My High School Work Experience in the US

[@MrAronymous]

The most mind boggling thing is.. the seater being a seperate job title.

[@theoldar]

One of my favorite reason to travel is seeing how other people do things. It's not better or worse, it's just different, which is useful to know.

[@moemanncann895]

Mom didn't budge when I wanted to drive in highschool, she said you want to drive, get a job! Which I did and now appreciate. Happy weekend all👍🇺🇸🇩🇪🇨🇦

[@3.k]

11:45 In Germany we call it „aus dem Nähkästchen plaudern.“ Bring on the stories please! :D During my high school time, I have worked in a bookbindery, that was quite interesting. I had to put the galleys into a machine, or pack the printed goods onto pallets, sometimes after shrink-wrapping them. During the holidays, I also worked as a postman. It’s interesting to see how after a time, you have connected a lot of addresses and names inside your head, so you know most of them by heart.

[@hilding2063]

I am so shocked didn't know you see all of us :D I am subscribed to the channel. I grew up in Eastern Germany till the reunion in 1990. Back then I was 12 years old and went to Gymnasium, I did work in the last two school years 11 and 12 (we didn't have 13) in the manufacturing of VW. The project was called holiday corridor, almost all of the regular factory staff was on summer vacation while a ton of teenagers and students produced the cars. It paid the regular wages of the workers you replaced which was really good.

[@torsten.breswald]

kelly, OF COURSE we want to hear the nitty gritty details of your life as a hotel maid, that are the best stories :) to the...skort... without explaining i would've assumed it was a scandinavian drink sort of the "i like to follow the rules - kelly" ... you will become such a good german ;P oh and i can imagine you as a journalist i can hear your adviser "why don't you just take copper black for that headline" lol thx for the little insights to your life

[@raistormrs]

well i guess in germany the holiday job is more of a thing, i dont think anyone in my class at school had a job. but school organised internships for one or two weeks are normal.

[@signalenergie]

I love your channel so much so please keep up the great work, Kelly. You're awesome.

[@chuckstrasbaugh62]

Liked the video, Kelly. Your enthusiasm is so infectious! Yeah, and I think we Americans are the only ones whose kids go to school, play sports in high school and club teams and hold down some kind of job. Nuts! It was a big problem when I was teaching. Kids would fall asleep in class, never have their work done, on and on. Big part of that issue visavis Germany is that the Germans have some kind of cumulative final exam, like the Abitur. Serious exam! We've nothing like it-I wish we did. Our education doesn't compare to Germany's in that respect. My high school experience was pretty much shared: you want to drive you have to pay for your own car insurance. Getting a license in PA at the time was like $15. Nothing like Germany! And driving age was 16. So I worked in an egg processing plant, filling cases with cartoons of eggs of all sizes and varieties. I hated it. Minimum wage then: $1.65. BTW, the Bibles in hotels are placed by an organization called the Gideon Bible Society. Their mission is to provide Bibles for hospital rooms. They also don't mind if you take it. They figure if you take it you might use it. Thumbs up Kelly. Your a highlight of my week!

[@swanpride]

Last time I was on holiday in Spain, I needed to get something from my room while house keeping was in it, so I interrupted her in the middle of her work. She had actually moved the bed so that she could clean properly under it. I made sure to tip her every week a gracious sum. She alway left nice thank you notes with a smiley. In any case, I have never felt more comfortable in a hotel room. Not that I should have been surprised that she was so dedicated, the whole thing just felt particularly clean from day one.

[@regenbogentraumerin]

High school students usually do not work in Germany, or they work a few hours a month doing easy work like doing paper routes or doing the groceries for elderly neighbours. If I remember correctly teens who are still in school are not allowed to work more than 2 hours a day, even on weekends, to ensure they can focus on school and hobbies (it's a little different if the family owns a farm and the kids have to work there though). If they're over 15 they're allowed to work full time for a max of 4 weeks during holidays. So usually it just doesn't make sense for employers to employ underage students as they wouldn't be much help and would still have to be payed the same wage as their coworkers. In my family (and from what I've heard from friends it was kinda the same there) we could 'earn' pocket money by doing more chores around the house we usually didn't have to do and we were allowed to then buy what we wanted from that money. So while we wouldn't get money for vacuming, doing the dishes or the laundry as these were our normal chores we could decide to also wash the cars or clean the windows and would then get payed for that. The children of parents who don't earn much sometimes do work to help support their family as far as I've learned from friends who grew up in families with a low income but e.g. for kids whose parents live from Hartz IV/ social welfare it wouldn't make sense to work as the family would get less money from the state in that case. As soon as students turn 18 more of them do work though, usually as waiters, at gas stations etc, mainly to pay for the maintenace of their car, for nice clothes, electronics or for trips they want to do during the holidays. And for university students it's really common to have a job, over 70 % of them do work on weekends or evenings. I grew up in an area where most families were at least middle class though so my experience might be biased by that, it might be different in families with low income.

