Many people have minimum wage jobs at least some point in their life. However, I don’t think we realize what these jobs teach us. They provide skills that will be helpful for your future. Here’s 5 things you learn from having a minimum wage job:
1. How to Treat People
After you’ve had a minimum wage job, you will start to notice how rude people can be. Especially if it’s a service job. I used to work at a movie theater and it was REALLY stressful. Everyone wants their popcorn immediately and they don’t understand that you’re working as fast as you can to get whatever they ordered. I could see how it is irritating to wait a while for whatever service you paid for but cut the workers some slack! They are working hard. So a minimum wage job really shows you that you need to be polite.
2. The Importance of Saying Thank You
Say thank you to the people who clean the dorms. That is a hard job for not much money. I once had a summer job where it was cleaning bathrooms from 12 pm-10 pm in a mall and do you know how many people even bothered to acknowledge my existence that summer? Four people said thank you or nodded at me. FOUR! We need to treat all people like they matter. Be kind to the people who are working hard to give you a nice service.
3. Appreciation for College Education
Minimum wage jobs also make you appreciate college. Working a minimum wage job is not very interesting. It is long hours for not much pay. It makes you relieved that you do not have to do this kind of job forever because you’re getting a college degree, which will hopefully help you accomplish your dreams.
4. You can’t please everyone
A minimum wage job can help you let go of the fear of disappointing others. It is not easy to please everybody and often it’s impossible. You just have to do the best you can in a timely manner and hope it all turns out for the best. In life, you will be criticized but you shouldn’t let that break you. As Taylor Swift says, “shake it off” and get back to work!
5. Appreciation
These jobs train you to not take services for granted. Next time you stay in a hotel or go to a restaurant, you’ll appreciate that experience because you now understand all the work that goes into making that experience enjoyable. There is a lot of preparation involved.
I personally think that everyone should have at least one minimum wage job in their life. There is politics involved on raising the minimum wage. Maybe you support that raise or maybe you don’t. But by experiencing living on a minimum wage salary, you will learn the value of a dollar. Everything is so expensive. Imagine if you had to live on a minimum wage all the time. We are so lucky that because of college, we have been given the opportunity to bypass that life track.