How is your teen summer job going? The summer is at half way over - has your summer job been a success? Or are you looking for a job now - whether because your first one ended or because other obligations came first?
No matter where you stand, there is still time to find a teen summer job to earn money for school and all the stuff that will come with it. It might take a little more effort and creativity, but it will be worth it.
The first places to consider might be the least obvious: employers that are looking for good part-time help no matter what time of year it is. Grocery stores, fast-food restaurants and retail stores may not immediately come to mind for a summer job, but they are almost always in need of quality employees. And teens are one of their best options because they often only want or need to work fewer hours. It's a win-win situation.
Another advantage is that it can be easier to turn these jobs into year-round opportunities. These teen summer jobs aren't just for summer - people eat and shop all year long. Having someone who is good with customers is invaluable to these stores - summer, winter, spring and fall.
If you're not the food or retail type, the next place to look is at employers who just need seasonal help. That can include places like home and garden centers, landscaping companies and swimming pools or parks. You don't have to be a landscape designer or lifeguard either. Employers need help at the cash registers or in the snack counter - not just in the specialty areas.
And do not discount these options because you think that all of these jobs were taken at the beginning of the summer. The teens who started out at the beginning of summer may have found they didn't like the work or need to have the rest of the summer free for sports camps or family vacations. Or maybe the hiring manager understaffed and now needs to add people to cover the hottest months of the year. You will not know unless you ask!
A third option is to create your own opportunity. And it is not as hard as it sounds to make up your own summer teen job. Look at what you like to do. Do you enjoy making food and get compliments on it? Do you like bikes and have a mechanical talent? Maybe you can mow a yard faster than anyone else. You can make money doing any of these things.
How?
Food can be sold at lots of places, including one of the most popular summer places: the farmers' market. You can also have a booth or table at local summer carnivals, picnics, outside theaters, Little League ball tournaments, flea markets or sell them to your neighbors. Recruit friends in other neighborhoods as sales people and pay them a commission on what they sell. (Remember to stay within the areas that you know and use basic safety rules.)
Or you can open a bike service with on-site repair for slipped chains and flat tires or other minor mechanical breakdowns within a certain area around your house. Offer a periodic bike tune-up with pick-up and drop-off service. Add some information products (simple pamphlets or short books) on basic bike care and maintenance that you can produce on your home computer or at the library and sell it as part of a service package.
And lawn mowing is one of the classic summer jobs. As long as you have a mower and gas, you just need to get customers. And by this point in the summer, mowing has become a tedious chore under a hot summer sun that people are willing to pay for. Charge a flat rate for the month instead of for each time you mow to get even more customers (you can reduce your per-mow charge and still make good money because you have a guaranteed customer for the month).
There are probably even more summer teen job options, but these ideas will help get your own thoughts in action. Make the second half of summer the best half!
Jennifer Peek is a CPA and mother of two. She writes about all aspects of kids and money at her website http://www.money-and-kids.com See even more teen summer job information there plus sign up for the monthly newsletter at http://www.money-and-kids.com/subscribe.html
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