What a Future Employer of Your Children is Looking For…

The following article was written by Rick Boyer. I’m leaving you a teaser…and you can read the rest on The Boyer Blog.

Hello. I am your child’s future employer. No doubt you’ve thought about me, though we haven’t met. You’re teaching your child at home because you want the best future possible for him (or her). One of the things you’re concerned about is your child’s preparation for a career. That’s wise. Everybody has to make a living doing something, and it’s not a good idea to wait until they’re grown up and on their own before some preparation is made for that. So I’m going to do you a favor. I’m going to tell you in advance what I’m looking for in a young person I’m considering hiring.

Because of your own schooling, you may be more concerned about grades and tests than you should be. They make a big deal out of such things in school, but frankly I couldn’t care less. Sure, I want your kid to be literate when he comes to see me about a job. I need basic reading, communication and math skills. But I don’t care what your kid’s SAT score was. That doesn’t translate into a good employee.

If you stop to think about it, you don’t care all that much, either. As a consumer, have you ever asked the plumber, your doctor or the Chief of the fire department what sort of test scores he had in school? No. You’re not concerned about what he did twenty years ago as a student; you want to know what he can do now. As a professional. For you.

That’s where I’m coming from. I’ve had bright kids and slow kids work for me and I’ve seen good and bad in both. I don’t see any way that real intelligence can be measured on tests, but even if it can, that’s not what makes an employee a winner in my eyes. I’ve had too many intelligent jerks on the payroll.

I’ll tell you what I’m looking for. And if you’re smart and if you want the best for your kid, you’ll pay attention. I’ve been in business for a long time. I’ve hired a lot of people and I’ve had to fire quite a few. It’s not fun being a boss at a time like that, but it comes with the territory. I can’t afford to employ your kid because he needs a job or he’s a nice person or because you’re a personal friend of mine. But I’ll tell you what will make me eager to be your kid’s employer and I can say it in one word.

Find out what the word is…and how he fleshes it all out HERE.