I worked throughout high school, got a fellowship before Freshman year, and an internship before sophomore year. This year when me and a friend were applying for jobs, to many of the same companies, and we have similar grades, I got 6 offers and he managed to get 1. Employers, from everything I’ve heard, like to see you take some initiative and test out the field before going full time. Even if it’s not in the direct field and is something like camp counseling, the people skills learned and the fact that you were willing to work will get you the job over someone who didn’t.

The good thing is that if your son doesn’t need to work for financial reasons, he has some control over when and how many hours he will work. He won’t have to take a job for 30 hours/week which will distract from his academic work, and he can focus on those jobs which will help his career directly, such as internships. Many of these are, in fact, unpaid, and difficult for less-fortunate students to handle (I am a professor who finds that many of my students run into trouble trying to juggle an internship, a paid job, AND their schoolwork)..

Employers look at scope of work and longevity in the job. If you are a student, that is taken into consideration with regards to longevity.

Employers are also interested when you have references that can speak to your body of work.

Having said that, employers hiring out of school employees do no penalize them for that. It is understood that there will be no work history – especially if the student is a good student and has college extracurricular activities listed on the resume’. These extracurricular activities should represent positions of leadership.

Tell you stepson not to worry. He will have opportunies in his junior and senior year for internships that can be resume listed and first jobs are usually entry level positions where previous work experience is not required.

Good Luck

My recommendation is to have him work (and even pay for some of his own college!)