Unison Parenting Blog: The Best Way to Help Your Teen Get a Job

I’ve been discussing chores, allowances, and money management in my last few posts. Ideally, when your child wants more money, they will supplement their allowance by joining the workforce. But besides networking and connections, how can they secure a job with seemingly no experience?

Help them build a strong resume. Let me give an example of how one of my children secured a job with a famous fast chicken restaurant.

His only work experience was umpiring t-ball and baseball games, starting at age 11. When we started his resume, I told him his umpiring experience would be valuable to the restaurant.

He didn’t understand, so I walked him through the process.

“As an umpire, were you punctual?”

“Yes, I had to be there early, start the game on time, and end the game on time.”

“OK. Now, did you have procedures?”

“Oh yes, I had to know all the rules of the game and enforce them.”

“Who were your customers?”

“The players. The coaches. The fans.”

“Did you ever have to deal with angry customers?”

“Lots! I had to calm down the coaches and ignore the fans, though sometimes, I had to calm the fans too.”

I then explained how he had all the ingredients for a fast food employee. He acted responsibly, showed up on time, could interpret and enforce procedures, and handle angry customers with a calm demeanor.

He showed that on his resume, was able to discuss his experience, and absolutely blew the interviewer away.

I walked through the same procedure with all three of our kids. I showed them how to examine work experience and map it into the job they are going for. Service projects, scouting, church activities, school roles, even home duties all provide useful experience as well.

As unison parents, prepare your child well in advance to become a productive, thoughtful teen employee. Provide them with experiences that will be useful to them later on.