[@Tiegerbock5]

I think this was pretty accurate

[@witty2u]

I wonder if that already was the case in the late 70s, because I probably worked 50 hours each month. 😅 And NO, I didn't have to work. The summer job I once had indeed was only for one month. I thought we had to be 16 to be allowed to work a 40 hour week.

[@regenbogentraumerin]

@@witty2u According to Wikipedia it's this way since 1997 to impliment a european council directive from 1994. I guess it's been very different in the 70s :D I could imagine it's 15 years instead of 16 because some students are still 15 when they leave school to start an apprenticeship. So they just took the 15 years as minimum age for the kids who are still in school as well.

[@swanpride]

Yeah, but university students also get their Kindergeld (if they don't life at home anymore), have a right to financial support from their parents (if said parents can afford it), and, if the parents can't afford it, can request bafög to help them with their living costs. So while a lot of them work, some just focus on their studies.

[@shadowlink3339]

Yes I would like to here stories from your jobs. Usually I thought the hostess was the person that would seat them and give silverware and then roll the silverware. While the waitress did all the food stuff and refilling of bottles. "Side work" is what I have heard that being called. It was great to hear all your experiences. Maybe tell us how out became a KZbinr too! Thanks Kelly!

[@Soldier_of_Life]

Kellyyyyyy, good to see another awesome video. Hope things going good for you! Yeah i feel you on the differences germany and usa. I also had jobs when I was younger.. i guess the struggle is real in the US compare to germany!

[@swanpride]

I don't think that the "skort" ever caught on in Germany outside of sport clothing (you know, for tennis player who don't want to provide a show), but what was quite on vogues between the 1960s and 1990s was the "Hoserock". Basicallly a pant which is cut in a way that it looks like a skirt. Frankly, I kind of miss those. Always hope that the trend come back.

[@Leenapanther]

Interesting, thanks for sharing! Students who take the academic route (matura, similar to the German Abitut but more difficult to get) are more likely to work while they still go to a regular school in Switzerland. Some are dish washers for a cafe for example. Where I worked we had various students who got 15 francs per hour (which isn't much). Most students (around 80%) start an apprenticeship at age 15/16 anyway though and get paid (500-1400 swiss francs/month). Before students apply for an apprenticeship, they have to apply (like a regular application with cv) for "Schnupperlehren". This is like a week where you can look into the work of a specific profession. Teachers encourage you to look into as many professions as possible. This happens in 8th grade (age 13/14), especially during the vacations. You don't get paid for this. Once a year there is a future day (called daughters day in the past), where childeren could go with their parents to work. Sadly my mother had a job were I wasn't allowed (patient confidentiality).

[@jurgenrosenberg4748]

Another asome video.i was a newspaperboy during my shooltime in a little village Southwest from Hannover the capitol from lower saxony.i love your Videos. Du bist ein fleißiges Lieschen, wie wir in Deutschland sagen

[@edmorgan960]

Love hearing your experiences. I had several jobs in high school. I delivered newspapers,I then worked at the newspaper, first as an inserter (we put the adds inside all the newspapers) then as a flyer (took the papers off the conveyor in bundles of 25 or 50,depending on how fast the press was running) and these were given to the inserters. Then I worked at 2 different service stations back when gas stations worked on cars and pumped your gas! This brought back lots of good memories,thank you.

[@Kellydoesherthing]

Thanks for sharing! I’m happy you enjoyed the video :)

[@teckyify]

I and most of my friends had jobs since we were about 15 or 16, from my experience it is really common in Germany.

[@holger_p]

What century was this ? Or in other words, how old are you ? I think this has changed a lot, and less and less teenagers do it today. Paperboys are like 60year olds.

[@DKBoerner]

Thank you for the great entertainment. :) Always a pleasure! :)

[@chattieh10]

I would love to hear about your stories!

[@urgigrull4013]

As for the newspapers.. you just realized the power AND responsibility of a news media. Great experience and I really like the way this had a lasting impression on you. ! Thx.

[@sushifornico]

When I was 16 I did work at McDonalds just to boost my small change and it was easy and fun :-) Having been in the States I found the position of the Seater really weird, but its like the greeting person in Walmart :-) So here is a Hotel story, where I used to work in. One day a guest checked in, was a young person and everything seemed fine. When she was supposed to check out, she paid and left. When the house keeper checked the room, she rang me that she smashed the whole room as she did party in that room. When I say everything was destroyed I meant EVERYTHING! We had a policy upon check in to note down car registration numbers - so based on that we did find out and she had to pay 10K in damages. Hotel stories are sometimes the best and weirdest ones :-) Thanks a lot for your video!

