S18 has been trying to find a summer job (first real job–no experience) but most places have asked if he’s applying for summer only, and then said they do not hire for summer. He would not have specifically said summer only, but he won’t lie if asked. And he is interested in working during college breaks.
He has also shown up in person at each place, dressed nicely, and was usually told that only online applications are accepted. So, no real chance to make a good first impression.
Several of these fast food places have Help Wanted signs outside. I guess they’re really not that desperate for workers.
I made a nearly identical post about my daughter last summer. Do a search for “why can’t my daughter find a job?” There were a lot of great suggestions. In short, she probably didn’t get hired because she would be returning to college in the fall. She was applying for part tme retail, restaurants, etc…and submitted about 20 applications, along with following up. She finally got a job at the last place she tried, a summer camp, as a floater. She learned her lesson and sorted out a summer internship well in advance for this summer.
Thanks, @patsmom ! I was too lazy to look it up, lol!
Had a quick look at my old thread. She did try many of the suggestions, including a temp agency. It was really an issue of needing to look only for seasonal work, or fibbing about being at college. To be fair, she never looked at a fast food place but probably would have if the camp hadn’t worked out.
It is not easy, especially for kids under 18 and if transportation is limited, at least here in the NE. Many of the camps may hire as"junior counselors" but those are set up in advance. I recall mine having trouble finding summer jobs, especially the one that played a fall sport that started in August. Local businesses tend to be slower in the summer and many of the restaurant jobs are taken by college students. The summer park camp jobs are taken by those with connections. Working at a camp, pool or beach seems to be the best possibility for a true “summer job”.
Fast food is a job here for adults, but small places definitely hire kids, at least part-time if not for summer only. My kids’ first jobs were all at a small, family-owned place through the parental network.
Which does make it hard for kids who don’t have a parental network.
We are in Philadelphia and both of my teenagers have jobs. Philadelphia runs a paid internship program which my oldest daughter first did last summer as a rising senior in high school. This summer she applied for a paid internship through our court system and will be interning at Family Court. It is part time which will allow her to keep up with her dance training which since will be a BFA in dance in the fall.
My 16 year old rising sophomore just received certification as a lifeguard and has been hired at the private swim club that we attend. She spoke with their management at the end of last summer and knew they’d hire her this summer once certified. She could have easily been hired to lifeguard and a public pool, too. She is also volunteering at her rowing club, which has 2 week introductory rowing camps in the summer.
Everyone of my older daughter’s friends has a job who wants a job. Public rec center camp counselors, lifeguards, water ice stands, car valet at restaurants, waitresses, hostess, bus boys, and food delivery are just a few of their jobs. Maybe it is easier in a city because of the volume of places hiring and the fact that the jobs are walkable or easy to reach on public transportation.
Our local grocery store hires lots of teens. My son’s best friend worked as a grave digger in the summer. Your kid might have to create their own job. Does your town have the NextDoor site? It’s a great place to advertise this sort of work - your kid might do gardening (the kind of individual weeding the landscapers don’t do for example), or tutoring, or providing computer help. All the beach clubs need extra help in the summer, not just for lifeguarding, but because there are more weekend events like weddings. You need businesses for whom summer is the busy season.
There’s also always volunteering - our senior center uses all the teens that offer their help.
in our midwest small city the two local utility companies, as well as the parks and rec dept and another local conservation agency hire “summer help” for all sorts of seasonal jobs.
The utilities dont publicize the jobs, but both my kids have worked there during the summer. They are not internships; but my architect student is working in the engineering design dept this summer for the second year in a row; solid 40 hrs a week/ solid pay. SO - something else to look into perhaps ?
When my D was in high school she was really too busy to work during the school year. She was a camp counselor at the Girl Scout camp for 2 summers and at our church camp for one summer, then other church camps during college summers. She did work at the local grocery store one summer. She could have life guarded for the same number of hours and been paid 25¢ more an hour. She decided life and death responsibility was worth more than 25¢ an hour and worked where it was air conditioned.
S is 19 and having a hard time finding permanent part time work. He is starting to volunteer at a homeless shelter this week. He won’t have money coming in, though the supervisor there can work as a reference on future job applications and he can use it as unpaid work experience. He also worked at a grocery store during his junior year of high school.
My D’s all had trouble with summer jobs. If you’re honest, the places won’t even consider you because you’re returning to school in the fall. Even though their employee turnover is so high… One D was “almost” hired by a retail place because she promised she’d be back for the Xmas and post Xmas rush. But they still didn’t hire her.
One D had lifeguard certification and was hired by a lifeguard staffing company but they had very few jobs to send her to. They preferred importing lifeguards on those special temp work visas from eastern Europe and Russia. She quit and worked for a camp instead. Her younger sister also found work, eventually, with a camp, but it was very unsatisfying because they’re allowed to pay less than minimum wage for younger age trainees.
They would have taken food service jobs but no one was hiring just for the summer. Where we live, the summer is a slower season for restaurants too.
To be honest, if I were an employer at anything but a pool, I wouldn’t want “summer help.” All that would accomplish is having me train a new employee, simply to have to retrain someone else in the fall.
I would be much, much more likely to hire a kid who would continue to have availability once school started. And I would have no respect at all-- and no recommendation letter-- for a kid who lied and quit once school started.
“To be honest, if I were an employer at anything but a pool, I wouldn’t want “summer help.”
Lol. I know what you mean but…camps, ice cream shops…amusement parks, mini golf places, outdoor music venues…restaurants with outdoor patios that need significantly more help seasonally…”
I honestly think one of the best pieces of advice I gave my son was to get his lifeguard certification. Not only is it a relatively easy summer job a there is no drama over quitting in the fall and he pretty much knows at the end of each summer if he will be rehired the next year, no stress to find a new job every spring break. The certification also sets him up to work on campus during the school year at the rec center, lifeguards are always needed in every community with an indoor pool.
This is his 4th summer at the same pool and based on tenure/experience is now making $13/hour, not bad for essentially temporary work. In the early years this was just for extra pocket money and he didn’t try too hard to get many hours as there was always something more fun to do. Now that he knows what his college expenses are he is try to get (and getting) all of the hours he can. After adding in swim lessons, coaching, and guarding he will end up making over $6,000 this summer.
My girls have both had nanny gigs as their summer jobs. It has worked out well for both of them. The family my older D works for now uses my younger D.
