teenlife guide to jobs and internships

A T E E N L I F E M E D I A D I G I T A L P U B L I C A T I O N

W W W . T E E N L I F E . C O M

2011

GUIDE TO FINDING JOBS & INTERNSHIPS

Build Confidence with Savvy Student Networking Tips

Resume Review: How to Make You Shine Above all the Rest

How an Internship Can Shape Your Career

TEENLIFE Guide to Jobs & InternshipsPUBLISHED BYTeenLife Media, LLC1330 Beacon St., Suite 268 Brookline, MA 02446www.teenlife.com

Copyright © 2011 by TeenLife Media, LLC, Brookline, MassachusettsPublished by TeenLife Media, LLC, Brookline, Massachusetts

V.P., Marketing and Business Development: Cara Ferragamo Murray Managing Editor: Camille HeidebrechtGraphic Design: Kathryn Tilton

AUTHOR: SCOTT WEIGHARTScott Weighart is a Career Development and Communications Consultant with more than 15 years in higher education. Author of five books, including Find Your First Professional Job, he consults with universities and corporations on recruiting and serves as a career coach for students and professionals.

LIMIT OF LIABILITYThis publication, produced by TeenLife Media (TL), is intended as a general guide only. While this guide contains articles with general advice, readers are advised to obtain independent advice, undertake their own investigations, obtain references, and come to their own conclusions before making any commitments. TL is not familiar with all of the businesses and institutions listed, and is therefore not responsible for the accuracy of any description, or for mistakes, errors or omissions. TL is not responsible for any costs, damages, or other matters that occur as a result of reliance on the material contained herein. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of TL.

Trademarks: TeenLife Media, LLC and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of TeenLife and/or its affiliates in the United States and may not be used without written permission.

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Table of Contents1. CHOOSING YOUR PATH 4

6 2. MAKING YOURSELF 2. MARKETABLE

3. RESUMES & 1. REFERENCES 84 . NETWORKING & FINDING .1 OPPORTUNITIES 105. COVER LETTERS 126. JOB INTERVIEWS 14

16 7. MAKING YOUR JOB 5. A SUCCESS

8. STARTING A BUSINESS 189. GETTING PAID 2010. INTERNSHIP & 1 .0 CAREER ADVISORS22ABOUT TEENLIFE


24

work in a team or as an individual contributor? Do you picture yourself working 9 to 5 in a professional office, or would you rather work other hours in a less conventional setting?

Interests: What makes you happiest? Left to your own devices, how do you like to spend your free time? Is it more fun for you to work with people or to work by yourself or on a computer? What high school classes have been most interesting to you? If money were no object, what would you choose to do for two weeks this summer?

Personality: Are you an outgoing extrovert or a more reserved introvert? Are you a big-picture person who gets annoyed with schedules, or are you a detail-oriented person who loves to make a to-do list and cross off items as they are completed? Do you make decisions as more of a thinker who values compe-tence or more as a feeler who believes that harmony is most important? Would you be happier in a more casual, laid-back work environment, or do you thrive on a fast pace and deadlines?

Skills: What are you good at? Do you like moving around or sitting still? Are you really good with num-bers? Do you love to debate issues with friends and family? If you have to do an oral report in school, are

Guide to Jobs & Internships


It’s very common for teens to feel somewhat paralyzed by the whole idea of figuring out what type of job to pursue, let alone making decisions about a college major or career. A good first step is to take a deep breath and relax. You don’t need to decide immediately what you’re going to be doing for the rest of your life. The main thing is to start taking some small steps to figure out what you think you might like to do or what you might be suited for. What’s the worst that will hap-pen? You might learn about what you don’t want to do.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some ways to think about what your first steps toward employment might be.

Self-Exploration

Deciding on goals for a job search becomes simpler if you think of the four most important components of choosing your path: values, interests, personality, and skills.

Values: What is important to you as a person? Do you want to be in a profession that involves helping others? Is making as much money as possible a priority? Do you like the idea of doing five things at once, or do you prefer to focus on one thing all day? Would you rather

CHOOSING YOUR PATH1

4 | 2011 TEENLIFE GUIDE TO JOBS & INTERNSHIPS

TeenLife is all about “bringing the best out in teens.” And one big way students can showcase their best is by obtaining a career-building job or internship. The benefits of both are immeasurable. Right off the bat, teens learn the importance of taking responsibility for their work. Plus, they gain valuable insight on how to collaborate effectively with co-workers, use networking, and translate their real world experiences to college and career.

All of this information is conveniently organized in our extensive Guide to Jobs & Internships. With more than 22 pages of recommendations, no topic is left uncovered. From writing cover letters and interviewing to learning professionalism in the workplace, our guide covers everything students need to know about getting a career-building job or internship.

Guide to Jobs & Internships


you excited or terrified? Do you love to write? Do you find yourself planning events at school? Are you good at resolving problems and being a peacemaker among your friends, or do you like to stir things up?

If you and your parents or counselors make some notes with your strongest responses to many of the above questions, several possible career paths will emerge. For example, someone who wants to help others and who is extroverted and compassionate may begin thinking of careers in health care, educa-tion, psychology, and social work. A teen who loves computers, wants to make money, and who enjoys structure and details may gravitate toward computer science, engineering, and some lesser known areas of business, such as supply chain management or man-agement information systems. A high school student who dislikes math but enjoys public speaking, writing, and creativity may want to think about communica-tions, marketing, or human resource management.

Armed with that knowledge, it is then possible to delve deeper. With that last example, it might be a good idea to learn more about all of the different career paths in marketing, including sales, public relations, and market research—all of which are extremely different subfields.

Caveats When Choosing Your Path

If you ask 1,000 teenagers about their interests, there are several themes that you will hear all the time. For example, many teens love popular music. Most have their favorite television shows. Shopping for clothes and cool technology gadgets is always a popular activ-ity and watching professional sports—especially in metro markets—is an extremely common hobby.

So why is this relevant when it comes to the realm of jobs and internships? We call it “Glamorous Industry Syndrome.” Thousands and thousands of teenagers would dearly love to work for a professional sports team like the Boston Red Sox or New England Patri-ots. Countless others can imagine themselves picking out the tunes for their favorite radio station, while many more envision a career in the glamorous world of fashion.

As a result, jobs and internships in any of these glam-orous fields are always extremely hard to come by,

even though they are almost always unpaid. It is not completely impossible to end up in sports manage-ment, for example, as a career. But you absolutely have to be willing to make many sacrifices to get there, and the ground work you lay as a high schooler will hold you in good stead later on.

