You mean like holiday?  

My dad had the same idea, so after I finished high school he took me with him to work for the summer, at an auto repair shop. Because up until then, getting to school at 7AM every day, spending 6-7 hours in class, spending another 3-4 hours doing homework, and another 2-3 hours  preparing for the graduation exam and working on the accreditation project and working on my own stuff while managing to not have a nervous breakdown was a piece of cake in his view. I did gain something from the time spent in the auto shop, partial loss of hearing and no time to work on the things I wanted before starting college. 

School thought me a very strict working schedule, one that I was surprised that no one respected in college. I was literally, the only student in math class to actually attend the first two hours of the course in the morning. During that time, I got a job in an insurance company, but I had the nasty habit of keeping regular work hours, meaning I had to stand around outside, waiting for someone with the key to the office to come along and let me in. Once I actually had to go looking for the keys around town, because the manager lost them on a bus. There was also the fun part of some time sensitive papers that were legally fudged because when I got back from signing them, the office was closed, everyone having gone home after lunch on a Friday. I quit that job after a month.

Then I got a job that was basically hell in regards of working hours, or so I've been told. I didn't start to notice what people meant until I got physically ill. I didn't stop, I just shrugged it off as a silly human reactions that needed to be removed , until I realized my work wasn't being used at it's full potential  and that for the past few years I had no social life whatsoever, just a downward spiraling pit of depression. 

Things are better now. My point is, someone who didn't have a job in high school or college may not be completely unequipped for the workforce. They may actually have the mental stability which I now sort of lack, because of my work ethic. The kind of mental stability that doesn't require starting off the day with 5 minutes of the Swedish Chef, in order to trigger humor, as to remind me I'm still human. 

It's all well and good to say that you want work experienced applicants only.... ie, no employment history no job, but what that leaves if every employer adopts the same policy is a bunch of over-educated college/university graduates who are unemployable in the fields they studied...

Or, alternatively, a bunch of highly educated job applicants who can't even get a job sweeping bar floors because they've no work history, despite knowing how to write computer programs.

It's all well and good to say: "Get a job, kid."... but what happens when there are NO jobs locally for that kid/those kids to get?  There was a time not so long ago when I found it hard to find an adult... much less a mature aged adult behind the checkout, the counters at KFC or McDonalds, etc, but not so much any more.  No, what I'm finding is far fewer kids in those jobs these days and more adults... far more adults... even mature aged adults and 67 year olds who still cannot afford to retire.

An employment history has to start somewhere, and if NOBODY is willing to give a kid a start, then his/her future is uncertain and already futile... doomed to a life of feeling useless, inadequate and unimportant.  There will be no incentive to go to college or university.... fuck, why even bother with kindergarten or prep-school if it's only in preparation for higher education... that leaves you an over-qualified and unemployable layabout because nobody will give you a go.  And what about those young couples wanting to start a family, hearing that their unborn children are doomed to futureless lives?

Hmm, before I worked in Finance, many, many moons ago, I did all sorts of jobs.

Packing insulation, gardening, driving a bread van etc. You know, paying my way. I eventually stopped putting all that on my CV because some of the feedback I got from job interviews was it gave the impression I came from the wrong background to work in Finance...

I know what you mean!   I worked delivering newspapers, herding/milking cows, baling hay, as a plasterers labourer, then apprentice plasterer for my dad, but took it all off my resume after getting knocked back for a job as a gigolo.... the boss reckoned my hands would be too rough.

I'm not sure you have a real notion of how difficult it is for many, even with real work experience ... that folk with degrees are having a tough time finding work even at McDonald's is a sad state of affairs.  College education is becoming increasingly a bad investment ... McD's @ $16k/year isn't going to help anyone pay off $40k student loans after trying to pay for things like groceries, utilities and rent. :/

In the US, it's almost guaranteed to go to austerity measures.

Iran- I think we'd just bomb them, Syria, we'd do what we did in Libya.  Both of those things are not that troop intensive.

You know one of the most over-used words with regards to jobs?   Overqualified.