[@bazoo513]

This was very interesting, dear Kelly. Perhaps your early successful exposure to journalism foreshadowed your acute awareness of what is going on you demonstrate on this channel.

[@Kellydoesherthing]

bazoo513 I think that it has definitely benefitted me in different aspects of my channel and also professional career :) thanks for watching! I’m happy you found it interesting

[@bazoo513]

@@Kellydoesherthing Always! :o)

[@ruthhunter3381]

Yep. Would like to know more about housekeeping I didn't have a job when I was in high school but that was in the early 1960s when places such as fast food restaurants weren't in existence in our area. I did work when I went to college because I had to pay my own way. 😉 😉

[@klcvas45]

Yes, I would like to have "Story Time With Kelly". thank you.

[@facepalm8529]

what`s the worst possible thing room guests can leave?my mind started with "sexual remains", but it just keeps coming and its all "ewwwww, gross!" now im thinking it`s maybe a story, i dont want to hear XD but... i do want to hear it...

[@karenschafer2827]

Skorts are newly a thing again! I just bought a pair for my grand daughter for her birthday.

[@Kellydoesherthing]

Oh nice!!

[@JamesJohnson-vw1it]

Very Good Kelly, when you worked at the paper you were almost a "flying paster" they used to arrainge articles on a big sheet of paper, then paste them on before they went to printing machines. I worked at a grocery store in Ames Iowa (Iowa State) whilst doing my masters degree.

[@nearly_blind1017]

Greetings from Mainz Kelly :D. Pupils-juobs arent that common in germany I think, but definitely student-jobs. At the JGU (in Mainz, where I am from and studying) we also have a Campus-newspaper,-radio AND -TV. I havent participated there yet but want to real soon.

[@Fox2k7]

Hey Kelly Fun fact for you recently youtubes Algo thought it was a good idea to suggested a video where someone spoke highly about you and the job you do so i guess you are good in whatever job / thing you do ;)

[@Zeus2371]

I can relate to the restaurant experience in the US. I worked as a Host/Buzz boy/Dishwasher during my teens, and long story short: I only lasted there for two months!

[@theanderblast]

I also worked in a hotel, as a bellboy. I ran room services, helped at the front desk, helped with luggage, and occasionally drove the hotel car on errands. I also came home with a lot of weird stories, most of which I don't remember. Working in a service industry for tips has made me much more appreciative of the waiters, bartenders, etc. I've encountered as an adult, and also made me a pretty excellent tipper. (I round up to the nearest $5 or $10, take 20% of that, and then add at least a dollar as a Covid bonus nowadays.)

[@sebastianosterbrink9006]

My work as a teen in Germany was mostly tutoring other students and helping neighbors with computer problems. Other friends helped stocking shelves in stores, babysitting or working in their parents company / on their families farm. Some also worked as waiters but usually for events on the weekends like weddings and not regular hours

[@Kellydoesherthing]

Thanks for sharing!

[@ninan9650]

In the little german Village I grew up, it was not unusual to have a little job. However, as already stated there are some age specific rules. When I was 14 I delivered commercial for the local supermarket. With 15 I started Babysitting, which I have done basically until I finished uni. But there were several one- off jobs in particular in school holidays and bankholidays ( server, inventory checking, cashier ...)

[@KoldingDenmark]

I gratuated from highschool in 1980. During my second and third year in highschool I worked in the reception of a hotel. If not every weekend than every other weekend. That was not an uncommon thing to do in Denmark. We were all students working weekends. When I later came back after having travelled and served in the Royal Garde, I was full time doing night shifts in the hotel reception whilst going to college.

[@Hardling]

If you have time to lean you have time to clean! A 30 minute break was mandatory after five hours of work, unless the shift was scheduled to end at six hours. So, if you worked during a single meal period, you were likely not required to get a break!

[@stephanteuscher6583]

When I went to highschool (actually in the "Gymnasium" in Germany) it was pretty common for us to work little jobs. So I worked every saturday in my parents' company. But that was in the seventies. In the nineties and the noughties my kids only took "very little" jobs during highschool, like tutoring or babysitting. It was always important to us parents, that the job did not interfere with their studying and their grades. Fortunately that payed off. They do not have to make KZbin-Videos today =:-o I'M KIDDING!! Sorry, I couldn't resist. I love your videos. And if you were my daughter, I'd be very proud of you.

[@geneviere199]

When I was 15 I had a holiday job in a printing shop where I cut my fingers on the paper every day... Another holiday I worked in a laundry. During the school year I had jobs distributing advertising flyers in my town - when you were fast that really paid great. I did not have to work - but if I wanted extras (I financed my C64 and a monitor with that) I needed to do do that.