A great example is Caleb Ginsberg. Passionate about baseball, Caleb realized he would never have the skill to play professionally, but that he could have a career in sports. It took many sacrifices. He worked hundreds of unpaid hours helping out minor league and amateur baseball teams. By the time he got to college, he already had some experience and kept building on it. After another unpaid job with the Tampa Bay Rays, he landed a position with the New York Yankees when he graduated. Now he’s with the National Football League Players Association. It didn’t happen by accident. It took a lot of hard work to make connections and make the most of them.

So if you want to be in a glamorous field—and even if you don’t—you will benefit greatly by starting to take active steps now. Create a web page or blog about one of your passions. Volunteer at an organization that is meaningful to you. Find a summer camp through TeenLife that will help you develop more skill and experience in an area that interests you. Be a person who makes it happen!

One other caveat: Remember that choosing a job or internship does not mean that you are making a com-mitment for the rest of your life. If you’re interested in becoming a psychologist, try volunteering at a local social services agency. If you think you might want to be a veterinarian, see what you can do at your nearby animal shelter. Want to open your own restaurant one day? Maybe you’d better see what it takes, especially as those jobs entail long hours of monotonous work, such as chopping up vegetables. Whatever you do, be prepared for the fact that you might change your mind about what you want to do in college or for your career. That’s okay, as every job or internship that you like or dislike will get you that much closer to figuring out what you do want to do.

While all of this can help, TeenLife is also happy to point you toward many other tools and resources that will assist you in self-exploration.

Start thinking about which soft skills are your strengths.

In the classroom or in extracurricular activities, have you demonstrated that you have a strong ability to learn and that you’re a good team player? Are you a good multitasker? Teens often don’t believe that experience gained from classes, summer camps, and team sports really count in the eyes of potential employers, and this is absolutely wrong! Think of specific stories that show these skills in action.

Work towards improving skills that are currently weaknesses.

If you lack confidence in your public speaking skills, think about joining a debate team at school or signing up for an elective that will give you an opportunity to improve your communication skills. Computer knowledge is a key 21st century skill, so what are you doing on the computer besides going on Facebook? Understanding Microsoft Excel in particular gives any job candidate a real advantage. There are all sorts of resources out there that can help you improve your computer skills dramatically, whether through summer camps, books, courses, or online tutorials.

Learning software applications such as Excel, HTML (or web design tools), PowerPoint, and Adobe Photo-shop can have an unbelievably great payoff, and not just for teens interested in a computer-related major or career. Teens have often been on computers since the age of three, and this is definitely not the case for older employees in the workforce! Computer skills are an enormous competitive advantage: Capitalize by learning more of them.

It also should be noted that there is a double benefit to learning computer skills: Obviously, becoming much stronger in Excel gives you another skill that might plug directly into an employer’s need. Ad-ditionally, however, putting your energy into learning several programs will also show employers and col-

Even when a teenager has figured out what he or she might want to do for a job or career, there is still much to accomplish. Many teenagers fret about the fact that no one will want to hire them, given their age and inexperience. These fears are indeed plausible, especially when the economy is suffering. Teen hiring always fares poorly when unemployment is higher.

That said, the situation is far from hopeless. These days, there is a growing buzz about what some call "21st century skills.” While this may sound daunting, there is potentially good news here for many teens. In surveys of many hiring managers, a theme emerges that may or may not surprise you. While managers do value skills and experience, roughly two-thirds of managers would list the following as the most important qualities that they seek when hiring:

• ability to learn quickly

• positive attitude

• dependability

• communication skills

• ability to work independently or in a team

• ability to multitask

There are many other similar skills, but you get the idea. Most managers would prefer to hire someone with these qualities and minimal experience rather than a person with excellent experience who has a negative attitude, poor interpersonal skills, and so forth.

Why is this? Many managers have learned the hard way that it’s much easier to change someone’s level of skill and experience than it is to overhaul that individual’s personality. Granted, the ideal candidate would be a person who has excellent "soft skills” and significant job experience, but those soft skills are something a teen can build on.

So with this in mind, how can teens make themselves marketable for potential employers?

MAKING YOURSELF MARKETABLE2



lege admissions officers that you’re the kind of person who is able and willing to make yourself a stronger candidate. This speaks volumes about your initiative as well as your intellectual curiosity.

Devote some time and energy to career exploration.

Once you have any sort of inkling about a career path that might interest you, do some homework to find out more about it. Go on some informational interviews. If you think that financial services or law might be interesting, see if you can connect with a family mem-ber, neighbor, or family friend who can tell you more about what that career is like. On your informational interview, be ready to ask questions:

• What excites you about your field?

• What kind of person is successful in this industry?

• What skills can I work on improving now to make myself more qualified for a job in this career later?

• What courses would be smart for me to take to learn more about this field?

• Are there books you would recommend that would teach more about this profession?

If you are interested in creating a web page, think about going to the library to get a book such as HTML for Dummies. Those Dummies books are not for stupid people; they’re written for those who don’t want to read dry and boring textbooks.

If you want to consider journalism, well, are you reading the newspaper every day and studying how the articles are written? If you like the idea of engineering, maybe you should read up about the different branches of it. Talk to people who work in them, including civil engineers, industrial engineers, and chemical engineers.

There are many fields out there most teens know nothing about it at all… and which might be great career options. Just talking to adults about what they do, what they like and dislike about their career, and what kind of education it required to get them where they are today can help tremendously.

These efforts might not lead directly to a job right now. The long-term goal is to increase your odds of getting the best possible full-time job after college or maybe setting yourself up to get into graduate school sooner rather than later. If you take these steps, you’ll be able to have intelligent conversations about your skills, interests, and career goals when it comes time to interview for a job or for college. Again, it does not happen magically!

• Use boldface, italics, and a variety of sizes for headings to make your resume visually inter-esting: Doing so will demonstrate that you care about the appearance of your work, and it will also indicate that you have basic competence with word processing.

Your resume should reflect what is most importantto a hiring manager

A resume is full of facts about you. However, an im-portant step in creating a resume is to look at it from the point of view of a potential manager. What does that manager want and need to know about you? With that in mind, you want to make sure that every-thing on your resume serves a purpose. The goal is to help a hiring manager see how your background connects with the needs of that organization.

