Making money can be a real challenge for teenagers. There are all sorts of obstacles to securing a part time job at this early age. Teens have limited opportunities to part time employment as a result of minimum age requirements, school commitments, and extracurricular responsibilities. There is also the challenge of trying to squeeze in time during the week to accommodate all these activities. It is usually preferred that the teenager takes the entrepreneurial position and promote their own skills working at the time and place of her or her own choosing. I have put together a quick list of some great ways to find jobs for teens.
1. Babysitting
What can I say about this one? Moms and Dads love to schedule date nights on the weekends and finding a good baby sitter is always a necessity. The trick is to find one you can trust and works well with kids. This is a great business for young teens to get started. The money is good and the perks can sometimes be pizza and pop courtesy of the Saturday night employer. Picking up one or two clients will sometimes cascade into a few more clients since this is a word of mouth referral.
2. Lawn service/snow removal
This job is near and dear to my heart. When I was twelve, I created small business cards with my typewriter which advertised my lawn cutting services. I went up and down a few city streets in my neighborhood and knocked on doors handing out these cards. Out of about sixty houses, I was able to secure three clients for the summer. Those three clients brought me about $40 dollars a week. Not bad for a teen back in the eighties. I would imagine now the advertising could be much more elaborate with colorful flyers and much flashier advertising. The clients are always good for providing other seasonal work such as raking leaves and snow removal.
3. Newspaper Delivery I would categorize this as pre-teen. This is a good “first job” to get your feet wet. I had a paper route prior to my foray into lawn cutting. The paper route consisted of delivery of the afternoon paper, which had to be delivered by 5 pm. The route only took about forty five minutes to complete but only earned me about $12 per week. The downside to this job was personally collecting from some customers and the winter delivery days that consisted of subzero temperatures. I realize this job has not faded away in today’s market with opportunities to delivery early morning or late afternoon papers. This is a job I would probably recommend last due to it is a job that requires your services on most days.
4. Bus Tables I never worked the restaurant from the “front of the house”. I worked as a grill cook in college at a local country club. I noticed we had some teenagers from the high school that would clear tables a few nights a week and seemed to be earning some pretty decent tips by the food servers at the end of their shifts. This is hard work and a definite character builder. The word of caution on this one is that some food servers can be stingy with allocating tips to the bus staff. Nevertheless, a job a teen can probably do one or two nights a week and make some quick money.
5. Garage Sale – EBay Trader This one is new and I have seen young kids do this on Saturday mornings. They will hop on their bikes and scour dozens of garage sales browsing for items that they can flip on eBay for a nice little profit. You know, sort of looking for those sports memorabilia collectibles being given away for pennies on the dollar by some unsuspecting senior citizen looking to clean out their basement. If I only had e-bay when I was younger!
There you have it. Five quick and easy jobs a teen can start tomorrow. Some of these jobs are easier than others. Hopefully the work will provide a true sense of accomplishment, learning, and patience. Nothing ever really does come easy in life now does it?
