Hi all,
Please help me out here. What kinds of jobs do high school kids do? My son is 15 and he is a rising junior. I tried for internships for this summer. The minimum age in the company I work is 18. I asked around a few other places too but so far no luck. He has expressed interest in engineering (no major yet). How do I look for opportunities? Any information is much appreciated. Thanks.
I worked at McDonald’s…
Most kids around here work as camp counselors, scooping ice cream or at the grocery store, or waitressing. The beach and golf clubs also have summer helpers. Our town hall as some internships and other programs for high school students. In the building department at least they keep them busy stamping plans. Looks pretty boring!
My older son had a job working for a computer firm that did stuff like manage online data bases and complicated website stuff. (He worked on some software for Sky and Telescope magazine one summer.) My husband’s lab takes the occasional summer high school student. (But only if one of his grad students offers to take them under their wing.) My younger son mostly did 3-D modeling for my architectural firm and had a small business making earrings.
Don’t overlook volunteer work either - both kids spent one of their summers volunteering at the Senior Center. They helped serve meals. Older one helped out in the computer lab, younger one taught some origami classes and gave a couple of violin concerts.
Regular around the town jobs. My son has worked at McDonald’s since the age of 16. He now works there during college breaks. They are so eager to have him work when he is at home. Oh, he is an engineering major.
In high school, I worked for a photography company.
Many companies don’t want to deal with the paperwork required to have a minor work for them. It’s not worth it to them.
15 is tough - most places require you to be 16 to do paid work. But he can volunteer. If he’s tech savvy, many non-profits will value his computer skills. What causes is he interested in?
If you have friends who own their own companies, have your son ask if they need any help with phones, paperwork, computers, etc…
Other possibilities: taking care of animals at the humane society, counselor-in-training (CIT) at a summer camp (especially a techie one), playing music each weekend at the local nursing home (or busking on the street corner - we have an enterprising local high school violinist who is making a small fortune on weekends. There are kids selling produce/products at our local farmers market.
My S volunteered as an EMT/fire fighter when he turned 16 - he loved riding the ambulance and spending Friday nights at the fire station on-call. (And showing up at a few DUI accidents did wonders for his attitude towards drinking and driving, and wearing a seatbelt.)
Hard to find paid work as a 15 year old unless it is as a counselor etc. He can find a place to volunteer, go to a summer program – anything is fine as long as it is productive (ex. not sitting on the couch watching Netflix all day).
It’s unusual for 15 year olds to do internships, although there are public and private high schools that arrange internship opportunities for their students. At my son’s magnet, a professionally-oriented internship was a graduation requirement. (He worked in a science lab.) I would suggest you contact your son’s counseling office to see if your high school has such a program or can connect you with firms/groups that do. And don’t forget there’s also Junior Achievement, which can give kids terrific experiences.
My older daughter worked at a horseback riding camp (which she first went to as a camper at age 7) starting at age 14. She also worked at restaurants once she turned 16. My younger daughter worked at a clothing store (a national chain) starting at age 16. Both have graduated from college; both have jobs. The older daughter’s job is not in her area of interest but she is self-supporting and living in an expensive city. Younger daughter’s job (she starts next Monday!) is in her major. She will also be self-supporting, living in an expensive city.
Lots of good advice. My older D worked as a receptionist at a nursing home all through high school. Occasionally she would also volunteer there on her time off as well. Being productive is the key. My younger D made her own "internship by volunteering at a camp before she was old enough to even consider and internship or paid work. But it was in the exact career area she wants to study, so it was perfect. It was not an advertised position-she went in and asked.
In Seattle there is a teen employment program, as well as some summer opportunities specifically for the 16-18 group, not so much for under 16. Many non-profits are still reeling from the recession and have had to cut programs and employees. They are all but begging for volunteers. Have your son look at the ones in your area and see what turns up.
My older son, when he was a teen, worked at a local fast food place. It gave him spending money for college, and he parlayed it into a study aboard trip to Costa Rica. My younger son had a friend whose mom worked part-time as a soccer referee for youth and high school games. She also coordinated the schedules of teams and taught young men and women primarily who to referee. She asked her son to ask my son if he would be interested in refereeing games. It was the only job that a 14-year-old kid in our area could land. He has been refereeing for more than four years … and he makes very good money.
When Happykid was in HS, I picked up the phone and called around and found her a gig at a summer camp. She is a theater techie, and no camps offered that specifically, but an acting camp was happy to create an internship for her with their technical people. If you check around with the science and technology summer camps in your area, you may be able to swing something like that for your kid.
My fifteen-year-old has been working for the past year as a water safety aid and swimming teacher.
My wife’s nephew will be volunteering at a local aquarium this summer with hopes of getting a paid position next year.
Neither of ours had paying jobs at that stage – wewanted the summer to travel and visit family and we only had a window of about 6 weeks to choose from.
But, they volunteered at the library, at a nature center, at our church summer programs; they dog sat and hamster sat and weeded flowerbeds for friends. They did anything that helped them learn to take direction, show up in time, be humble, etc… Other kids that did paying work mainly were waitstaff at restaurants, with crappy, minimal hours.
Both DDs did baby sitting as well as house and pet sitting. :o3 Younger D also worked at Target, which taught her a lot and provided money for a study abroad this summer. Both volunteered during the summers: Red Cross, a nursing home, church nursery, etc. As @happy1 said, as long as they’re not on the couch watching Netflix all day, it doesn’t matter so much what they do as long as they’re doing.
Thank you everyone. He is volunteering at a few places and will start refereeing this fall.
I made pizza at little Caesars. My daughter volunteered at a local hospital for a couple summers to pad her resume for college apps. I think my pizza gig was probably better as life prep vs college prep though.