[@Kellydoesherthing]

Thanks for sharing! Your poor fingers :(

[@geneviere199]

@@Kellydoesherthing If you haven't experienced it - paper can really hurt you. I do not think that jobs for pupils are special only in the USA. I went to a private school here in Germany and even there a lot of pupils had jobs during the holidays. The difference often was that the "richer" kids had the better jobs in the offices of their parents or friends of the parents where they got money for doing nearly nothing. I know that I always had to work hard for the money I got.

[@Lisa-sr9xn]

Wow, I would have loved that journalist job while in school. That sounds so cool! 😍👍 I generally think that German pupils should have more work experience implemented into their curriculum.

[@pigoff123]

I worked Summer hire jobs when we were in Germany. I worked every summer from when I was 16 17 an 18. During school I worked at the commissary bagging groceries an taking them out to their car on weekends. I am not sure all us teenagers worked though.

[@michaelstorm7552]

When I was in high school and I also live in Pennsylvania but my job when I was in high school was as soon as I got done with the day's worth of school I go down to the janitors area and punch in I was one of two nighttime janitors at the high school which I attended

[@svenrettau4381]

In Germany we have the Jugendarbeitsschutzgesetz, the law to protect kids/teens. There a a lot of rules in which age you are allowed to do what, how many hours, when and how long are the breaks (no weekend work)....... so for the boss its a lot more to look after. In my area, mostly the children start with learning for a proper full-time job after finishing school (Hauptschule/Realschule). If they have a job beside school, they mainly starts in the age of 17 or 18. If the start earlier, it will be in the family business or small things like babysitting, paper delivering...... Here on the countryside (50km from Mainz) we have small towns and there are only 4 busses a day to the next bigger town, so it makes sense to have a driving license to get to your job, otherwise your parents have to bring you and pick you up again. And if you like to do your driving license, you need to find a job to pay for the driving lessons and the car, insurance..... ein Teufelskreis.

[@girishkondaparthy]

Expecting it today as its friday.

[@thekowboymom2710]

I worked as a hotel maid for 2 summers in high school with one of my best friends. The craziest things happened in that place! My friends and I still laugh about it 30 years later

[@nicosteffen364]

As i was in Gymnasium i was a paperboy for commercials from the local supermarket from 16 to 18, as i turned 18 i could to a better payed job so i was working at McDonalds a few hours a week, something like 2 shifts with 8 hours each, normally on weekends and holidays. As i was 19 i did my military duty of 10 months with additional 2 months (money!) And while i was serving i was again working 9 months at McDonald near the base. (I was mechanic for tires and brakes of F4F Phantom II and we were not only for the air safety we also were a NATO squad, we actually had a weekend where we were under emergency, Jugoslavia, and as i was at McDonald there my manager was a former military officer)

[@lukieskywalker136]

A lot of students in my grade worked at e.g. McDonalds or were waiting tables at restaurants here in Germany. Some stocked the shelves in supermarkets. One friend of mine did similar things as you for a smaller paper that would come out once per week. It's certainly normal here, too.

[@Kellydoesherthing]

Thanks for sharing! Part of me had a feeling that Misha’s wasn’t the experience across Germany but also given the social programs, the cost of living in Germany, the spending culture, less emphasis on trends or high dollar/luxury items, etc, I could see there not being the need for high school teenagers to work.

[@lukieskywalker136]

@@Kellydoesherthing I never had to work to earn money either as my parents preferred for us to be able to focus on school. They wouldn't have complained had I said I wanted to fry burgers, but it was never expected. I know a lot of people were working in order to afford their own car or a year off after school to travel.

[@Kellydoesherthing]

Lukie Skywalker yeah my parents forbade me from working a job while I was in college so that I focused entirely on school but I guess they were fine with me getting a job in high school so long as it was only weekends lol a bit contradictory I suppose

[@Leenapanther]

Did you and your friend do the Abi? Because you have apprenticeships as well in Germany. Apprenticeships have a long tradition here in Switzerland and many prefer it over the Matura (hard to get in and only around 20% of students do it).

[@lukieskywalker136]

@@Leenapanther Yes, we did. I don't really know how the Swiss education system works and how it compares, but I'd say more than 20% achieve the Abitur. I'd have to look up numbers. A lot of people do the Abitur to go on to university, though there are some tough limits on marks to get into e.g. medicine. Out of all students, most do apprenticeships, which are also highly regarded but out of those who did the Abitur probably 60 -70% chose to go to uni and the other 30-40% chose an apprenticeship, most of those work for banks now as far as I know.

[@lkasper1710]

I don't know if skorts are common here in Germany, but I actually like the Idea (and own 2 of them). In Germany you only find them in stores with outdoor clothing, I guess.

[@immitable]

Love your video!

[@Kessina1989]

1:14 Meine ersten Jobs hatte ich mit 13. Da habe ich Zeitungen ausgetragen und Baby gesittet. Mit 16 kam dann noch das Regale einräumen im Supermarkt und kellnern hinzu...

