1    Working after school, evenings, or weekends is a fact of life for many students. But there are pros and cons to consider before you decide whether a part-time job is right for you.

2     A part-time job can have real benefits. Here are the major pluses of working when your main “job” is still being a student:

3    • Diverse financial rewards. Of course the number-one benefit of a part-time job is money. But beyond that, a part-time job introduces you to a host of real-world financial concepts and practices. Once you have a regular income, you’ll probably want a checking account. Learning to manage a checkbook is a key skill you’ll need later in life. And then there are taxes. You’ll learn about withholding, W-2 forms, and other wonders of the real world.

4    • Exploring career options. You also can use a part-time job to help you identify your job interests. For example, if you think you’d like to go into teaching, why not get an after-school job at a nursery school or day-care center? See what it’s really like to be responsible for a large group of children. What parts of the job do you like/dislike? You may make contacts who might be able to help you down the road when you’re looking for a full-time job. Even if you don’t get paid, this kind of experience is valuable.

5     • Developing people skills. Working helps develop your skills in dealing with people. In high school, you tend to interact most with two groups of people: teachers and students. In the workforce, chances are you’ll be exposed to a greater range of people. Your boss and adult co-workers will give you a different perspective on life. If you work with the public, you’ll be exposed to all age groups, and to people from a wide range of social and economic backgrounds. The more exposure you get to different types of people, the better prepared you’ll be to face the challenges of life after high school.

The Downside of Working

6     On the negative side, holding down a part-time job can put a wrinkle in other parts of your daily routine. After all, real life is never perfect.

7     • Scheduling conflicts. What happens when your friends plan to go to a concert, but you are scheduled to work that night? If you’re lucky, you can trade shifts with someone else. If not, you’ll have to work. Such conflicts are bound to happen. Working is not always convenient, and there will be times when you’d prefer to be doing something else. 

8    • Dirty work. Someone’s got to do it and that someone may be YOU. Don’t let that get you down, though. Eventually more education and experience will put you in a better position. Meanwhile, however, you may be assigned tasks that are boring, repetitive, or unpleasant.

9     • Low pay. Because you’re just starting out, your pay may be lower than that of more experienced adults. That means you must work quite a while to accumulate substantial amounts of money. The federal minimum-wage law will help you in most job categories, but don’t count on getting rich unless you win the lottery!

No Mistake About It

10     If you do decide to work, you can ensure a good experience by avoiding these common mistakes:

11     • Working too many hours. The more hours you work, the less time you have for homework and extracurricular activities. If you work too many hours, something has to suffer: your schoolwork, your social life, or both. While in school, make it a practice to work no more than 15 to 20 hours a week.

12     • Job hopping. What if you take a part-time job but find that you hate it? It’s OK to switch to another job, but don’t make changing jobs a habit. This can aggravate employers. And once such a pattern is established, other employers may be reluctant to hire you.

13     • Spending all you earn. Having your own money is great. But don’t make the mistake of spending all your earnings. Take a portion of each paycheck and set it aside. Open a savings account. If you start a regular savings program, you’ll be surprised at how quickly money accumulates. And you’ll get more out of working.

14     If you do decide that a part-time job is right for you, why not give it a try? As part-time worker Adam Schreier puts it, “Don’t be afraid to put in an application anywhere you’re interested.” 

  (740 words)

1.… if you think you’d like to go into teaching, why not get an after-school job at a nursery school or day-care center? 

……如果你认为你会从事教学工作，何不在幼儿园或日间托儿所找一份放学后的工作呢？

句中的why not get可以看成是why don’t you get的省略形式，用来表示建议。

2.You may make contacts who might be able to help you down the road when you’re looking for a full-time job.

= You may make contacts with some influential people who might be able to help you in the future when you are looking for a full-time job.

你可能会结交一些社会关系，他们在你以后寻找全职工作时也许能帮上你一把。

在这个句子中，make contacts意思是“结交社会关系”，down the road是美国口语，意思是in the future, esp. at a later stage in a process “在将来; 今后”。

3.In the workforce, chances are you’ll be exposed to a greater range of people.

在工作场所，很可能你会接触到更大范围的人。

句子中的chances are是很常用的句型，等于it is likely that…，意为“很可能…”。又如： 

If he goes on doing that, chances are that he will fail in the exam.

如果他再这样下去，他很可能考试不及格。

4.… holding down a part-time job can put a wrinkle in other parts of your daily routine.

= … holding a part-time job for a long time can cause problems in non-work related aspects of daily life.

……保住一份兼职工作可能会给你的日常生活的其他部分带来一些困难。

5.… there will be times when you’d prefer to be doing something else.

= … sometimes you’d prefer to be doing something else.

工作并不总是方便的，会有时候你倒宁可在做别的事情。

该句的句型值得模仿：

There are times in our life when we wish we could do nothing.

生活中有时候我们希望啥事都不做。

There were times in the past when I really wanted to quit my job.

在过去有时候我真想放弃自己的工作。

6.While in school, make it a practice to work no more than 15 to 20 hours a week.

在校期间，要坚持每周工作不超过15至20小时。

本句中的it是形式宾语，真正的宾语是to work no more than 15 to 20 hours a week。又如：

For years I have made it a rule to get up before seven and then do morning exercises.

多年来我定下规矩，每天7点之前起床，然后早锻炼。

7.As part-time worker Adam Schreier puts it, “Don’t be afraid to put in an application anywhere you’re interested.”

正像做兼职工作的亚当·施赖伯所说的：“对任何感兴趣的地方提交一份申请，不要有顾虑。”

句中的as… puts it意思是“正如…所说”。作者在文章的结尾引用一位打工者的话语，旨在给自己的观点提供支持。这种写作方法值得效仿。