Let’s say that you have a specific type of job in mind. Maybe you want to get an internship at a hospital to learn more about being a laboratory technician or a nurse. With an interest in health care, you might choose to mention “relevant courses” that you’ve taken in high school, such as biology. If your only job experiences are as a waitress or lifeguard, you might want to mention relevant soft skills in your job description, such as responsibility, dependability, interpersonal skills, and a positive attitude.

Be ready to talk about anything on your resume

Don’t put things on your resume simply because they sound impressive. If your interests are, say, current events, technology, snowboarding, and contempo-rary fiction, it’s a great idea to include them on your resume. That shows the employer that you’re a well-rounded person with extracurricular interests and intellectual curiosity.

However, you’d better be ready to talk about any-thing that’s on your resume. If you’re interested

Once you have a sense of what you might want to do for a job, it’s time to start focusing on some practical matters.

You will need to create a simple resume. While no employer will expect a teenager to have an amaz-ing amount of experience, don’t underestimate the importance of having an effective resume. Here are some fundamentals:

Your resume is a first impression

A quick glance at a resume will make an immediate impression on your employer—but not necessarily a positive impression. A scan of your resume will tell a potential employer whether or not you:

• Take pride in producing good-looking work

• Pay attention to detail

• Have some degree of proficiency with Microsoft Word

Typos, spelling errors, and formatting inconsistencies will raise immediate questions about your ability to do administrative work without constant correction. If your resume looks bad, employers will not want to find out what the rest of your work looks like!

Be honest about your skills and experiences

Given that your job experiences may be limited, it may be tempting to make your jobs sound more impres-sive than they really were. If you have real accom-plishments, great, but be sure that you are truthful about everything that you write on your resume.

For example, are you really proficient in Microsoft Excel? If all you can do is enter data, create a few simple formulas, and build some basic charts and graphs, you’re better off saying that you’re familiar with Excel. Likewise, you want to do justice to previ-ous jobs that you’ve held… but don’t exaggerate when describing what you actually did.

RESUMES AND REFERENCES3


in current events, you might get asked about political unrest in Egypt. If you claim to be passionate about technology, you might get asked your opinion about how long we’ll have physical books and newspapers.

The same is true with skills. If you claim that you showed great multitasking skills as a waitress, you’d better have a story that will prove it. If you say that you know HTML, you’d better know some simple code.

Flunking this test will raise immediate questions about the credibility of anything that you say.

Line up your references before you start your job search

It’s not unusual for employers to ask for references before they hire a person for a job. Basically, they want to have the contact information—phone and e-mail ad-dress, usually—of a few people who know you well and who can say something about you as a person, employ-ee, or student.

The big mistake that many teens make here is failing to plan ahead. Before your resume goes to anyone, see if you can get the permission of three to five adults (not peers) who can talk about your character, intelligence, skills, and experiences. Ideally, you would have at least one person from each of these three categories:

• Current or former supervisor

• Current or former teacher or coach

• Family friend who has known you for many years

Get permission from these people before you give out their contact information, and keep them posted on who receives that information. Your references will be able to do much better on your behalf if they know the details of any job that you are trying to get.


incredibly specific: No one has to say, “I intend to be a business analyst for a financial services company.” However, any teen should be able to talk about themselves in a broad sort of way:

• “I’m very comfortable working with computers, but I also like working with people. I’m thinking of majoring in business, but I also think I could add value to a company working with comput-ers in customer service and work my way up.”

• “In the long run, I think I might want a career in health care. Of course, you can’t work as a doctor or nurse as a teenager, so right now I’d be a very motivated worker in anything related to medicine, whether in a hospital, research lab, or clinic… but I also think that any job involving helping people would be somewhere I could really shine, so that’s another option.”

• “I really like keeping busy, and I’m looking for any kind of office job where I can work hard and earn a good reference or recommendation. I’m willing to do any kind of work.”

It’s not about you. While teens need to be able to talk about their career interests, it’s important to remember the golden rule of job searches: It’s not about you! Yes, we know that you want a job that is enjoyable and a good learning experience. However, a teen needs to look at things from the perspective of the hiring employer.

The unspoken question that any employer must ask about every job candidate is this: “Will it be worth it to me to hire this individual?” Before making an offer, the employer needs to believe that the benefit of the potential employee will outweigh the cost. This is true whether an employer is hiring someone making $100,000 year, or—believe it or not—an unpaid intern.

How can that be? Employers are not only think-ing about the financial cost of hiring any worker. Employees can be costly in plenty of ways that have nothing to do with money. The biggest cost is time:

Armed with a good resume, a teenager can start taking active steps toward finding a job. However, that can be challenging—especially when the economy is in a slump. In good times, most businesses are happy to have extra help and willing to take on someone who is inexperienced. In recent years, though, teens have been hurt by the recession more than any other age group. There is much more competition these days, even for entry-level jobs.

So what is a teen supposed to do in these circum-stances? Although there are dozens of websites with thousands of jobs posted on them, those positions usu-ally aren’t appropriate for teens.

The bad news is that it can be a good deal of work for teens to find jobs. The good news is that learning how to do so will pay off for the rest of your career. The key is networking. Networking involves reaching out to everyone you know—friends, family, acquaintances, teachers, coaches, and mentors—in an attempt to make sure people know who you are and what you can do as an employee. What if that doesn’t work? Then you try to connect with the friends of your friends, the friends of your family, the acquaintances of your acquaintances, and so on!

Networking is a vital skill for a job seeker of any age to master. So let’s take a look at the steps to success-ful networking for teens who want to obtain a job or internship:

First things first. Some teens who want jobs fail to plan before they start reaching out to others in search of a job. Job seekers should think through their job search goals first and create a resume. It strikes the wrong chord with an employer if a job seeker asks about a position without being able to explain what he or she can do. Likewise, it strikes the wrong chord to be asked for a resume and have to say, “Can I get back to you about that?”

Teens should be ready to have something to say about their skills, interests, and career goals before they begin networking. It doesn’t have to be anything

NETWORKING AND FINDING OPPORTUNITIES4


Training and managing an employee takes time, even when the employee is terrific. And if the employee is not so wonderful, then that hiring decision can get to be very costly. It’s costly if:

• Mistakes are made

• Customers are dissatisfied with service

• Time is wasted dealing with a problem employee due to tardiness, absence, inaccurate work, or attitude

So as teens start to talk to their network of contacts, they need to ask questions that show that they’re interested in helping out the employer at least as much as they want to help themselves.