+1 to StevenAus. Exactly. It doesn't matter if you've got a degree from X university because no doubtedly someone from the same class will apply for the same job who has better grades and get the job instead of you despite both of you having the same qualifications only his/her grade was better than yours. To hire someone purely on experience is a bad move imo. There is plenty of new blood willing to do a job and no company will hire because they have no experience but they need that job to get experience in the first place. For many years now it's the same situation. Like others have mentioned here internships or even a trial basis to see how they fare. It's why here in England we have something called Probationary period. It differs from company to company but generally it's 6-8 weeks and if you don't meet expectations of the employer you get laid off. I just think that companies should be a little more lenient towards the younger generation and give them a chance.

Let Draginol use whatever self-assured criteria he likes to hire people for his own company. I don't get the impression that he posts with a desire for learning or self-reflection. However I do think he should be listened to as an experienced employer within this particular business sector.

But I'll add:

Parents, if you are looking for advice on how to help your kids have an opportunity for a job/future which blends happiness and being able to afford living in your own country: teach them work ethic, commitment, honour and humility in everything they do. Add a dash of realistic goals for their strengths and weaknesses, and likewise realistic expectations. I say a dash because they'll need to accept what they can achieve at any one time AND to aspire for what they dream.

Draginol will hopefully get what he's looking for and they will suit his purpose, but I believe he is reducing his chances of getting that new, unjaded, diamond ore patiently waiting to shine.

The irony is that software development needs imagination, but a typical 'get-by' job only focuses on and requires adheration to work processes and quality/efficiency standards. Do you have a recipe for 'innovative' software up your sleeve?

I've since found this phrase is littered throughout Google, but today I was thinking of a team motto and I started with 'Think outside the box' and ended at 'Think without the box'.

Oh great. Another one who wants his newcomers to be mid twenty, have 10 years of work experience, stellar grades and somehow found the time for social projects to increase their team work ability.

I am sure that all of those lazy ass youngsters are completly useless, 'cause they never planted a fucking flower after making thier homework in math or programming.

Generalization for the win.

It's not often I disagree with things that you say Brad, but I really can't agree with you on this one.........  I hope you read some of the replies here and think again about giving people a chance. Hire the person, not their record, because in my experience you will pass by some of the best employees around.

I spent thirty years in the casino industry hiring and training young people to be croupiers. Most of my star pupils had no work experience at all, but were so grateful for the opportunity that they worked their asses off for me. If you set achievement levels at varying stages of their employment as a requirement for remaining employed, then you have the opportunity to get rid of them if they don't meet the required levels.

It's easy to say that young people are lazy.  But the funny thing about the human race is... anything that happens on a significant enough scale has a germ of a reason behind it.  We are not totally logical, but neither are we totally illogical.  I believe most people want to get on in this world.  The truth is that a lot of societies make this very hard.  If you can think without the box, as Skarny came up with, you just may find some very hard-working and loyal workers who will be forever grateful you gave them a chance when no-one else did.

Agree 100% with Brad's OP.

And the excuse that kids have a hard time finding the first job doesn't cut it with me. If they really look they should be able to find something - and if they don't they can join a volunteer organisation like Surf Lifesaving and get some skills while learning about responsibility - and meet a hell of a lot of potential employers too.

I made sure all of our kids hunted for a job on their own when they turned 15. All of them got jobs that were menial but they all learned a solid work ethic. They all got ripped off at times and had to learn to stand up for themselves. I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of them.

Meh thats the world. Its no different than someone assuming that a person with an education that stopped at high school or less doesn't have a working knowledge of a subject. Employers only have the records, certifications etc to go on. Sure you could be self taught.. but in todays society its not about the reality of matters but how the prospective employer perceives them. With out a way for him to verify your work ethic or your level of knowledge with the given subject what is he supposed to go on?

You could be a programming savant.. and chances are if you don't have the educational certifications you won't get hired as a programmer.

In the same aspect you could have the strongest work ethic imaginable... but without a work history there is very little the employer has to go on.

Yes, you are right.

That doesn't mean it is a sane way of thinking or in any way a good path to follow for a society as a whole.

As a society you can't on one hand whine about high unemployment, while on the other hand steadily increase the preq's for entry into employment.