At What Age Must Start Your First Job? Maxim Behar: The Earlier, The Better!

In our effort to improve the communication between employer and candidate, we asked in our latest survey about the challenges in the workplace:

At what age did you start your first job?

- 52% respondents in the survey said they started their first job between the ages of 14 and 18
- 44% started their first work commitments during their study between the ages of 19-24
- Only 4% fall into the category of 25–30-year-old

To comment on the topic and the survey results, WorkTalent.com turned to Maxim Behar for an expert opinion.

Maxim Behar, a globally recognized PR expert, founder, and manager of one of the most successful communications companies in Bulgaria, M3 Communications Group, Inc. In 2017 Maxim became the first Eastern European to be included in the World PR Hall of Fame in London.

- Mr. Behar, 52% of survey respondents said they started their first job between the ages of 14 and 18. In your opinion, what is the advantage of a person starting work in an early age?

- I started my first job when I was 14 and haven't stopped since. So, I can only talk of the advantages. Especially nowadays, where at the age of 14 you know more than we know at 34, for example. Now if a young person wants to succeed in anything it’s unthinkable for him to not start working immediately after graduating. It's not just about work habits or attitude towards work and success. These are mainly created in the family. Rather, what you already know from social media , if you see it happening in practice, it can fill in the “picture” and make sense of it, which makes life meaningful and good. So, for sure - the earlier, the better.

- 44% started their first work commitments as students between the ages of 19-24. Should a student work during their studies or is it better to dedicate themselves only to the process of gaining knowledge?

- I strongly believe that one should start working from the first day of studies, if not even before that. I was a student abroad, struggling with a not-so-easy language and facing challenging exams in marketing and management. Since day one I started working at a local magazine, wrote correspondence for a Bulgarian newspaper, and cleaned streets on the weekend. And so, it went on for four years. Of course, they were welcomed, but money wasn't my motivation for doing it, or more precisely – not only them. I don't underestimate education, but if its development is now moving at 20 kilometers per hour, real business is moving at least at hundred. Of course, this is a metaphor, but it expresses quite accurately the growing gap between the theory from universities and practice from business. Again, I can't imagine that a young person can enter the business world quickly and successfully if they are not working from day one of their studies.

- Only 4% fall into the category of 25-30 age. Can we draw a general conclusion that in Bulgaria people start their first job before the age of 25? Given the economic situation in the country, is this the result of their understanding that it’s a more successful career path or pure necessity to support themselves financially from an early age?

- I think most people, not just in Bulgaria, start working long before the age of 25. This seems to be a tendency in this country though, as western democracies are more organized, a young person's future is quite easier to predict, and markets work well. In Bulgaria, however, you can achieve a lot more with less effort, but you really must start early enough to gain competitive qualities. It’s also important that a young person in Bulgaria often has a much greater need for financial support compared to their peers in developed markets.

- Let's look at the picture from another perspective. At what age our preferences for the field we want to develop in are being formed? When, in your opinion, is a young person ready to make a clear and distinct decision about their direction? Should parents get involved in this process?

- A person needs to try. It's like a good food, some like it, others don’t. But you won’t know before you try. More and more, young people's interests are shaped by social media, their friends, or their environment. My observations are that parents rarely have anything to do with their children's future profession, in fact children are often more informed than their parents. At least in my business a young person rarely changes their profession, communications is a creative and dynamic job and once you get into it is often for lifetime.

- Is it a good idea to follow in our parents' professional footsteps? Or is it better to create our own path that corresponds more with our expectations, skills, and understandings?

- It's very personal and very individual. There are professions that, by definition, should be continued by the next generation - lawyers, doctors, and many others. Now the world is much more diverse than it was ten years ago, and the choices are much, much larger. Personally, I had a strong motivation to step out of the shadow of my father who was managing the most successful enterprise in Bulgaria at that time - Balkancar and when I was assigned to work there after graduation, I did everything I could to escape from that profession. One of the reasons was my strong desire to be independent and to develop in my own way.

- Most people claim that our first work commitments and our first serious job are foundational in building our work discipline. Do you agree?

- No, of course not. Nowadays, so-called discipline is managed only by whether you are interested in the profession. Life is so colorful and attractive, and there are so many opportunities, that having nothing but discipline leads to nothing. You can be the most disciplined employee and at the same time nothing useful comes out of your "disciplined" work. In this regard, I would rather rely on my upbringing in the family environment and focus on other qualities more important than discipline such as honesty and loyalty...

- We will end our very interesting and insightful interview today with the question - what is your advice to the young people in the country? Considering the constantly changing technological world and the job market itself, if today we have to decide about where, what, and how to learn, where to develop, and what decisions to make, what should we do?

- It is very easy and simple – a person should be happy with what they do. I am not saying it has to be easy, there are no easy things anymore, and there will never be. There will be million difficulties, problems, successes and failures, joys, and disappointments, but if at the end of the day, week, or month you draw "the line" and see that you are happy, then this is your profession. Never leave it behind and, every day, try to learn something new. Or to put it even more visually – every time you stop riding a bike you will fall of course. Therefore - never stop.

The interview was published in dir.bg