• What kind of help could you really use around your office?

• Do you know someone who could use help creating a web page?

• Do you know anyone who could use an extra pair of hands at work—answering the phone, filing, doing data entry?

Questions like these send out a clear message: You want to work, and you want to understand how you can help.

Connect, connect, connect. Once teens have a resume and a clear message, they need to embrace the fact that networking takes consider-able time and effort. Sometimes, a conversation with a next-door neighbor might lead directly to a job oppor-tunity. More often, it may take conversations with a few dozen people to land a job! So network early and often: If teens want a summer job when school ends, they should start working toward that no later than April.

Create a LinkedIn profile and connect with any adults that you know in the professional world. Once you have many LinkedIn connections, a job seeker might learn that she has an indirect connection to a person who works for a company that may be a good match. He/She can ask her online connection to introduce her to that person.

But don’t forget to network the old-fashioned way. Even if your direct contacts aren’t hiring, you can develop new contacts through them by asking smart questions:

• Do you know anyone who manages people in a large company?

• Do you know someone who owns her own business?

• Do you have any connections to someone who works in health care?

• Who do you know that works with technology?

Quite often, contacts can’t think of any names until questions like these are asked! Teens can ask for contact information for these individuals, and then reach out to them. There have been some amazing stories about what persistent teens have been able to do with networking if they patiently keep developing contacts through asking these questions. One student got a terrific job through her cousin’s boyfriend’s father’s friend! Now that is someone who didn’t stop networking until she reached her goal!

Check out other resources. Networking is definitely a powerful way to find opportuni-ties, but there are other options, too. TeenLife members have access to Teen Help Wanted, which lists volunteer opportunities, jobs, and internships open to teens.

TeenLife also features listings of great internship programs such as the TEC Internship Program and The Internship Connection. In return for a fee, these organizations will do the heavy lifting when it comes to connecting teens with jobs during vacations or school. Some also provide career counseling and other assistance.

While websites such as Monster and LinkedIn are not so useful for teen job seekers, there are some sites out there that might be helpful for those seeking paid, hourly work. If you Google “teen jobs,” then any number of sites will come up. Some, like www.snagajob.com, seem to be useful, while others are less so. As always with Internet searches proceed with caution.

Lastly, you can pound the pavement and approach local businesses to see if they need help. Being a customer of such businesses definitely helps. Bear in mind that the “cool” businesses—CD and video game stores, for example—probably get a ton of applicants. Go after less obvious choices.

With a strategic approach and tremendous persistence, teens can open doors for themselves with networking. It might not be immediate gratification, but the benefits of networking will definitely pay for years to come.


Yet this is all good news for teens or any other profes-sionals. If the competition is weak, it’s easier to stand out as long as you know how the secrets of strong cover letters. Let’s review them now.

Remember the “first date analogy.”

If you went on a first date and your date became furious with a waiter or waitress over some minor issue, would your assumption be that your date is just having a bad day? Probably not. You’d probably run screaming in the opposite direction, figuring that an individual is probably on their best behavior dur-ing a first date… so why wait to see the rest of their behavior!

With job seeking, the equivalent is submitting a cover letter that is fraught with typos, spelling errors, and incomplete sentences. In the current economy, recruiters see dozens of resumes each week—some-times they get hundreds if they post a job. Many can-didates get ruled out in a matter of seconds because of a cover letter that looks sloppy due to poor format-ting or that has a particularly bad spelling error. Just as there is the phenomenon of seven-minute dating. There is perhaps a seven-second scanning practice when recruiting.

Don’t take the lazy way out.

Writing a strong, error-free cover letter is hard work. As a result, many candidates don't put in the necessary time. They write one cover letter that can be used for any job that they might possibly consider. Inevitably, this cover letter is incredibly broad and ge-neric. It describes how the individual would be great for a sales job… or working with children… or using a computer… or maybe doing some writing.

This type of letter says many things to a recruiter or hiring manager:

• “I’m not all that interested in your specific job.”

When applying for a job, a teenager might not always need a cover letter. If personal networking is success-ful, a teen—or any job seeker—might be able to jump directly ahead to an interview without an intermediate step. Eventually, though, every professional needs to know how to write an effective cover letter. Curiously, very few job seekers of any age manage to write a powerful and persuasive cover letter.

Why is that the case, when everyone wants to have a good job? There are three reasons:

Very few professionals are ever taught how to write a cover letter.

Everyone knows that communication skills are impor-tant to have. Yet very few professionals ever get proper training or coaching on how to write cover letters or resumes, let alone how to interview effectively or make any kind of presentation. People are left to figure it out, and many don’t.

In the digital age of recruiting, it’s become a little too easy to apply for a job.

Years ago, it used to be that applying for a job meant typing a cover letter from scratch, printing out a resume, and mailing them out. These days, it’s so easy to just keep using the same cover letter repeatedly—or maybe tweaking it slightly—whether or not the content remains applicable to each job under consideration. The ease of applying for a job should give a candidate more time to craft a customized cover letter, but few candidates take advantage of the opportunity.

Candidates rarely get feedback from employers about their resumes, interviews, and cover letters.

Overwhelmed by hordes of online applicants—and maybe concerned about the legal consequences of explaining why they opted against interviewing some-one—many HR departments do not offer any feedback beyond a generic rejection letter—if that—even after a face-to-face interview. So for those who don’t even make it to a phone screen, they will almost never be told why. That makes it easy to repeat the same mis-takes over and over.

COVER LETTERS5


• “I can’t be bothered to take the time to try to show you why I would be a good match for your company.”

• “I have no idea what I really want to do for a job, so I’m just applying for any job imaginable, hoping that I’ll magically land a job that will make me less wishy-washy about my career direction.”

Does that sound harsh? That’s the reality. If you can’t be bothered to make a special effort for an employer, don’t expect them to take a special interest in you.

Marry your background to the employer needs.

Okay, so teens are a little young to think about marriage. The point here is that cover letters are really an exercise in matchmaking. Candidate Y might be a terrific person, but Employer Z needs more than that. That employer wants someone who will address a need or solve a prob-lem that the organization is facing.

Many candidates make the mistake of writing about why the job would be good for them instead of why they would be good for the job! Employers cringe when they receive cover letters with statements like this: “Working at your company would give me great experience in public rela-tions, and it would provide me with a valuable opportunity to work in a corporate environment.” That doesn’t sound so bad on the surface, right? Employers do want to hire individuals who are sincerely interested in the job.

