Working for a Car Wash? Pros & Cons?

[visaveteran1 33]

OK, my Russian stepson sincerely wants a job but has no college or labor skills. He was in the Russian Army and he's not afraid of hard work, so I need to help get him working.

His English is pretty low level so we have few choices. He put his name on a local Russian site and has a one or two day handy man job for an old Russian woman. The transportation costs eat a lot of his salary but it's something. He goes to ESL at night 4 times a week.

Anyway, I was passing a car wash the other day and wondered if that might be a place to start, even as low grade a job as it is. Part of me doesn't want to subject him to that kind of work, but I don't have much else. Construction laborer is another thought but without much English (or Spanish!) he would struggle I think.

So...I'm looking for your feedback, suggestions, advice about:

A. Working at a car wash for a 21 year-old Russian guy?

B. Other possible jobs with little English or certifiable skills?

Thanks.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

OK, my Russian stepson sincerely wants a job but has no college or labor skills. He was in the Russian Army and he's not afraid of hard work, so I need to help get him working.

His English is pretty low level so we have few choices. He put his name on a local Russian site and has a one or two day handy man job for an old Russian woman. The transportation costs eat a lot of his salary but it's something. He goes to ESL at night 4 times a week.

Anyway, I was passing a car wash the other day and wondered if that might be a place to start, even as low grade a job as it is. Part of me doesn't want to subject him to that kind of work, but I don't have much else. Construction laborer is another thought but without much English (or Spanish!) he would struggle I think.

So...I'm looking for your feedback, suggestions, advice about:

A. Working at a car wash for a 21 year-old Russian guy?

B. Other possible jobs with little English or certifiable skills?

Thanks.

First, I think any type of work will be good. Our son has a degree in Physics and now will have a masters and worked at McDonald's last summer and stocking shelves at Pricechopper Grocery this summer.

The car wash would allow him to work and have SOME interaction and learn some English skills also.

Any job will be good to start.

I will suggest something else that helped Pasha a lot (Pasha had the worst of the three English skills when he arrived)Get him involved in something he enjoys with Americans. For Pasha it was basketball and later LaCross. Even though I was working with him on English every night for 2-3 hours, EVERY night, I think being on that basketball team did more for his English ability than anything else. No kidding. I went to all his games and always caught the last few minutes of each practice and the coach would be shouting directions at him and I was surprised when he would do exactly as he was told. He learned because he WANTED to learn and be part of the team with his friends.

I am glad to see you doing these things, it is very important for him and for your wife. You are a stand up guy and you will never regret it. He is a young man and will be cemented to you forever for what you do for him. I would rank it right up there with any other service you have rendered your country. There is little you can do in life that has more impact than helping out a young man.

Keep him going to school for English and working will help him practice those skills

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I work in construction VV, yes he could do a laborers job but it could be dangerous if he does not understand directions and warnings. I would suggest his English be at least fairly good before he does something that could get him injured.

Do not feel bad about the type of work he does, just make sure it challenges him, there needs to be SOME use of his English skills as he learns. Car washing may not be a bad place to start. There is no shame in any honest work.

Another possibility is what Sergey did this summer...night stocker at a grocery store which is open 24 hours. Sergey speaks excellent English so that is not an issue but he would be exposed to some customers, not many in the middle of the night, and would have to read all the boxes and labels plus work with his supervisors. Sergey went for the night shift also because they paid a $2 per hour bonus for night work.

[Misha & Ira 113]

There is nothing to be ashamed of, it is a good honest job. Work is work....and any honest job is a good place to start. Being exposed to English is a good thing and will force him to learn more quickly.

Fast Food places are another place to look....basically any place any kid would start to look for a first job...maybe sans a lot of customer service.

[Misha & Ira 113]

[1HappyGuy 45]

The car wash is a good place to start. It gives him an opportunity to do something with his spare time, allows him to earn some of his money and teaches him that getting an education and learning to speak English well in America is the road to success. I was lucky as my stepson already had pretty good English skills when he arrived. He use to work in a restaurant in Kiev and whenever an English speaking customer would arrive they all called him. He has worked at the local mall in a couple of fast food joint until getting jobs in retail clothing stores. He has been able to always get extra hours because the managers recognize that he's a hard worker. He's working at Forever 21 in Southern California now and recently survived a security scan the store set up to catch employees that were stealing. In the video tapes they recognized that he was one of only a few that was always working.

It doesn't matter where he starts as long as he improves his English and knows that this is not his life's work.

[skiptex 225]

ditto.. good start!

[slim 1,530]

As others have said... work is work.

In this economy, any job at all is a good job. Encourage him to work wherever they'll hire him. He'll learn English along the way. Really, how hard is it to do any job? Do you need some English skills? Sure. But, do you need a lot? Point and grunt works pretty well for just about every menial task in America. Even Mr. Miagi taught Daniel-san how to wax the car.

He's working at Forever 21 in Southern California

That's a dream job for a young man!

Whenever I go to the mall with my little brothers we post up outside Forever 21 because all the hot chicks go there. (One of the local malls has an awesome spot triangulated between the ladies room, Vickies, and F21. I love it. Best spot in the whole mall. Bonus points that it's right between the escalators. Yep... such a pervert. Gotta pass on the heritage.)

[Harsh_77 718]

Nothing wrong in working at carwash....he would make friends and sometimes it much easier and quicker to pick up language with friends then going thru class or books.

[LvivLovers 39]

If it's one of those automated ones where the cars roll through, tell him to watch his feet. One of my stupid friends broke his when it got caught somehow. Other than that...sounds like a good job to get one's feet wet (yes...intentional).

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

If it's one of those automated ones where the cars roll through, tell him to watch his feet. One of my stupid friends broke his when it got caught somehow.

Thats why I always carry a gun.

[slim 1,530]

Thats why I always carry a gun.

Shoot the E-Stop?

[visaveteran1 33]

Thanks for the replies and support.

There's just one thing here in my area...all the automatic car washes are manned by Mexicans and other Latinos/Latinas. There my be a few Africans and Haitians thrown in there too...but English is not a benefit of working a car wash around here. I'm going to say he might be the only white person working there including the manager and cashier. If he's positioned to greet the customers, he might get to hear and speak a few "hellos" or "are keys in car?"

Fortunately, it looks like he may be working installing windows and doors for a Russian guy. So, not a big English teaching opportunity but a much more promising job...if he gets paid. Russians, even in the states, have a bad habit of working people and not paying them or paying much less than agreed.

We'll see. If he gets screwed, my PTSD is going RED and I'm going to turn them in to the IRS and Dept. of Labor...or whoever I can think of. If I was a younger man, I'd be tempted to dig out my bullwhip and have a "talk" with them. I'm tired of that #######...especially in my own backyard.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Shoot the E-Stop?

Always better to have it, just in case.

[sea-monkey 13]

Did you even run it past the kid?

It might be beneath him to be washing cars. Russians don't even do this type of work in Russia. They have Kazakhs like we have Mexicans doing the menial work.