President Obama on Thursday used LinkedIn to look back on his first job as an ice-scream scooper, and to announce a new summer job initiative for young people.
Though scooping ice cream at a Honolulu Baskin-Robbins was “brutal on the wrists,” it was a job that taught him life lessons he still carries with him today.
“My first summer job wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it taught me some valuable lessons,” he wrote in the LinkedIn post. “Responsibility. Hard work. Balancing a job with friends, family, and school.”
Obama then announced the Summer Opportunity Program, which he says is a joint effort between state and local leaders, community groups, schools and businesses such as LinkedIn “to get young people into their first jobs and create strong transitions between school years and from high school to college and careers.”
The new program was recommended by My Brother’s Keeper Task Force, the White House announced Thursday. It is set to officially launch Friday at a White House Summer Opportunity workshop and Champions of Change event.
According to the White House, LinkedIn will lead the way, helping to connect young people with employers for summer jobs in 72 cities. The Department of Labor also launched a $20 million grant competition that will be given to 10 communities helping to connect young people with summer and year-round jobs by using “innovate approaches.”
“While I may have lost my taste for ice cream after one too many free scoops, I’ll never forget that job — or the people who gave me that opportunity — and how they helped me get to where I am today,” Obama wrote. “Let’s make sure every young person in America knows that if they work hard and play by the rules, the future they are willing to work for is within their grasp.”