However, that sort of statement does nothing to show the employer what’s in it for them. They need to know that they will benefit from having you on hand; their primary goal is not fulfilling the needs of their employees! Job seekers need to show how they’re going to make life easier for their managers—whether it’s by taking menial

administrative work off their plates, tackling a comput-er project that’s gone undone for weeks, or making 100 phone calls to sell a product or service to a customer.

A great cover letter is a way for a teen to show maturity. Immature teens might have trouble thinking beyond their selfish interests. Cover letters do need to be written well, but it’s perhaps even more important for them to show some sincere interest in understanding what a company might want and need out of a potential employee.


Candidates should come up with three reasons why they’re good for the job, and they should be ready to prove that they have those qualities by preparing some stories that describe specific times when they demonstrated those traits. The stories do not have to be from previous job experiences; they can be from classroom situations, sports, and other extracur-ricular activities. Anyone can say that they have great problem-solving skills, but a teen who can describe a specific time when she helped her soccer team stop squabbling and start focusing on winning is proof that she has that ability. So candidates need to not only go into any formal interview with three strategic reasons why they should be hired, but also there needs to be a story to back each reason up.

Dress appropriately for the interview. If it’s a formal interview, ideally a teen will wear a suit. If that’s not possible, then it’s important to at least wear nice pants, a collared shirt, and dress shoes—no jeans, t-shirts, sneakers, white socks, and so forth. For boys, a shirt and tie is a good idea. For girls, a nice blouse with a long skirt or dressy pants can work well. Hair should be neat—pulled back if it’s long—and facial jewelry should be avoided.

Arrive early for the interview. A teen’s actions will speak much more convincingly than words when it comes to punctuality. Any job seeker should show up 10-15 minutes early for an interview, being sure to bring along a few copies of a resume. Showing up earlier is a bad idea, as this can be awkward for the manager. If arriving at the build-ing more than 15 minutes early, the candidate should just take a walk around the block or wait in the car to kill time.

Turn nervous energy into a positive. It’s normal to be nervous. The key is to use that energy to smile, focus on what the interviewer is saying, and to express excitement about the position. Interviewees should not talk about being nervous, as that will only make the interviewer feel uncomfortable on their behalf.

For teens, the interviewing process can vary dramati-cally. In some cases—especially when you have ar-ranged a job through interpersonal networking—there may be no interview at all! Sometimes there may be an extremely brief and informal meeting that could hardly be called an interview. In this situation, the manager just might want to make sure that you are presentable and that you have basic social skills, a positive attitude, and so on.

Still, it’s a good idea to be prepared for the possibil-ity of a real interview. This is especially true because interviewing skills are sure to come in handy when you are applying for colleges or for more advanced jobs in the future. So let’s review a few interviewing fundamentals for teens:

Do some research and preparation in advance. In the age of the Internet, teens always can do some research before meeting with a potential manager. Memorizing tons of facts is not necessary, but it’s important to have a good idea of what the organiza-tion does. If a specific job description is available in advance—or any information about what your role might be—the job seeker should do some homework about that as well. If it’s a restaurant or store, visiting in advance to get a feel for what the atmosphere is like is a good idea. This shows interest and enables you to ask some informed questions.

The most important preparation step for any job seeker is to think through why they would be a good match for that specific job. Candidates should always talk honestly about their strengths, but the best idea is to focus on strengths that are relevant to doing the job well. Talking about having great computer skills is a good idea for an office job, but it might not be worth mentioning for a typical camp counselor job. Likewise, it’s silly for someone to talk about being a great team player if they are interviewing for a job that entails fil-ing documents with no human interaction all day.

JOB INTERVIEWS6


Don’t dread open-ended questions. Interestingly, many job seekers hate the questions that often start an interview, such as "Tell me about yourself.” The problem is that the question feels impossibly broad, and the interviewee is unsure whether to talk about their interests, their schooling, or something else. So how should one handle such a question? A shrewd interviewee knows that such questions are an open invitation to talk about the three reasons why they would be good for this job: "It’s great to be here today at Pizzeria Uno because I think I would be a really good waiter. I’m a hard worker, I’m good with people, and I can juggle many tasks at the same time. These qualities would make me effective as a waiter.”

Prepare some questions to ask at the end of the interview. At the end of an interview, there is usually an opportunity to ask the interviewer a few questions. If a candidate de-clines to do so, that may send a message that they are not really interested in the job! So always ask some questions that show real interest in the job:

• What differentiates a great waiter from an average one at Pizzeria Uno?

• How could I best prepare for the job before I start?

• I know that you’re looking for summer help, but would it be helpful if I could work some part-time hours when I go back to school in the fall?

• When do you plan to make a hiring decision for this position?

• May I have your business card so I can follow up with you later?

Follow up with a perfectly written thank-you note or e-mail. In a tough job market, little things can make a differ-ence between getting a job and not getting one. These days, a job candidate always should follow up with a thank-you note or e-mail. An e-mail should go out within 24 hours; a handwritten note should be posted by the end of the day of the interview. Keep it simple, but, above all else, make sure that the writing is abso-lutely error-free:

"Dear Ms. Smith,

Thanks so much for meeting with me today to talk about the waitress position at your restaurant. It was interesting to learn that you value a positive attitude more than job experience when evaluating your staff.

I am definitely interested in the job and believe that I would provide outstanding customer service to your patrons. I hope that you will consider me for the job, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Josephine Jobseeker”

All of the above tips are basics for interviewing, yet many adults fail to do all of them well. If a teen pre-pares well for the interview and puts a great deal of en-ergy into coming up with a shrewd strategy supported by stories, the potential employer will be impressed. Among teens, those are the individuals who get hired, regardless of skills and experience.


Once you have obtained your job or internship, then you need to take steps to ensure that it’s a success-ful experience. As noted earlier, it is entirely possible that you will discover that the job is not a good match for you. Keep this in perspective. After all, it’s not often that people meet the person that they are going to marry on their very first date! Most importantly, remember that it’s perfectly okay if you don’t love your job… but you absolutely must do the job to the best of your ability. So let’s start out with some reminders of what’s at stake for teenagers who are working.

