My kids have always worked summers during HS - fortunately we live in an area where it’s always been relatively easy to find a job and people willing to help with connections. I helped kids of 2 friends land summer jobs this year. What my older kids have found is that having a job leads to landing that next job/internship - eventually you get to take that summer job scooping ice cream off the resume! I think too many kids wait too long to look. Likewise, career fairs begin in the fall for internships and I think students pass on the opportunities to interview first semester because they are not ready, etc.
My son just finished his sophomore year of college. He’s working an unpaid internship in his field, and in the cafe at our gym. Last year he thought he secured a job at the mall right away, but after stringing him along until it would have been very difficult for him to fin anything else, they only gave him 12 hours all summer. Neither of us was happy.
My older son just finished his undergrad degree, but has done NOTHING about finding a job. That’s for another thread though.
D will be a college freshman this fall. She has worked for years at a small, local chocolate company. D was visiting with a customer a few weeks ago from Boston (we are in Hawaii). D mentioned she is going to school in Boston, and after a little more conversation, the woman offered her a dog walking/sitting gig when she gets there and they exchanged numbers. Talk about serendipity!
The COO at my company has a back-up of clerical work and offered D a job for the summer. It really is ideal, but we are both a little weirded-out by the idea of working for the same company. So she has two jobs this summer with the plan to minimize loans for school as much as possible. 
“He is also supposed to work as an instructor at a computer camp for two weeks. Owner is somewhat flaky though so I am not convinced that will pan out. Will fly him to Georgia for two weeks, pay him and provide room/board. He will love that job if it comes to pass”
@saillakeerie, at this point, it may not be too late for him to apply to teach at iDTech. If he’s interested, he should go online FAST and see if there is a local iDTech that is still hiring. The pay and the job is quite decent.
@saillakeerie, and others who have male children, JHUCTY Seems to always need male RAs, and they have camps all around the country. The kids work 7 days a week, when the students are out of class, but they make over $2500 in six weeks, and still have time for vacation, etc. I think they require a 3.2 gpa, and I think the classes start in late June or very early July.
In some ways I think it depends on what your kid is majoring in College. My 21 year old didn’t have a job in high school. But because he is an engineering student he was able to get a co-op that pays well. All of his engineering friends from high school who also didn’t work during high school have been able to get either co-ops or internships. Basically they all avoided the work your butt off for minimum wage jobs . However his friends who are in other majors are working at Zaxby’s, Best Buy or other jobs like window washing,painting…
DH and I are trying to get that through our soon to be high school senior. The odds of him being able to get an internship/co-op in a non STEM major during college are slim. So he has put in some applications but so far nothing has turned up. It looks like volunteering this summer may be all that he can get. At this point it’s not about the money, it’s about having some sort of job history when he eventually graduates from college.
The 15 year old is not looking for a job. Most places around here want you to be 16. So instead he is spending his time writing/designing a computer game he wants to eventually sell… he’s the the one I’m not worried about as far as having a job. He has been figuring out how to make money since he was in 3rd grade.
My comp sci major son has an internship this summer that covers housing and a nice salary. He’s really excited about how much he’ll be learning.
My business major daughter has worked at school and summers so she’s fine financially. She’s having foot surgery next week, we all chose this summer as probably the last she has to have the time to recuperate.
S is working at the local hardware store. Saturdays and Sundays and two other days a week. He’ll shake your paint, cut your keys, load bags of mulch in your vehicle, direct you to the appropriate aisle for whatever you’re looking for. He’ll advise you on birdhouses and squirrel deterrents. Just don’t ask him about nuts or bolts. He hasn’t learned that aisle. Yet.
(and one of the other guys who was hired the same day as him was already fired for cell phone use while on the floor).