Summer
Jobs: Your Teen’s Ticket to Success
By Colleen Langenfeld
Looking for something productive
for your teens to do this summer? Consider the following ideas.
Volunteer jobs
Local Parks and Recreation departments, the Red Cross, libraries
and hospitals many times offer teen volunteer programs, especially
during the summer. Likewise, check out your local zoo and tourist
attractions.
Camps
Some weekly or day camp programs use teen volunteers or even hire
teens to do onsite jobs ranging from supervising younger campers
to maintenance work. Potentially, a teen who starts volunteering
as a preteen or young teen may gain the necessary work experience
to be considered for a paid position in the following summers.
Community service
Check in your area for civic organizations that have a teen branch.
Some of these are very active and wonderful places to make friends
with similar interests and work ethics. Likewise, these teens
learn valuable networking skills at an early age.
Paid work
If your teen is ready and eager for a paycheck, help her along
by polishing her job-hunting skills. Go over the classifieds together
and discuss how a person chooses the appropriate job/s to apply
for. Role-play an interview and make sure she knows what it means
to “dress for success.” Pick up a sample application
from a fast-food restaurant and fill it out together so your teen
will know the types of information a prospective employer will
require.
For all of these positions, the
real opportunity is in learning to be a person of character. Developing
dependability, integrity, honesty, listening skills, personal
initiative and more is the real paycheck from each of these types
of summer teen activities. Teens who learn how to navigate the
people and systems of the work-a-day world through actual employment
and volunteer positions often have the upper hand when it's time
to enter the “real world” of adulthood.
This summer, show your teen how
to make his time off really count. Encourage a part-time volunteer
or paid job, and watch your teen's self-confidence soar!
© Colleen Langenfeld
Colleen Langenfeld delivers useful
tips and creative resources to working moms who want the best
for their families and careers at PaintedGold.com.
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