling Cutco knives one summer. I hated sales but I learned some VERY valuable lessons about time management, controlling my own schedule and motivating myself, being brave and calling for appointments, learning to engage with potential customers, etc.

It was also useful to learn that I didn't enjoy sales, not in the abstract, but for the concrete reasons that I actually experienced. There are plenty of positive things that they will learn on the job as well. I would absolutely encourage a job where there are tough lessons to be had.

[Anonymous]

We want DD to work in some service industry - retail or food because we feel it's a good way to learn customer service and how to treat people. Both DH and I waited tables as late teens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I one time had a young college kid call to ask if he could drop by and do a sales presentation of some household products. I didn't know the kid but he explained that he was a neighborhood kid, home on summer break so I said - sure, why not.

When he came to the door, my child was napping and I asked him if he could show me the products outside - I didn't want to wake my baby up. He agreed to do the presentation on my porch. At any rate, he was a nice young man and he did a great job with his presentation but a large part of what he was selling were big, sharp knives....which was a little unsettling for me (young mom, alone with her young child) and awkward.

So, no. My kids will not be doing door to door. Department store sales? Yes, that might be doable.

Sounds like Cutco!

OP - have them work in a fast food restaurant. Trust me, that will solve your lessons you want them to learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, just wow. It is one thing to have kids have summer jobs but another to want them to fail at jobs to learn life lessons.

The "Wow, just wow" responses are getting pretty old. You're reptitive, and if your response was truly "just wow," you wouldn't feel the need to go on talking.

[Anonymous]

Have them do volunteer work in a nursing home, homeless shelter or for a domestic violence center. Much harder work in many ways than door to door sales.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I wasn't forced into bad sales jobs. I was just immature and couldn't find a better job. I didn't have the confidence or skill or patience to look very hard. I was shy and my parents were the kind that were busy and didn't really know what their kids were doing. But they gave me a nice place to live in and they put food on the table.

Without guidance from parents, I'm sure many kids don't know better and they trust the first employer that hires them.

Yes -- this. I was a shy kid but I had jobs from the 7th grade on. I didn't do retail until I was in my 20's (supplementing my full-time career paycheck)
The objective is that they go and find a job that they stay committed to -- that process alone will help them gain a sense of self-mastery and independence. It does not have to sales. Your whole premise sounds a little odd to me.

[Anonymous]

OP's whole premise sounds weird to me but I'm Asian and Asian kids usually don't have jobs other than school. They turn out fine usually as highly educated professionals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP's whole premise sounds weird to me but I'm Asian and Asian kids usually don't have jobs other than school. They turn out fine usually as highly educated professionals.

is that why they're always so awkward as adults?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP's whole premise sounds weird to me but I'm Asian and Asian kids usually don't have jobs other than school. They turn out fine usually as highly educated professionals.

is that why they're always so awkward as adults?

Awkward? You must not hang out with the people I know. Ivy educated bankers and lawyers are seldom awkward. Maybe in high school but they grow out of it.

[Anonymous]

I agree with OP to a degree. I worked in retail at one point for a gift store that I liked but couldn't afford and learned how to sell things to people who could afford them. It taught me how to listen to others needs, make people feel comfortable, and how to create a marketable product. I liked that it was a gift store so obviously if you were shopping there you were getting something that you might not actually need and I didn't have to bend the truth about anything.

[Anonymous]

17:27 Most of the Asians I know are what I would call shy or reserved. Maybe around other Asians they aren't, but you really don't see a lot of Asians in sales.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:17:27 Most of the Asians I know are what I would call shy or reserved. Maybe around other Asians they aren't, but you really don't see a lot of Asians in sales.

True, Asians seldom go into sales unless it's in finance, IB, or pharmaceutical sales.