Benefits of Doing Your Job Well

When you are a good performer, there is much more to be gained than the satisfaction of a job well done. Consider the following:

• Today’s manager is tomorrow’s reference. When you are applying for jobs in the future, employers often ask to check references by talking to your previous supervisor. Your manager will be asked a variety of questions: Were you punctual? Did you do the job well? Are you a hard worker? Do you have a positive attitude? It’s a great feeling to go into an interview knowing that your previous supervisor will rave about your performance and attitude.

• You can earn better work by doing your job well.It’s not at all unusual for teens to start off by doing extremely simple tasks. Some of these may be boring work that no one else wants to do. However, if you do your work quickly and without making any mistakes, you can earn the opportu-nity to take on more challenging and interesting tasks. Always make that your goal. On the other hand, if you don’t show you can handle those basic tasks, you’re not going to be asked to take on more advanced assignments!

• When you do a great job, you will have true accomplishments to add to your resume and to describe in a future interview.

MAKING YOUR JOB A SUCCESS7


What did you do to stand out in your job? Be prepared to go the extra mile, as you will have some great material to discuss when applying for jobs in the future. What will be the great story that you can share about a top accomplishment in the job? Always look for an opportunity to go above and beyond with that in mind.

• This is an opportunity to figure out what you want to do in the future. The more you immerse yourself in the job, the more you will see that this is really a learning opportunity. From doing any job, you will figure out any number of things about yourself: Do you like working with customers? Do you enjoy being on a computer? Are you happier doing a wide variety of tasks, or do you prefer focusing on one thing at a time? Do you like a fast-paced environ-ment, or does it stress you out? Whatever the content of the job, there is much to be learned about what you might want to do in the future. But remember: If you don’t like the job, you still need to perform really well! Otherwise you might not get a reference for that job that you really want some day.

Fundamentals of Good Job Performance

There are many pitfalls that teens must avoid in order to keep their managers and co-workers happy. These days, managers sometimes express frustration with the current generation of young adults. A common complaint is that young people are not willing to pay their dues: They feel they are entitled to get exciting work from day one despite their lack of experience. Managers also get frustrated about smartphones, iPods, and other gadgets in the workplace. So let’s review some of the fundamentals of what it will take to avoid problems at work.

• Be a reliable employee. Believe it or not, most teens do not get fired from jobs due to bad performance. The most common complaints revolve around tardiness and absenteeism. You need to get to work on time and have a minimal number of absences.

And if being late or absent is absolutely unavoidable, you need to give as much advance notice as possible. Being late or absent is bad enough, but failing to communicate effectively about it is what really drives managers up the wall.

• Use technology appropriately at work. These days, many teenagers find it difficult to go even an hour without reading and sending text messages or making calls to friends. As a result, it’s recommended that you simply turn off your phone at work. Likewise, you may have a job that entails the use of a computer. Unless you are specifically told that it’s okay to use the computer to surf the Internet or check your personal e-mail during idle time, don’t use the computer for anything but work. We have heard stories of students getting fired for using their computer to play fantasy football, for example. If you’re using a work computer for personal activities, it’s relatively easy for your employer to figure that out. Some companies monitor employees’ e-mails to see if there is anything inappropriate going on. If you are using your own iPhone or BlackBerry, the company will not be able to read your messages… but they are likely to notice your lack of productivity.

• If you have too much or too little work to do, talk to your supervisor about it in a positive, proactive manner. Don’t be a whiner at work! However, don’t suffer silently if you are overwhelmed or underutilized. Let your manager know that you’d love more work to do if you need it, or request assistance with prioritizing if you have too much going on.

• Ask questions when necessary, but make notes so you don’t have to ask the same questions repeatedly. It’s hard for a young employee to know when to ask questions. It’s normal to fear looking stupid or ignorant. However, you definitely don’t want to do something wrong and later learn that you made a costly mistake. So be sure to ask clarifying questions when taking on new tasks. Bringing a notebook to work to keep track of the answers is a good idea, too. Then you can store up questions and ask several at once instead of interrupting your manager frequently with your questions.

• Whatever you’re asked to do, do it as cheerfully as possible. Sooner or later, you will be asked to do tasks that are boring, repetitive, dirty, frustrating, or unpleasant

in any number of ways. When asked to do such tasks, don’t respond by rolling your eyes, sighing, or groaning. Just say "No problem,” and do it to the best of your ability. Employees who do grunt work cheerfully are always appreciated!

• Keep your work area neat and organized. Whether you are a neat freak or a slob when it comes to your room at home, you want your work area to be well organized. Avoid having food and drink in plain view, and come up with a system so you’ll always know where to find things.

• Dress appropriately for work. Even if you are unpaid and working five hours per week, you want to look just as professional as everyone doing similar work for that employer. So always be sure to dress appropriately and to make yourself presentable.

• Go above and beyond! Don’t be content to simply do the job. Find out what it takes to be the best, and set lofty goals for yourself. Seek feedback from your manager regularly to be sure that your performance is absolutely on target. Always ask for extra work, but only after you have successfully completed more basic tasks. It’s helpful if you don’t think of yourself as "just an intern” or "just a student.” Think of yourself as a member of the work team. As such, offer to work extra hours if problems arise—just as the full-time members do.

• Be careful about mixing business and pleasure. If you’re the only teen in a work environment, this may be a non-issue. However, some teens work among many of their peers in some jobs, such as camp counselor positions. While it’s always a good idea to be friendly toward co-workers, you should not be spending significant amounts of the day socializing. Likewise, getting romantically involved with a co-worker is a bad idea for any number of reasons. So limit how social you are with co-workers.

Keeping these tips in mind will ensure that your hard work will pay off for years to come in the form of references, resume experience, and career direction.


Ideas for Teen Businesses

Here are many ways in which a teen could become an entrepreneur:

• Computer repair: If a teen has a knack with computers, starting a computer consulting business can work out well. Help family, friends, neighbors, and small businesses by fixing broken computers, setting up computer networks, or getting rid of viruses.

Working for someone else is not the only option for teenagers. Many entrepreneurial teens have been successful in starting a business. While this route is not for everyone, it is ideal for some. Entrepreneurs have to be self-starters, and they need to have a strong work ethic. Depending on the business, there may need to be some initial investment of money to obtain equipment, resources, or raw materials. Starting a business can be risky in this sense as well: Inevitably, an entrepreneur learns a great deal from the experience, but the amount of money he/she might make can vary dramatically.

STARTING A BUSINESS8


STOCK PHOTO

• Web design: It’s not too difficult to learn HTML and other tools for designing websites… and almost every business needs one, no matter how small and modest it may be.

