By Angela Skane, St. Petersburg High

Employee: Jeffrey Newsome
Employer: St. Petersburg Yacht Club
How’d he get the job?
Jeffrey Newsome, a senior at St. Petersburg High in the Early College Program at St. Petersburg College,  was dragged to the St. Petersburg Yacht Club three months ago by a friend who went there to apply for a job. The friend persuaded him to take an application, too. Newsome was the fortunate one; he landed a job in the kitchen as a line cook that same week; his friend never got a call back.

Hardest part?
A job in the kitchen isn’t a job most teens are able to snag. Newsome says the hardest part is catching up with everyone. “Everyone has so much experience and they know so much. Learning is the hardest part about the job.”

Favorite part?
Even though learning is one of the most challenging things, it is also one of the best parts. Newsome also loves “how relaxed it is” at work. He looks forward to his shifts and enjoys the time he spends at work.

Perks?
“Knowledge of making good food. Not making something from a box. Real food,” he says. Newsome has had the opportunity to make things from pulled pork sandwiches to hand-rolled sushi. He says the lessons he learns in this kitchen will help him land a lot of jobs down the road.

What has he learned about things outside of the kitchen?
Time management has been the biggest thing. It’s hard to balance a full school schedule, full-time job and friends. That’s the most important thing.

Cooking outside of work?
Outside the work kitchen, he cooks at home “to impress his lady friends. It has a 97 percent success rate,” he says. Maybe after some more time in this job field it will become 100 percent.