An honest day’s work: summer jobs for teens

Summer jobs teach young people valuable skills: responsibility, punctuality, following directions, getting along with others, establishing a good work ethic, and managing money.

Karen Coburn, Senior Consultant in Residence at Washington University in St. Louis and co-author of Letting Go: A Parent鈥檚 Guide to Understanding the College Years, offers this advice for young people thinking about getting a summer job:

鈥淎 summer job, certainly for juniors and seniors in high school, is a good way to learn discipline and skills different from those you learn going to school. The basics of showing up every day, arriving on time, taking responsibility, and learning from other people are important skills that can be learned at a summer job. It doesn鈥檛 have to be in a professional environment. Students get a dose of reality when they interact with people in a work environment… It鈥檚 a real eye-opener.

鈥淚t鈥檚 good to have a combination of work experience and be exposed to different professions and work environments. A lot of students don鈥檛 have any idea what type of work environment they ultimately want and summer jobs can help them to keep their eyes open to different professions and work environments.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of college hype out there that you have to have 鈥榦ver-the-top鈥� summer experiences. You don鈥檛 need to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro blindfolded. There are other ways to prove yourself.鈥�

Where to look for summer jobs

Your teenager should start their search locally first, and then check out national resources.

• Start with word of mouth — your teen should tell everyone you know (parents, relatives, neighbors, teachers, coaches) that they are looking for work. This is the best source of real opportunities that your child can access without a highly selective process like a regular job search.
• Have your teen walk down a local commercial street or through the mall with their resume in hand, introducing themselves and passing out their resume. This includes retail stores, cafes, restaurants, movie theatres and any business your child might be interested in learning more about. Tell them to dress appropriately and ask to speak to the manager. The business may tell your teen to go home and apply online, but the fact that they have introduced themselves will get their resume a serious look.
• Look up local festivals and concerts. Often, these big special events need to hire short-term staff, perfect for teen schedules.
• Use your school resources! School guidance and career counselors often have access to summer jobs, paid internships, or job search ideas that are not widely available.
• Check out bulletin boards in libraries, government offices, and community centers are also great places to find youth jobs. Many city governments have paid summer jobs for local youth that can expose them to many different professions, including political jobs, as well as jobs in parks and recreation programs.
• Websites such as Craigslist, , , , , Indeed, and Monster all have listings for summer jobs.
• has 2,300 locations nationwide.
• Yelp has a that lists businesses hiring extra help in the summer

Create your own employment

Another way to get work experience is to become a summer entrepreneur. Your teenager could create a service for the neighborhood. Babysitting, tutoring, pet sitting/dog walking, catering, lawn mowing, gardening, housekeeping, organizing, and computer assistance are just a few possibilities. (If your child is creatively inclined, they might start their own business selling jewelry or t-shirts on Etsy, but don鈥檛 expect this business to make a lot of money, especially for the first several months.)

If your budding entrepreneur needs to hone her babysitting skills and learn CPR, she should check with your local recreation center or the Red Cross. These organizations often offer courses for preteens and teens.

Here are some steps to get your teenager started if he wants to create his own service-oriented business:

• Set a price for the service by considering costs and time requirements, and the value of what is provided. Make the price competitive with the fee charged by others doing the same work.
• Promote the business by informing neighbors, friends and family, printing flyers to post, and having an adult post on Nextdoor, Facebook, or other community website.
• When they succeed in getting customers, ask for references to friends and to post their recommendation of you on NextDoor or other forum.

Other teen summer job options

Job shadowing

The most valuable work experiences and preparation for future jobs may not always pay a salary. A good way to learn about a particular profession is to shadow someone for a few hours a week, or even a single day. A student interested in medicine, for example, could arrange to shadow a doctor or nurse. Service industries like restaurants often encourage shadows. Teens interested in trades like electrician, plumber, machinist, or welder, can even learn hands-on skills by shadowing a professional.

Teens who shadow multiple occupations in the summer can learn what they appreciate or dislike in a working environment. Shadowing can help them discover their career preferences and passions, and help them eliminate choices they had earlier considered.

Internships/volunteering

If shadowing is not an option and your teenager is interested in health care, he can contact health-oriented organizations such as the American Red Cross or local hospitals and clinics, many of which will gladly welcome volunteers.

Other options for community service volunteering include animal shelters, museums, zoos, nature centers, libraries, youth centers, food banks and pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, senior centers, churches, and nonprofit organizations like and the .

Check out these sites to find volunteer opportunities for teens in a variety of fields:

Follow the rules

Federal and state regulations for youth employment

Federal and state governments set rules regarding youth employment. In some states, workers under age 18 may need to obtain working papers from either their school or the state Department of Labor in order to seek employment. According to the US Department of Labor a teenager must be at least 14 years old to work. Those who are 14 or 15 cannot work past 9 pm in the summer and not past 7 pm during the school year. There are exemptions for certain jobs, however. If your teenager works as an actor, for example, the number of work hours in one day and allowable times of day to work do not apply.

If your teenager is 16 or 17, she may be employed for unlimited hours in any by the Secretary of Labor. (The off-limits jobs generally include driving motor vehicles, roofing, mining, forest firefighting, poultry slaughtering, and operating dangerous equipment like chainsaws.) States then set specific rules for youth in their state. In Alaska, for example, 14- and 15-year-olds can鈥檛 work in logging, canvassing, or canneries (except as office workers). Nor can they sell tobacco products. No one under 21 can work in the cannabis industry. Check your state regulations before your son or daughter starts looking for a job.

Under federal law, employers do not have to pay teen employees the minimum wage ($7.25/hr) for a limited period (90 calendar days) when they are first employed. The can be as low as $4.25/hr.