New York is a great place to work over the summer, especially for a teenager. There are a lot of different opportunities for high school aged kids to find a summer job. These are a few places that hire temporarily for the summer months.
One really fun place to work for the summer would be one of the zoos or aquariums in the New York City area. The Wildlife Conservatory offers jobs at the Bronx Zoo, Queens Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and the New York Aquarium.
The Conservatory offers jobs doing many different things, from cashier, parking attendant, guest relations, greeters, and more. Applicants must be 16 years of age or older. If you have a driver’s license, you could even operate the shuttle train or be a monorail driver.
This job is great for those who don’t mind working outdoors and who have customer service and sales experience as you’ll be dealing with hundreds of customers each day.
Do be aware that for some positions it will be required for you to work Memorial Day Weekend, July 4th and Labor day weekend. There needs to be flexibility in working Monday through Friday as well as weekends.
Pay starts at minimum wage, around $7.15 an hour. Of course, they are always looking for year round employees so if it turns out you love the job after the summer, you may be able to become a part-time permanent employee.
Along with the application, you must include a cover letter and resume or they will not consider you.
To download the application as a pdf file, just go here.
Another great place for teens to apply for a summer job is through the New York Department of Parks & Recreation. They have a position specifically for high school students as Camp Counselors in Training.
As a counselor in training, high school students will spend the summer working with children and doing educational activities, like hiking, fishing, arts & crafts and camping.
The job runs from approximately June 30th to August 20th. The pay is $7.15 an hour and it requires 35 hours a week, including weekends and some overnights. Counselors will be assigned to one of several locations in each borough; Alley Pond Park in Queens, Inwood Hill Park in Manhattan, Marine Park in Brooklyn or Crotona Park in the Bronx.
As for prior experience, there is nothing mandatory but they would prefer outdoors experience, teaching or camp experience, and good physical condition. In fact, you’ll need to get a physical and provide documentation from a doctor that you are fit to take the job. Also, First Aid or CPR certification would be a big help, but again, is not mandatory so don’t let it deter you from applying.
To apply, send a cover letter and resume to
Richard Simon, Citywide Captain
Urban Park Rangers
1234 Fifth Ave- 1st floor
New York, NY 10029
Lastly, a great place for teens to work is for a local library. Take for example the Queens Libraries. They are looking for High School tutors for BOOST (Best Out of School Time), their after-school program that operates in various libraries around the borough. As a tutor, you would be providing homework assistance to children in grades K through 8, and also assist the Children’s librarian with group activities.
To qualify, you must be at least 16 years old and in good academic standing with a school average of 85 or better. You must be able to work 15 hours a week from 3pm to 6pm during the week, and one Saturday a month. They do prefer prior experience working with children. The pay is minimum wage at $7.15 an hour.
If tutoring is what you are interested in, you can send a cover letter and your resume to [email protected]
Queens not your borough? Check out www.NYPL.org for libraries in Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island, and www.BrooklynPublicLibrary.org for Brooklyn branches, to see the opportunities they have there.
New York City is a great place to find some fun summer jobs for teenagers and possibly expand that career into the rest of the year. Hopefully these resources will guide you on your way to some great jobs.