[@falvlynn2303]

I don't remember anyone in my school having those kind of jobs in Germany (went to school 1999-2011) - some of us did tutoring for younger students or cat/dog/babysitting - but since I'm from a place where they grow wine, a few weeks a year, lots of students were picking grapes - which payed better than month and month of tutoring.

[@amon_san]

When I was a student during German Oberschule (Highschool) I was a deliverey person for a pharmacy for a few years. was paid by the hour, but i can't recall what the wage was. I also delivered advertisement leaflets to homes for a few times, but carrying around the weight of all the paper was making my back hurt, so I stopped that after 3 or 4 weeks. I also stopped the pharmacy job when I got into my final year at school to better focus on my exams. Money I made from those jobs I was able to keep. But I heard from friends whose parents were not so well off financially that they had to chip in at home.

[@nicosteffen364]

About skorts, the girlfriend of a friend weared one for inlineskating! It was a very stretchy fabric, like a swimmsuite and black. She loved skirts and maybe she didnt want to wear something else. As male i normally dont go shopping women cloths, so i really dont know, i just saw that at her.

[@jennifercurtis8229]

My daughter got her first job at 16 working at Sonic, switched to Walmart a year and a 1/2 later as a cashier but she wasn’t getting enough hours, so she just switched back to Sonic. She’s looking for about 25 hours a week as a high school senior and that’s what Sonic gives her. She makes $9.60 an hour plus tips of course as a car hop and has had a checking and savings account of her own for 2 years. She usually saves 3/4 of her paycheck and spends the rest on whatever she wants! It works out fantastic and I can’t imagine anyone 16+ not earning spending money of their own. I get some strange looks from other moms who act like their teenager can’t “possibly” hold a job with everything else they do but it’s just lazy parenting and making excuses... she’s already got several thousands in savings and earned every penny herself so I’m super proud of her!! She’s setting herself up well for college years!

[@merjus4909]

During school I delivered Supermarkt-advertisement-flyers on weekends and later I worked at a fast food restaurant on weekends and during vacations. This was a great thing because I usually had money that I could spend but I also saved money for travelling. I learned dealing with money but it also made me become more stingy because I did always calculate how many hours I had to work while buying stuff.

[@peterkoller3761]

I had several jobs, and with none of them I had a boss telling me what to do and when and how: one job was buying bikes that had been found, then turned in to the police but never got picked up, like bikes and bike wrecks which had been standing in one place around town for months and then got removed by the city to be auctioned off for very little money - I repaired and sold these Frankenbikes (each was made out of the working parts taken from several bikes) via small adds and word of mouth. went quite well actually. And during the mushroom season, I picked mushrooms in our local forrests and sold them to restaurants and hotels. and I had a metal detector with which I detected lawns around swim beaches for change and jewellery during the off season. I always had several times the amount of money available that my class mates who did not work, and my "jobs" during the school year kept my summer holidays, when all others worked, free to travel around Europe.

[@m_soko]

Are you an an "entrepreneur" now? That's what we in the US call a "hustler" and the work you were doing was the "hustle"

[@peterkoller3761]

@@m_soko hustler? like male hooker? or like small scale criminal? :D no, none of these "jobs" was even close to being illegal, not even ethically doubious.

[@aaronbono4688]

Great. Now when I stay in a hotel I am going to be paranoid about the cleanliness of the room. Thanks! ;)

[@Kellydoesherthing]

lol!! sorry for passing on my paranoia

[@thalon3707]

Austria: I had to do an internship twice during the summer for 4-5 weeks. Otherwise I wouldn't have been allowed to progress further in the school. I didn't have to work otherwise as I didn't need money for cloths or something aside the money I got monthly from my parents. My girlfriend had to work some hours aside, but I think it's not too common here.

In Brazil is illegal to hire people under 18, except in especial contracts to people between 16 and 18. Right now I work as a receptionist in a hotel (american brand) and I'm really interested in hearing your stories at that time.

[@calise8783]

I loved working during my high school years. That is where I made some of my best friends. I didn’t work a ton but we had so much fun and the spending money/savings was a plus too. I worked as a cashier in the supermarket. By the time I was in Uni, I was in charge of the other cashiers. I left Uni debt free and bought my first car. During the summers of Uni I also worked as a hostess /managed take-out at pizzeria Uno on the weekends, again it was very social and fun! The hostesses dressed-up! I never HAD to work. As I said it was very social and I loved being able to purchase my own things/save.

[@laurahamm468]

I hope you are feeling well you look well

[@Awwisommi]

"skort" :D Great. Kinda reminds of the "fpoon" (fork+spoon) that you get as an outdoor-equipment, or at KFC here in germany.

