Preparing a Teen for Their First Job

After shelling out thousands of dollars for movies, skinny jeans, coffee drinks and pricey lotion; I am thrilled my two oldest are approaching the age of employment.

Not only am I excited to stop paying for most of these items, I have grand plans for them to learn financial responsibility, budgeting, the importance of saving and the rewards of hard work.

Welcome to the Balancing Act

As I daydreamed about my kids being completely financially independent, I remembered they are also full-time students. As much as I rant about the importance of grades and activities, working too many hours a week would definitely take away from study time.

My friend with grown children gave me some great advice on teens and jobs:

1. Not every teen should get a job. Kids involved in after-school sports year-round or multiple extracurricular activities may not have time to squeeze in work.
2. Finding an employer who is flexible with work hours is uber important.
3. Focus on summer: no studying, lots of free time, perfect opportunity to work a lot and save cash.
4. If your child is earning an income, then give them financial responsibility such as paying for gasoline, a portion of their car insurance, saving a specific amount, etc.

Where to Apply?

Lately I’ve noticed myself analyzing employees everywhere I go. How old are they? Are they doing something difficult? Do they look like they somewhat enjoy what they do? Do I always see them when I come here?

I’ve come to realize that the fun bath products and candle store where my daughter really wants to work doesn’t appear to employ teenagers. Everyone has to start somewhere, and it is likely a grocery store, fast food restaurant or the middle of a cornfield. This is good because it reinforces the motivation of getting a good education to get out of the drive-thru window.

Emphasize the Value of First Impressions

A human resource coordinator at a local grocery store gave me some great tips for my teens when applying for a job:

1. Be ready to make a good impression when you turn in a completed application (i.e. make eye contact, have a firm handshake, comb your hair beforehand and know why you want a job). This can be a deciding factor of whether or not you get an interview.
2. Fill out your own application. (She can tell if your mom or girlfriend filled it out.)
3. Even if you don’t have previous job experience, include volunteer work or non-conventional work history (e.g. babysitting, lawn mowing, church volunteering, etc).
4. Follow up! Stores and restaurants receive numerous applications and yours can get lost in the stack. If you make an actual phone call to follow up and reinforce your interest in working, then your application gets put on the top of the stack.

Please Be Patient

The next time you are ordering food or purchasing groceries, please be kind if the young employee helping you takes a little longer than you expected. It might be a young 16-year-old on her first day of work at her first job.

Sincerely, her parents