Surviving high school could be hard if you don’t know what you’re doing, work ethic and procrastination go hand in hand. Improving work ethics is often a difficult task, a number of variables go into a strong work ethic like focus, self-discipline, and prioritizing. Work ethics are important in school as it will be in a working environment.

A good work ethic right now is a requirement for the job market, your work ethic tells your future employer what they need to know to hire you. Tiffany Nelson, a Career planner at the Saint Leo University in Florida says, “The job market is so competitive that employers won’t give two thoughts about hiring someone who can fit the bill.”

Coming from a generation where society gives you a gold star for every accomplishment just to have it all taken away is the most demeaning feeling when you can’t fit the criteria of the workforce.

Developing a work ethic for a professional environment is beneficial for getting any job. Working on those fundamentals take a tremendous effort for those who just can’t find it in themselves to just sit down and do the work. They usually consist of setting an appointed time, setting all distractions aside, but who really has the time to maintain consistency. A work ethic to fit the needs for the average high school student is almost impossible to find, specifically, a work ethic that’ll last until a job opportunity.

The ability to work hard when you are not passionate about your job can be a real struggle. It’s good to practice though so when you have the job you want, you can keep it effortlessly and you don’t have to unlearn bad habits you developed along the way.

Here are some suggestions though, that will seem obvious but are difficult to embrace when your minimum wage job is not inspiring to you. In today’s society, everything competes with your focus and attention, phone addiction, not enough sleep, and not enough time. Having the integrity to keep working and having the motivation to keep going is a pretty gratifying feat afterwards to know that it’s all worth it. Gaining experience for your dream job doesn’t come out of nowhere, people that grew up in this generation expect to go straight to point B without even getting to point A. Acquiring the soft skills you need from a minimum wage job is the experience needed for those future employers and your dream job. Right now, work ethic right now is important more than ever. With job qualifications changing and expanding, being able to be a valuable worker is key.