<p>I recently turned 16 and am hoping to get my first summer job this summer. I will do anything (busboy, construction, wash dishes, fast food, etc.). I’m hearing the economy has made it tough for teens to get jobs. We live in a tourist area and I’m fluent in 2 languages besides English. </p>
<p>I’ve heard that minimum wage is now so high that teens aren’t worth it. I’ve thought about selling tourist stuff on the corner, but I don’t even know if that is legal or how to find out.</p>
<p>What have your kids done, and is it really difficult to find something?</p>
<p>If you’re in an area that has many foreign tourists, your language skills will be a big plus. </p>
<p>Just get out there and ask everyone you can think of if they’re hiring. Nothing replaces “hitting the pavement”. Check Craigslist for possibilities. Chain companies might direct you to their website but locally owned businesses still want to look a potential employee in the eye before they hire them. If you show initiative by putting a lot of effort into your search, that will look good. Dress neatly, be super polite, be on time if you have an appointment. Let your enthusiasm how. You’re wise to start your search now. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>Oh, please do! My son never did, and now, at 20, he’s wondering how to get a job.</p>
<p>At your age, I would recommend like a busboy type job.</p>
<p>The pay will be very low, but you should get tips. My brothers busboyed when they were your age, and they were tipped by the waitresses at the high end Chinese restaurant they worked at.</p>
<p>H and I recently went to a Greek restaurant whose owner was on vacation and the waiter made the comment, Two bucks an hour and all the red sauce you can eat. I don’t think he was joking. Food service usually does pay below minimum wage, but you get tips, so I guess that’s how they get around the minimum wage rule.</p>
<p>My FIL has suggested my engineering major son get a job at a local grocery store as a bagger, and that just might be what he winds up doing, since he didn’t find anything at the college career fair. But a bagger at a grocery store would be a good first job as well.</p>
<p>Good luck and your parents should be proud of you for wanting to work!</p>
<p>I think you should cast a wide net, but if you can’t find a job consider volunteering at a senior center. They can always use help. </p>
<p>As for what did my kids do (beside volunteering at a senior center) my oldest became proficient at computer programming and worked for well over minimum wage. Lucky him. My youngest made origami earrings and sold them in a local gallery.</p>
<p>Everyone where I grew up worked… Not just in the summers either. Bus boy, stock person, dishwasher, cashier, etc. We have a local amusement park that hires age 14+ for summer positions. If you have any near you that might be an idea as well. If you have any factories they sometimes hire extra help as well. My sister spent 6 summers in a row helping out with office work as well as in their shipping department.</p>
<p>In your hunt, emphasize businesses that need more workers in the summer – or that only do business in the summer – and need people who don’t have specialized skills.</p>
<p>You may not be qualified to be a lifeguard, for example, but you could work at the pool’s concession stand.</p>
<p>One easy way to find out who might hire is to ask at your GC or principal’s office: who in town usually employs kids from our h.s. during the summers? The school office secretaries might also be able to suggest some summertime employers, especially if their children and children’s friends are of working age.</p>
<p>Network: If anybody names another h.s. student who works/worked at a place, especially if you know that student… try to meet up to ask how it went to work there. If it sounds positive and ended well, you can ask that student if he’d just mention your name to the boss, as someone who “might apply soon.” That’s called: put in a good word for me. Even if he doesn’t, when you apply, mention that other student’s name as “how I heard about this job.” (but only if s/he reported a positive time there and wasn’t fired or anything). It helps begin a conversation with the employer to both know the same person. </p>
<p>In a tourist area, any place that ramps up during the summertime is a possible first start: restaurants, ice cream parlors, grocery and convenience stores, hotels, campsites, gas stations, car washes. Be willing to work weekends and take the unusual hours and shifts that adult employees don’t like. </p>
<p>Re: a streetside enterpreneur, selling to tourists: phone your town’s Chamber of Commerce to ask how-to questions about permits and more. It might be interesting to try doing both, especially if you can’t get all the hours you’d like at the regular summertime job.</p>
<p>First, create a resume which, at your age, will be very brief, but be sure to include all contact information–mailing address, cell phone, home phone, email, etc., and the fact that you speak multiple languages. Then just go to all the places you would like to work and ask if they are hiring. ALWAYS leave your resume, and ask them to call you if something opens up. Management may not know yet that an employee is planning to quit soon. Dress neatly; look like you really want a job. Network with friends who have jobs and may know of an opening coming up. Movie theaters, grocery stores, restaurants, etc., offer hours where you can continue to work during the school year if you want to. Start looking early, before everyone else gets out there. There will be college kids coming home for the summer wanting a job, too. Good luck.</p>
<p>cyber - last summer S needed to find a summer job (between HS and college). We drove around and he went into every place that looked like it might hire inexperienced kids - hotels, restaurants, drug stores, retail stores. He would ask at the desk or counter if they were hiring. They would either say no or give him an application to fill out. (At this level, most places just want an application rather than a resume.) </p>
<p>Some larger places (eg Abercrombie) have online applications. A lot of places only hire 18+, so at your age you will have to do a bigger search. Be sure you are neatly dressed and groomed, and polite and respectful (and not chewing gum, lol). It might take some time, but if you start soon you will find something by summer!</p>
<p>S ended up with a part-time dishwashing job at a banquet hall (which also hires 16+). He worked there for 7 months, through fall semester, and is now at one of their satellite restaurants, also part-time. It’s a good choice for him, since they have evening and weekend hours he can fit in around his school schedule.</p>