• Services for senior citizens: Teen living near elderly members of the community may be able to help out with all sorts of household and shopping errands for that population.

• Landscaping: If you like working outside, you could have your own landscaping business in the summer. Mow lawns, do yard work, water plants and flowers, and do any other outdoor tasks for busy professionals in your area.

• Pet care: For those who like animals, you can get involved with pet care. Many teens have dog walking services, but others may take care of cats and other pets while their owners are away.

• Household cleaning/organizing: Many busy families have basements, attics, and garages loaded with stuff that they would love to have cleaned up and organized to remove clutter. A teen with a good organizational skills and a tidy streak could do well in this area.

• Social media consulting: Many people over the age of 40 are lost when it comes to mastering social media applications such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. A teen could help someone create a profile and manage their settings to avoid security problems.

• Arts and crafts: A crafty teen could make and sell jewelry, candles, or t-shirts with only a modest investment in supplies, such as beads, silver, and wax. These items can be sold at craft fairs, online, in local shops, or through networking with friends and families. If a teen isn’t sure if his or her experience is sufficient, why not attend a TeenLife-affiliated sum-mer camp to master the art?

• Blogging: A teen who is passionate on a topic and who has good writing skills could turn that into cash. Increasingly, businesses are looking for people who can write short blogs on all sorts of topics: sports, bullying, fashion, and technology. Doing a Google search on “online writing jobs for teens” can get a teen started.

Positives of Being Your Own Employer

Starting your own business can really make you stand out when applying to colleges or for future jobs. It’s proof—positive that you have many exciting qualities: initiative, work ethic, creativity, problem-solving skills, and so forth. Whom would you rather hire? Someone who worked as a cashier, or someone who successfully launched their own t-shirt business? As an entrepre-neur, you inevitably have to learn about a wide variety of areas, including customer service, managing money, and solving problems. You will tap into those skills repeatedly throughout your career.

Starting a business also can give you an enormous head start on your career. A big problem for many college graduates is that they may be smart and personable, but their resume has nothing related to what they want to do for a career. A teen who started a computer consulting business at age 16 would have a good five or six years of experience in that area by the time he or she graduates from college! A nursing or physical therapy major who once had her own business helping the elderly with household errands would be able to prove that she is a responsible, caring person with a sincere interest in helping others. Experiences like those lead to a huge edge when applying for jobs, given that many college graduates have nothing more than classroom experience in their field.

In a similar vein, beginning your own entrepreneurial venture will make you grow up a little faster. Compared to your peers, you probably will have a better idea of what it takes to be successful and what you want to get out of your college years.

If all of this sounds appealing, check out the resources below.

• Millionaire Kids-If you want to be your own em-ployer and still have a successful business, visit this website for ideas, tips, advice, lists of jobs, and more to help you make money even if you're too young to work.

• Ideas for Entrepreneurs-Read this article on businesses teens started over the summer for inspiration on how you can create your own successful business.

• Tips for Entrepreneurs-Read this article to learn tips on how to become a successful entrepreneur.


http://www.teenlife.com/?page=JIOwnEmployer

• Understand how the teen’s age affects how much they work and what work he or she can do. If teens are under 16 years of age, there are additional regulations that may come into play. When under 16, a teen cannot work as a cook or baker—unless the work is performed right at the service counter. Likewise, a 14-or 15-year-old can’t load or unload trucks or work in jobs re-lated to construction or manufacturing. During the school year, most kids under 16 cannot work more than three hours on school days, more than eight hours on weekdays or holidays, or more than 18 total hours per week. During vaca-tions, a 40-hour work week is the maximum.

• Apply for the work permit immediately after obtaining the job. As soon as a job obtained, go to your school’s administrative office, bringing proof of your date of birth and a resume. It should take less than a week to get the work permit.

Making Money and Paying Taxes

Once you have a paid job, how much money should you expect to make? While the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, there are plenty of excep-tions for teen employees. Workers earning tips may make just $2.13 per hour plus tips. Workers under 20 can be paid just $4.25 per hour for their first 90 consecutive days of employment. However, minimum wage laws only apply to businesses that make at least $500,000 in revenue each year. In any event, pay can vary widely.

When joining the ranks of money makers, it may help teens to understand the purpose of income taxes. Some teens may be frustrated to learn that they aren’t receiving all of the money that they earned. No one likes to see how many taxes were taken out of their paychecks. Income taxes are used for law enforcement, aid to foreign countries, improvements to road and highways, space exploration, and military spending among many other things. Understanding

As we have discussed in other sections, some teenagers get paid jobs while others opt to volunteer. While most teens would prefer to earn money, it’s important to understand that there are any number of steps that need to be taken with paid jobs to ensure that a teen is working legally and set up to be paid appropriately. We’ll review the fundamentals here.

Work Permits

The existence of work permits and labor laws limit-ing how and at what age teens may work might be perceived to be annoying red tape by many teenagers and their families. There is some truth to this, but it’s important to realize that these laws and processes were created to prevent teens from being exploited. Teens should not be overworked and underpaid, and they should not be handling dangerous tasks.

As a result, teens often need to obtain work permits. These give employers assurance that they won’t be prosecuted for hiring underage workers. The good news is that work permits are free and relatively easy to obtain. Here are the steps:

• Obtain a job—one that is not dangerous. A teen needs to be offered a job before apply-ing for a work permit; you can’t get one without knowing exactly what the job would entail. Teens generally can’t work with powerful equipment, such as meat slicers, bakery ovens, and forklifts. Riskier jobs in areas such as roofing and demolition would be a problem, too.

• Find out whether the teen needs a work permit. In most states, any teen under the age of 18 needs a work permit. Check with your school’s guidance counselor to find out the rules for your state. Typically, a work permit applicant requires proof of the student’s age, a resume, and the work permit application itself. Teens under the age of 14 typically can’t work in paid positions, though exceptions are made for camp counselors and golf caddies.

GETTING PAID9


the purpose of taxes might help teens accept why they are a fact of life.

What does a teen need to do to receive payment without running into problems?

• Be aware of tax laws. Teen employees do need to pay taxes, whether they are under 18 or not. Also, if a teen exceeds a specific amount of earnings in a given calendar year, he or she will need to file an income tax form. For 2010, teens earning more than $5,700 from an employer need to file an income tax form. Those making just $400 or more from self-employment also need to file: This includes money earned from babysitting, mowing lawns, and so on. Even teens who do not work at all may need to file an income tax form if investments made in their name earned $900 or more for the year.

