Want money? Get a job!

OLIVIA JONES/Cabell Midland

Cabell Midland High School junior Kevin Massie earns money by doing yard work for his neighbors.

By Olivia Jones
Cabell Midland High School

What should you do the next time you ask for a few hundred dollars to buy that new digital camera or those concert tickets and your parents respond with, “If you want money, then get a job”? You could sit at home and sulk in front of the television, indulging your sorrows with Ben & Jerry. Or you could impress your parents and earn some cash.

Huntington High School senior Jessica Parsley says working at Chick-Fil-A is a great first job. “The people at Chick-Fil-A are really nice, and they are flexible with the hours and your schedule. It’s an all-around good environment.”

Parsley averages about 20 hours a week at the store. “I work at the register, but some people work with the deep fryer, too.”

The starting pay is $6.50 an hour and Parsley said, “You can take tests that quiz you on what you’ve learned from your training, and if you do well you can get a raise.”

Also, once they turn 18, Chick-Fil-A employees get a raise. The restaurant does hire 15 year olds, but they aren’t allowed to work near the frying equipment until they’re 16, according to Parsley. (They are put to work at the register instead.)

The only downfall of the job? “After work, you usually smell funny,” she said.

If fast food isn’t for you, there are other places you can work.

Cabell Midland High School junior Emily Terry works in retail. She works approximately 20 hours a week at JCPenny.

“I run errands, work at the registers and help clean up and organize things,” she said.

JCPenny wages start at $6 an hour, and according to Terry, employees are eligible for a raise after 90 days. Another bonus is that “[retail] is always busy, so the time goes by faster.”

One downside to her job, though, can be the customers. “There are always rude customers to deal with who will yell at you.”

If this option doesn’t sound good to you either, you can always be your own boss. That’s what Cabell Midland junior Kevin Massie does.

“I always help my neighbors by mowing their lawns and taking care of their pets while they’re away,” he said.

Each lawn takes an hour or two to mow, and Massie charges $10 per lawn.

“The bad thing is during the summer it gets hot, so I have to drink plenty of water,” he said.

Massie also does occasional work with a friend’s father who is a traveling jewelry salesman. “Last summer I went to Philadelphia with him for a week. I worked with the cash box and in just a few days, I earned a couple hundred dollars.”

Whether it’s shoveling snow this winter or stocking shelves at Target, your first job will not only prove to your parents that you’re responsible, but it may even buy you that awesome, totally-out-of-your-parents’-price-range thing that you’ve been dying to have.