[@m_soko]

The hotel room stories, I'm sure a high percentage of people would have alot questions and/or "pull up chair" for story time😆

[@blubberdignubber]

I worked at least once a week since I was 14. First 1,5 year I distributed brochures then I worked during summer holiday 8h/day for a shop. At the age of 17 I started to work in the office of a driving school until I passed my Abitur altough I had the summer holiday before an additional office job. After my Abitur I served a year of Voltuntary Social Service at an ambulance station. And Just after that year I started my dual Training for my current Job. I don’t think that it is - or at least wasto work at the typical age of highschool student in Germany.

[@lazyperfectionist1]

Yeah. The young ladies wore skorts when _I_ was in high school, too. I thought they were kind of odd.

[@rolandsiem686]

I would love to hear all the funny and horror stories you experienced when you were the cleaning lady for the hotel room :)That's a tough job!

[@Kellydoesherthing]

Lol! There are some good ones :) it was definitely an experience

[@catbabel]

Can confirm, skorts are still a thing. I remember my coworker talking about it just recently.

[@bazoo513]

Over here in Croatia high schoolers rarely work during school year, but those 16 an up often work over summer break.

[@craighoy9535]

My son also went to a vo tech school, half the day he went to normal high school for english, history, etc, then to vo tech for his chosen profession of culinary arts. He has 2 diplomas ,one from high school, one from his vo tech. Then he went to a culinary college, and he is an executive chef today

[@norbertx4966]

Hey Kelly, interesting job talk. From a few of your latest videos one can see that you've got a lot of journalistic (as well as acting) talent. May be we could see you on CNN now, had you pursued that career ;-) In my experience, it was not uncommon for German high-school students to work two or three weeks during the six week summer holidays ("Ferienjob") in order to finance (e.g.) holiday travel, but certainly not during school time.

[@habi0187]

My first holiday job I had with the age of 14.5 years a bit illegal because working is permitted only if you are older than 15 years. I don’t remember how much I earned per hour since it is more than 40 years ago but I managed to buy my first motorcycle (Mofa) from this money. It was in a saw mill and it was really hard work lifting the heavy parts out of the sawing area. Later on I worked in construction companies and metal work shops this experience thought me to work harder in school so that I could go to university and get a white collar job.

[@IAD_Flyer]

When I was 14 & 15 I worked summers at a company's internal print shop printing and shipping books of air cargo tariff rate sheets. From 16 until my first year of college I worked at a supermarket started as a bagger (a job that definitely does not exist in Germany) and ended as a night manager. After that, I started my "real" job in IT. I guess I have been continuously working from the age of 14 until now (I am 31). Wow, 17 years!

[@bassoon1345]

I have never worked during my school years in Germany, and I don't think this is common practice. However, many students do so-called vacation jobs where they do all kinds of jobs during the vacations and earn money. During my vacation jobs I helped out in the warehouse of a local factory.

[@sudarshann.s5317]

Can you make a video about your jobs in Turkey, Germany and the US(after you graduated college)

[@danielleporter1829]

I didn't hold a job in highschool bit my high school had something like the Co-op program you described with a little something extra. I went to an all girls'Catholic school where it had a health careers course that could be taken by any and all students but was geared toward those wanting to pursue a career in the healthcare field. And students could as part of the program go over the hospital across the street and both the hospital and my school were operatied by the same order of nuns. When I travel, I take my own linen, (towels and pillowcases), I've seen too many exposés on the cleanliness of hotel linen. And I have stayed in a chain motel and on the light of day, I saw how not very thorough the cleaning of the room , I ended up going to stay at family friends' in the city where I'd travel to for the rest of my trip.

[@etienne9222]

Hey Kelly, I'd love to hear all the details from your time at the hotel! To your question on working in high school: I'm german and I never worked while I was at school. I did this work experience thing for two weeks in my school holidays. Some of my friends did that two or three times because they were unsure what they wanted to do after graduation. As far as I now this is pretty common. I had a friend who delivered newspapers once or twice a week for a few hours so she had a bit more pocket money, but I never needed that. My parents just like the parent of all my friends payed for everything. I got 50€ per month as pocket money. This was around 2005. I used that to buy CDs and stuff or to go to the movies or to go out with friends. Most of my friends even got their drivers licence and their first car from their parents. Mine couldn't afford that. I never heard of anyone holding an actual job while still in school. I'd also imagine that employers would be reluctant because of the Jugendarbeitsschutzgesetz, which regulates how many hours minors may work, the length of their break, the kind of work they are allowed to do, etc. A break (or lack thereof) like the one you described in your restaurant job would not be allowed in Germany, especially not for minors. Well, I believe this was the first time I commented. Love your videos. Thank you!!

[@grantcivyt]

We have similar laws restricting work for minors of various ages but these can vary by state. Many employers know the laws and work around them effectively especially in fast food. If you ask most adults who worked when they were kids, they'll tell you it was very important experience...including me (and I was illegally paid below the minimum wage).

[@der_bruehl]

Isn't that call also to signal the reception that the room ist ready, so they know where they can put the early checkins?

