Tips for Helping Your Teen Find a Part-Time Job They Love
Parenting is a full-time job in and of itself, and it can be especially tricky once your teen starts looking for a job of their own. However, as parents, there are some things that you can do to help. If your teen is trying to find a job, here are some ways to work with them to help them find one that they will love.
1. Who Is Hiring?
Firstly, you’ll want to work with your teen to identify who is hiring. Sometimes you can find help wanted signs or outdoor billboards, which 26% of people will notice a phone number on, while 28% will note a web address. Consider taking your teen on a drive to look for hiring signs, and talk with them about whether or not they could see themselves working at that particular place. You can also use internet job boards to help them locate jobs or go right to a company’s website to see if they are hiring if they have a specific one in mind.
2. Drafting a Resume
Secondly, you’ll want to help your teen draft an eye-catching resume. While they may not have job experience to include, you can note any volunteer experience, while highlighting achievements in school and responsibilities they have both academically and in after-school activities. Crafting a resume can be tricky for even adults, but if you work together you can come up with something that shows off just why your teen would make a good addition to any business.
3. Choosing a Place to Work That Interests Your Teen
When looking for a job that your teen will love, you may also want to consider their interests. For example, since May of 2020, over 200 million copies of Minecraft have been sold. If your teen is interested in video games, it’s likely they have a copy of this game either on a console or on their PC. If video games are something they would like to work with, you may consider working with them to find a store that sells video games and having them apply there. Some big box stores also have specific electronics sections that you can apply to work in. Similarly, if your child is interested in more outdoor work, they could look for a seasonal position in gardening centers that they may enjoy more than anything else.
4. Skills to Work On
One parenting responsibility that you’ll have when helping your teen look for a job is to hone specific skills. Communication is essential for almost every position, and you can help by engaging with them in conversation or role-playing customer/employee scenarios. If counting change is a struggle, you may consider helping them by working with them to learn various methods to make counting easier. While it may seem like an easy skill, it can be a surprising challenge for many teens today since credit card transactions have become the norm.
5. Consider Their Work/School Balance
In the United States, there are approximately 34,576 private schools that service 5.7 million PK-12 students, and many of these schools offer a myriad of afterschool activities that your teen may participate in. Coupled with homework, this can make time management tricky, especially when adding a job to the mix. However, it is doable, and helping your teen find balance is one parenting responsibility that you’ll have during this process. Sit down with them and make out a weekly schedule to determine how much time they have free to be able to work. Keep in mind that they should still have free time to relax, so make sure that you’re not filling their schedule to the brim with school and work.
If your teen is looking to start a part-time job this year, keep these five points in mind. Work closely with your teen so that they can understand how to find a job that they’ll love without running into any problems such as lacking skills or time management. For a teen that has never had a job before, the process can be confusing, so make sure to do your best to support them every step of the way.