• Complete a W-4 form upon getting hired. The employer will ask any new hire to complete this form upon getting hired. It typically includes name, address, and social security number, and it asks the teen to claim some number of withholding allow-ances. Guidelines for how to determine this number are included on the form, but the number will almost always be 0 for teens. One of several rare exceptions would be if no one could claim the teen as a dependent.

• Pay taxes. If a tax form needs to be filed, it tends to be straight-forward. An employer must send all employees a W-2 form each year summarizing the employee’s earn-ings. That data can be plugged in to form 1040EZ—just one form with a second page of worksheets. Self-employed teens should be able to use Schedule C EZ. Either way, filing electronically should be possible.

• Self-employed teens may need to be aware of paying estimated taxes. If teens are on a trajectory of making $400 or more per year, then estimated tax payments need to be made to the government every three months: April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15. When paying, the individual tries to take into account what they expect to make—and owe in taxes—by the end of the year. Checks can be made using Form 1040-ES or via the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). The latter makes it easy to set up and track any payments.

Receiving Payment

Once a teen is all set with Uncle Sam, the next step is to make sure that it’s convenient and easy to receive pay. There are a few simple but important moves to make at this time.

• Set up a bank account. If a teen doesn’t have a bank account yet, now is the time to make that happen. This will be enable employers to pay via direct deposit to the bank ac-count if they are so inclined. Most bank accounts pay very little these days in the form of interest, but having an account is a necessary step to cash checks and receive payment, and it also will help with recordkeeping as well as with the basics of managing money.

• Self-employed teens should set up a PayPal account. For teens starting their own business, setting up a PayPal account is a great way to make it convenient for customers to make payments with a credit card. Once you have set up an account, PayPal will send out emails whenever payments have been made to the account.

• Teens should keep records of their earnings. Somewhere—in a notebook or an Excel spreadsheet—teens should track their earnings. This is especially true for those who are self-employed, who also should keep tabs on any expenses. When it comes time to file an income tax form or make an estimated tax pay-ment, it can be a nightmare without some sort of records or data in hand. Document all payments, and many headaches will be avoided.

Following this advice will avoid problems and get teens started on the path to understand good money management skills for the rest of their lives.


Other tools are available as well. A career advisor or coach may give these tests and also ask other questions that will give a teen some ideas about career direction. It’s important to understand that these services will not lead to a magical proclama-tion: “According to the tests, your destiny is to become a certified public accountant!” Typically, a teen will emerge from this process with a nice range of options across several college majors—all consistent with the themes that emerge from testing and/or conversa-tion. A teen who is somewhat introverted and who likes math, languages, and problem solving may be encouraged to consider options that include computer science, music, industrial engineering, business analysis, and supply chain management.

When looking at the results, it’s important to not take them too literally. If “minister/clergyman” comes up as a possible career, it doesn’t mean that the teen needs to even consider that area if it seems unappeal-ing. What that result might be saying, however, is that the individual might want to consider any number of careers that might have similar elements to what a member of the clergy does most of the time. Some options might include clinical psychologist, social worker, guidance counselor, nurse practitioner, or human resources professional. As you can see, that’s quite a variety.

The goal of working with a career advisor is not necessarily to decide on a be-all, end-all career. The main thing is to rule in—and rule out—some career paths and to take steps in the right general direction.

How long would you work with a career coach or advisor? It would vary depending on your goals. In some instances, it may be possible to do just two or three sessions for an interview and testing, generally culminating in a report.

Internship Advisors

Like career advisors, internship advisors charge a fee—anywhere from several hundred dollars to a few

In the section on Choosing Your Path, we talked about how a teen can reflect on his or her values, interests, personality, and skills in order to begin exploring a career direction. Later, in the section on Networking and Finding Opportunities, we reviewed how it may be possible for teens to find jobs through interpersonal networking, job boards, and so on.

However, these are not the only options available to you. Families can hire a career advisor, career coach, or a psychologist who specializes in career issues to provide insight about appropriate paths. Likewise, there has been a recent trend toward businesses that will find a customized internship for teens at a local business. Some links to such organizations can be found at the bottom of this section. There are also some organizations that might serve both functions—giving some career direction to a teen and then lining up a placement.

With this in mind, let’s review how these options might work for those who are interested.

Career Advisors or Coaches

A career advisor or coach is someone who can be hired to help a teen build greater awareness about career opportunities and how they match up with the teen’s values, skills, personality, and interests. Often, these professionals will be certified as administrators and interpreters of tests that may be useful in this process. The best known test is probably the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a questionnaire that builds awareness of one’s personality type.

That said, some other tests might be more help-ful when it comes to helping a teen determine what careers to explore. The Campbell Interest and Skill Survey (CISS) is a 25-minute test that can be given to individuals 15 and older. It can be a useful tool for college-bound students. The Strong Interest Inven-tory is also a highly respected tool for helping students become aware of their interests, preferences, and personal styles.

INTERNSHIP & CAREER ADVISORS10


thousand dollars. What do you get for your money? It can vary, but typically you also receive career counseling in order to determine what sort of job would be the best match. The difference is that an internship advisor usually will go further than that, taking steps to help a teen land a job. Some services also provide assistance in writing resumes, preparing for interviews, and ensuring that the intern receives feedback and recommendations that may prove useful when applying to college. Some internship advisors only offer local positions, while others may provide out-of-state opportunities as well.

Is an internship advisor right for you? The answer to that will depend very much on your goals, resources, and connections. If your sense is that it will be difficult for you to put significant time and energy into making something happen on your own—or if you believe that your own personal connections are limited—an internship advisor can help. Of course, though, you will want to ask several questions upfront about the type of job you can realistically expect given your goals and background.

Here are some good questions to ask:

• Am I guaranteed to obtain a job?

• Do I still owe any money if I fail to get a job?

• Can you give me a sense of the types of organizations that hire interns through you?

• How many hours per week do students typically work? And for how many weeks or months?

• What kind of job could I realistically expect as a teen with limited skill and experience?

• How much help do you provide to teens with regard to writing resumes, preparing for interviews, and succeeding on the job?

• What steps are taken to ensure that a teen will have a good learning experience as opposed to just being cheap or free labor?

Basically, you want there to be no surprises in terms of what you’re getting for your payment. With clarity on those issues, internship advisors definitely can be a useful resource for some teens and their families.


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