Does your kid work?
My kids have worked since they were 12. One was a baseball umpire; one was a soccer ref.
Well most of the jobs are either in retail (stores, fast food, restaurants) or for people with strength, construction of various sorts. Many young people view construction as appealing because the wages are high. The problem is that it is dangerous and I’ve known tons of students who were injured (bad backs, etc). So I don’t recommend it. I’d be unhappy if a kid of mine decided to do that. Then there are also child care jobs like baby sitting, being a camp counselor and the like but they don’t pay well. Many kids do odd jobs-sort of fix it up for neighbors. And some student shovel snow in winter or mow in summer. Some help in gardens. etc.
I did plumbing work and was an usher at a local sports arena. I also did some freelance technical theater work for local theaters.
When I was 18, I started working at a photography job (not as a photographer).
My sister started working as a hostess before she was 16 and eventually became a waitress (not sure if she was 17 or 18).
We’ve both worked since we were 14/15.
I have been looking for a job for my son. Some need HS diploma or 18 year old. Even a camp needs 18 year old to apply.
Check your city or county youth programs. Some have youth employment programs for kids under 18 for school year and/or summers. Some camp programs hire counselors in training who are under 18. f your son has a skill, he might look into teaching or tutoring others-think dance, martial arts, etc. Also, some camps are strictly academic in nature and will hire teens for tutoring. Fast food places hire a lot of D’s friends.
D only turned 16 recently, but she has worked as a volunteer with kids for years. This year she’ll apply for a paying job through the city program mentioned above working for a summer camp at a city-run community center.
One of mine was a waitress in a local pizza joint, til they realized, noooo, she couldn’t serve beer and wine. Too bad, because her tips were pretty big for a kid. They made her a busgirl. Both girls were lifeguards while in hs, which they loved. After that, they worked at a camp, but one would still sub at the pool. The last summer before college, one started a lawn mowing service with a friend. Considering our mower is electric, that didn’t work so well They also had lots of volunteering before they worked, so they could provide references.
Check local shops you patronize.
In our area, grocery stores hire kids younger than 18 for baggers.
Summer work like ice cream stands are good place for teens to look.
One of my kids made some money by hanging a flyer in our local library offering services such as babysitting, petsitting, plant watering, weeding, etc.
I’d suggest you work together on coming up with a list of places that might hire teens. Then he, not you, should go pound the pavement. Have him type up a brief resume outlining some basic contact info, academic info, skills and interests. He should dress neatly then go around in person at a non-busy time of day and ask for a manager and ask for a job and/or application. Eye contact, speaking clearly, and a firm handshake help. It’s worked for my kids and puts them ahead of the teenaged competition. One of mine went to 5 spots, got 2 interviews, and 2 job offers in 24 hours. One place wasn’t formally hiring but they liked him enough to hire him anyway.
My D2 pounded the pavement at all the national and regional chains in the spring of senior year, but NONE of them would hire anyone under 18 (I bet she checked over a dozen places). Your best bet might be local businesses - like nurseries (they probably need seasonal help starting in the spring), local hardware stores, locally owned restaurants that don’t sell liquor. I gave music lessons on my instrument in high school, that was pretty lucrative per hour. Our science museum runs summer camps that employee high school students. Once she turned 18, more options opened up – she ended up night stocking at Walmart for the summer before college – VERY good incentive in her case to go work hard in college. 
My sin worked at the local library in HS. That was a great job.
Daughter is an instructor in her sport and also works in our church nursery.
I’m kind of boggled at the idea of a restaurant hiring a teen and THEN realizing she can’t serve beer. Seems like they’d figure that out on the front end.
My first job was as a cashier at a neighborhood stationary store at around 10 in the '80s. Around the same time, also attempted to work as a dishwasher at a local pizzeria whose owner was very fond of me personally, but figured out pretty quickly I wasn’t suited to be a restaurant dishwasher.
Back then, nearly everyone who could was working a retail or service/restaurant type job at around late elementary school to bring in extra money for family and because many friends were doing it so we’d figure why not get paid to hang out together.
Ended up working that cashier job from 10 till I had to end it at 13 during my freshman year at my public magnet HS because long commute times and heavy academics meant I couldn’t continue.
By 17, I was working as a freelance computer tech and academic tutor as a college freshman.
Most restaurants in my old neighborhood which served alcohol along with local cops didn’t care as much in practice back when I was a kid in the '80s. So long as the minor was SERVING the drinks rather than consuming them him/herself, it was accepted even if it was technically illegal.