[@raoulraoulsen4716]

+1 on the room maid stories;-) And from this moment on I will never again be in a restaurant without checking the waiter's hair and fingernails lol... as my own hair is about 20 centimeters long, I know that hairs are literally everywhere. And lots of them:-)

[@Angie-cp5ro]

It is pretty common for kids to get what we call a mini-job. But... by law you have to be 16 unless paper round, that's from 13. In some hotels you have to be 18 to do rooms. + we can't just do everything or anything here as most often they want trained personal. Very frustrating even for us adults when we want to change job options, as for everything they want people with 3 year training( apprenticeship) in the particular job.

[@tasminoben686]

Moin Kelly, in Germany we have BAFÖG. Bundesbildungs Förderungs Gesetz. It's means, that you can get Money fom the Gouverment for your Ausbildung, when your Parends are not rich. Greetings from Hamburg Ben

[@therandommenace3434]

Yes yes yes, give us the funny and spicy hotel stories!

[@06BIBOI]

I'm 33 so not 100% sure how it is currently but when I worked at 17 it was the law that a minor had to be given a 30 minute break or let leave for the day after working 5 straight hours !

[@hartmutholzgraefe]

In my area it was somewhat common to try to get a job during summer school holidays, but not in parallel to school. It becomes much more common when going to university though ...

[@Kellydoesherthing]

Thanks for sharing!

[@johnnyabc2002]

You made me very curious to hear the stories out of your job as a housekeeper. For me it was kind of surprising that tiping the housekeepers is not that common - if I don‘t forget it (I have to admit that this happens), I leave about $2/2€ per day both in Europe and the US.

[@tallflguy]

Hey Kelly! I also use to be a housekeeper (Holliday Inn). I can’t count the amount of times I found used condoms, drugs, and many other things (like a gun). I only worked there for a year, but even today (just like you) I freak out when I have book a hotel room.

[@craighoy9535]

In high school I was a busboy at a diner in Philadelphia.

[@pigoff123]

I worked at a hotel in the laundry room. The housekeepers liked me cause I wouldn't wait for them to bring me the laundry. I would go an strip the beds so I could get the laundry done an go home early. All I did was laundry.

[@Kellydoesherthing]

I can totally relate to that haha

[@woodywoodverchecker]

Wow, I always thought it's more common to tip hotel maids. Now that's why they always left notes saying "thank you :)".

[@holger_p]

Tipping is a more personal thing, you give it directly to a person. The maid you never see. And the waiter is getting the tip during payment. There is nothing ever put on the table.

[@ottovonostrovo1486]

How is your uni going?? Are you still going?? Or did you quit?? Most of my siblings and I worked while we were in high school and I even worked my first two years in college at a lumber retail store as a salesman for minimum wage; it was the only way I could afford to go to college. After second year we had to go on an 8-month co-op and I earned enough money during my co-op that I didn't need to work to complete third year before another 4-month co-op during which I was hired to work fulltime. During the summers while I was in high school I worked on a farm that grew potatoes, carrots, onions, navy beans and barley, he also raised beef steers but we had little to do with them, I started the first summer between grade 8 and grade 9; & during the school year, I had a newspaper route and later I got a job as a "gofer" at a retail outlet doing a little of everything except retail sales. Summers I started work on the farm at $4 a day and finished the summer at $5 a day because I was a good worker! By 16 I was finally making a minimum wage of $1.25 per hour although my younger brother (not as good a worker) was still making $1.00 per hour. My family were new immigrants to Canada who arrived with very little into Canada and my dad having lost everything including his homeland within Germany (East of Oder went to Poland and Russia!). When I was old enough to attend college/uni the federal gov't started the loans and grants programs for low-income families for children who wished to attend college and university and universal healthcare. We were entitled to both and eventually succeeded although had we stayed in Germany we likely would have done just as well if not better.

[@conni5179]

I think if people work in Germany while still in school it is more common that they have small job like babysitting or bringing newspapers or adds . If you really want to make money you do summer jobs.

[@37Raffaella]

I worked in a Bakery (14-17), then a medical laboratory.

[@Kellydoesherthing]

Are you german? I’m making the assumption because of you working at a bakery haha

[@37Raffaella]

Kelly does her thing I am 1/4 German (Oberhaus) 1/4 Irish, 1/2 Russian...and I worked at a bakery in HS....a loooong time ago! I am American and live in Spain (Canary Islands) for 26 years.....

