In most homes, “encouraging” is easily interchanged with “threatening.”
After all, how many parents relish seeing their fully capable teens sleeping in until noon and then lounging on the couch watching TV or texting when they could be gainfully employed at a decent summer job?
Aside from the freedom to purchase expensive jeans, apps, music, and other teen-related must-haves, there are a slew of additional benefits that your child can gain from a summer job, including: learning responsibility, managing time well, honing math and reading skills, communicating, prioritizing, budgeting money and working on interpersonal relationships.
However, before your child can reap the benefits of holding down a summer job, he must land one. A great tip to share with teens is to have realistic expectations when job hunting. Meaning, even if your child doesn’t land the summer job of his dreams as a lifeguard or summer camp counselor, that doesn’t mean he or she should exhibit a bad attitude while on the job. Rather, encourage your son or daughter to make the most of his or her temporary gig. With the right outlook, they might be surprised at what they can take away from their seasonal job.
If your child can live without making cash, but will not compromise when it comes to the type of work he is doing, then an internship may be the answer. Many companies are willing to hire teens in certain fields, though the interview process may be grueling. If your child is in college, he or she may have additional summer internships available, especially if the businesses are looking to groom future employees and can issue college credit rather than pay cash in return for services rendered.
With younger teens looking for jobs on the Internet, it’s important to monitor their searches. If at all possible, encourage your child to exclude personal information on his resume. Instead, he can put his name on the resume, but feature an e-mail address in the place of a home address. Reputable employers are more than willing to communicate with potential hires online prior to meeting in person for a face-to-face interview.