^ 1or2Musicians, in many states, servers can be under 21. Here, a server needs to be 18. I know it is unusual and the owner was off his game. They had never hired a waitress who was less than college age. But this was our local haunt and they knew and liked her.
www.snagajob.com has tons of entry level jobs. I recommended it to my son’s friend a couple of years ago and he’s gone from lifeguard to pool manager. Also check the city or county government you live in. My oldest son has worked every summer since he turned 16 and has always made at least a dollar above minimum wage.
I can’t go anywhere that I don’t spot one of my kids class mates working. Stores, restaurants. library, doctor’s offices, pool, YMCA, and landscaping companies. The school guidance and career office maintains a list of employers that contact them for teen workers.
My high school had a volunteer organization called Youth Employment Service that served as a clearinghouse for jobs ranging from babysitting , yard work, and hostess helping to actual jobs with local businesses. It was a great service to the community until the high school kids lost interest in working (community became increasingly affluent). I just realized that an organization like that could probably never get off the ground today because they would have to carry liability insurance. I got my first job through them as a high school junior, and my 40-something boss kept making verbal sexual advances toward me. Today that would probably be a lawsuit naming both the local business and the employment agency. (Back then as a dumb teen I did what all the other dumb teen girls before me had done: ignored him and didn’t report him. I didn’t tell my mother, who volunteered for the employment service, until years later. It never occurred to me to worry that I could be physically assaulted.)
kids have all worked for the city with lifeguarding, community center day camps & reffing. My friends’ girls are servers for meal at a local retirement home; they seem to like that. Know a kid who worked a the sports arenas for big events and made a ton that he saved for college.
A great summer job is life guarding
Take course and can start working upon completion
All four of mine did so
My kid does this at his college as well
Can work through winter in high school also
My 2 older kids both have jobs. (The just-turned-13-year-old is off the hook 
)
My son started at age13. He and a friend started a lawn mowing business, complete with business cards and a website. Then, when he was 15, he contacted a woman in town who boards dogs in her home, and became her dog walker for 2 summers. (She has less business, and a next door neighbor who does the job, during the school year.)
Then last year he got a job in a local supermarket. To be honest, he’s working a LOT of hours, but he loves the cash and the freedom that it gives him.
My almost 16 year old daughter got a job last summer at an Italian Ice place. She worked until they closed in the fall, and got a text the other day that they reopen in March, asking for everyone’s schedule.
I’m a big believer in kids having a job. I worked in a restaurant as a teen-- busgirl, then hostess, then waitress. One of my sisters worked in McDonalds, another in a local bagel store, another in a local garden center. My brother worked in a local gas station.
Snagajob is a great resource. And here’s my secret weapon, I swear it works: after you fill out that online application, send a personal note (not an email, a real note) expressing your interest in the job. It will help your application stand out from the other identical online applications. It has worked for both of my kids, and I swear by it.
You can google places that hire 15 year olds. My daughter has friends who work in the local pizza places, in bakeries, at McDonalds (they do hire 15 year olds), lots of various places.
A lot of times small local businesses will have more flexible hiring policies than national chains, especially if they know the kid.
Friends of my D have done the following before 18:
babysitting
retail/grocery
restaurant
delivering (bicycle)
gardening/lawn service
social media intern (paid)
movie theatre tickets/usher/concessions
light office help
bellboy/gofer at hotel
We live near the water so a lot of kids work in marinas and on boats (fishing & sailing). My D has been working on a sailboat in some capacity since she was in middle school.
It’s also worth checking with the HS to see if they have a job board or work study option. In a lot of cases a kid can get internship or business credit even while earning a few dollars.
My own kids started working at ages 11 , 12 and 12 for our family business. Just in the summer. Seasonal jobs are abundant in the area we live because of tourism mostly. The last several years have been a little harder for teens to get jobs because of the influx of j-1 visa workers. Mostly because they start earlier in the season and can stay late into the season when the local teens are back in school. Some employers take huge advantage of J-1 workers because they want to work extremely high number of hours.
Had to think back to when my two grown kids were young…the oldest worked for a construction company, but not doing actual construction. He did clean up and was a “gopher”. Not dangerous at all, but it did pay well. Both he and his sister did well dog walking or pet sitting-lots of “pet parents” where they grew up. Older D got a job as a receptionist at a nursing home when she turned 16 and was paid well above minimum wage, with hours tailored to her school schedule. She enjoyed the people so much that she also volunteered there. It led to open doors for many jobs after that.