[@ronin47-ThorstenFrank]

Hi there. Huh, a "normal" video? Yeah, teenagers and work in Germany differs in a lot of ways. 20-30 years back (and more seldom today) people with a Hauptschul-Abschluss (I don´t think there´s an equivalent in the States) and Mittlere Reife (Realschule, roughly high school) started an education in the job of roughly two to three years generally at ages 15 to 16 (Hauptschule) or 16 to 17 (Realschule). However, it´s not so uncommon for teens to work in smaller jobs (restaurants or as "paper boys") depending on social strata, upbringing and personal (mostly luxury) needs. The restaurant culture, and as you pointed out especially the chain ones, is really annoying!!! However as I had to learn there are people out there liking ths. The co-op part was very interesting. I knew about that beforehand but your views gave me another perspective.

[@manub.3847]

In restaurants, hotels and similar professions, young people can rarely work here because the Youth Protection Act imposes some restrictions on employers. Young people often earn "extra income" by delivering the newspaper, babysitting, or from the age of 16 as youth leaders, coaches, referees (football), now less often in supermarkets (opening times), etc. But your own hobbies, school, etc. don't make it easy to earn pocket money.

[@carolinegreenwell9086]

Yes if course I'd love to hear your hotel cleaning stories - I bet some of them would be errr.....

[@dizerfleed3068]

I think you gana have to make more videos about all the stories while working at the hotel. It seems like you have many stories to tell......

[@michaausleipzig]

I'd say it's quite uncommon for german high school students to work regular jobs. Maybe for a few weeks during summer holiday but not during school time. I think it also has to do with strict german labour laws when it comes to employing minors.

Working during "high school" was rare in my days. Pretty much limited to people whose parents had some business and they helped their parents as they could. But regular jobs… nope. And I was barely middle class (one of the few non-business-owner kids in my class).

[@GenialHarryGrout]

Items and sights Kelly discovers in hotel rooms. Spill the beans Kelly, tell all

[@peterkoller3761]

the wait stuff in the US are like outhouse flies...

[@Kellydoesherthing]

Lol!!

[@charlies.5777]

Hopefully, with better hygiene, though .ESPECIALLY with the current coronavirus situation!!

[@lotharschepers2240]

Native (but older) German here: 1.) Working while in High School, was pretty normal in the 1970th, but when I did find a job for my son back in 2012 as a paper delivery boy he gave me a very strange look because he was the only one who had to have a job out of his classmates. 2.) The job as a room maid in a hotel, I hope you were lucky enuff, not to encounter guys like Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Because at the age of 15 such folks would be really scary (even if such folks are scary at any age) I guess. 3.) The job at the restaurant, this one sounds so typical American to me because I could not see the point why this job even exists. 4.) The newspaper job is another great example of the US work culture designing the layout of the newspaper, would be considered as a task for a journalist with a huge amount of experiences in Europe, but in the US "you think you could do this? Then here is your workstation, there is Jim who knows everything and god luck". Thanks for sharing your stories and all the best.

[@V100-e5q]

Interesting to know that the room maids don't get a regular tip. That is what I am doing when in the US. But it happened that my dollar was not taken in when I returned to my room. But the bed had been made???? So I get that you "have" to tip the waiteress/waiter but it is not really expected to tip room maids? Since I am paying almost exclusively by card I am always short on change for tipping. Don't take much if any change or chash with me anyways on travels. The vo-tech thing I find intersting. I saw a documentary on tv about Volkswagen and their factory in Chattanooga. There they have a programm like the apprenticeship in Germany. That is very much appreciated by the community and of the workers participating. Perhaps you can use your journalistic skills to get into that subject a little more. newsroom.vw.com/vehicles/passat/how-the-volkswagen-apprenticeship-program-makes-an-impact-with-jobs/

[@alvaroludolf]

In Brasil it is forbidden by law to work before you finish your high-school, unless it is with a program called "minor apprentice" where you can work in a safe environment (house cleaning and catering isn't safe enough) if you are older than 14. This only really happens if you are from a somewhat poor family and is not so wide spread because the rules that are there to protect the minors scare employers who only want a cheap labor source. More common and widespread is for people who is going through a technical school (which is a different form of high-school with a technical training in focus) to go into a trainee program on a related field with their study area. This however still only a small portion of the population as technical schools are not that common. Even when we go to the university (we don't have colleges in Brazil) some (rich) people will find a way to avoid working, but at this point it is frown upon. Most work for necessity, but some for learning (I was lucky to work as a trainee through my entire university time in a related job to engineering). Now for the depressing part: large chunks of the society are considered poor or extremely poor, which forces kids to work from a very young age (some times up to 9 years old) in dangerous professions (like charcoal factories, drug selling and even as sex workers). "Best" case scenario here they go to schools that don't really teach them anything and are there only so they get something to eat and so the parents can apply to some government program that require the children to be enrolled in school. It is technically illegal for kids to work, of course, but then... "they don't really care about us".

[@pt3800]

Hi... working as a teen is very uncommon in germany. There are to many laws to be considered for the safety of the teen if he/she is under 18. It is just not profitable to hire a teen in germany (less hours, more breaks and so on). That's why there are not many options for teens😉