Having a job in high school may be the best thing you can do for yourself in preparation for the dreaded idea of adulthood. While some may believe it can distract your focus from school, contrary to common belief, it arguably has the chance to enhance your life’s possibilities of: opportunity in school, college, and even future careers.

Pursuing a job in high school will most likely expose someone to real skills that are vital to succeed in life, such as time management, discipline, and budgeting. Abilities like these do not magically appear at the age of 18, they are expected to be implemented in a person; they are skills that appear by being reinforced in the work setting.

Another benefit of working during high school is it may open the doors to more opportunities in school, such as positions of leadership. By having a job on your resume, it will make you stand out and show the person searching for a candidate that you are well-rounded, responsible, reliable, capable of balancing work and school, and can have good interactions with people.

Being able to interact well with other people has the possibility to enhance the working experience. Not only connecting with coworkers and customers, in any industry, will help to form interpersonal connections, otherwise known as networking. By networking, it further introduces you to potential employers. Ultimately, it makes getting future jobs easier, since knowing someone who knows someone helps greatly, even through a simple recommendation for employment.

Having a job in high school presents the potential to enrich important skills needed for the workforce, as well as opening the door to further opportunities, and not to even mention the extra money and financial independence.