Hire-a-teen program

Create an Account - Increase your productivity, customize your experience, and engage in information you care about. The Hire A Teen Program is an employment referral service for middle and high school students ages of 12 — 17 years old.

It is designed to help youth acquire job skills, work experience, and income. This job placement program matches Preston youth with Preston residents who need assistance with such things as yard work, housework, elderly help, pet sitting, and babysitting. Teen jobs can also play a key role in helping you choose a career path. It's true: Entry-level jobs have the potential to help you decide whether certain careers may be right for you.

For example, if you have your eyes on a career as a veterinarian or veterinary technician, try pet sitting or working in a pet store to see if you like working with animals all day. Thinking about designing video games?

Apply for a job at a gaming retail store or look for opportunities to work as a video game tester. Enjoy sports? Try working as an attendant at a rec center or as a counselor at a sports camp for kids. Even if you don't have any work experience , you may be able to get hired for jobs that are related to your strongest interests. That's because your enthusiasm for a certain hobby may impress a potential employer enough that they choose you over a more experienced worker.

So, what's the perfect job for a teenager like you? It depends on your goals, interests, and experience. For many teens, the best first job is the one that pays pretty well, helps you gain experience, and offers a schedule that leaves you enough time for school and other important activities.

Whether you want a job related to your future career or just hope to make some decent money, this guide to part-time jobs for teens will help you get started. Check out the following sections to see specific job examples and learn about everything else you should know:. Pay rates are current as of July 21, and are based on data from the Occupational Employment Statistics OES program unless noted as being from another source such as 1 PayScale.

Teens of all ages can be hired for the five jobs below. But federal laws regarding jobs for minors restrict the type of jobs that teens younger than 14 can do. These are some of the jobs that are permitted:. Delivering newspapers and flyers can be a good way to make some spending money and get a bit of exercise. Some routes are daily, while others are two or three times a week. And some require you to work very early in the morning.

You'll be expected to deliver papers on all scheduled days, rain or shine. Babysitting gives you experience at working with kids, which can help if you ever plan to enter the field of early childhood education or any other career that involves working with children. To increase your chances of being hired as a babysitter, take a course through the Red Cross, YMCA, or 4-H in order to learn essentials of the job such as basic first aid. Once you've taken classes, you can determine how much to charge.

Babysitters typically set their own rates. A study by UrbanSitter found that the average rate for babysitting in the U. Keep in mind that a few states do have minimum ages for babysitting. The oldest minimum age is in Illinois, which requires you to be older than 14 before being left alone without adult supervision.

If you're under 14, you can work for a parent's company as long as you don't work in manufacturing, mining, or any other hazardous occupation. Do you dream of a career in the performing arts?

You can acquire some experience now. Although young performers are exempt from national labor laws, many states have their own regulations. Talk to your parents if this is a field that interests you so that they can help research your state's laws. To get started, check out drama classes at school and audition for community and school theatrical productions. Look for any opportunities to be in front of an audience—whether you're paid or not.

Any time on stage or on screen is good for developing your talents and getting your name out there. Many adults struggle to check off all the tasks on their to-do lists. And many senior citizens aren't able to do as much as they used to.

You can help them out—and make some money—by assisting with basic tasks and errands. For example, you could mail a parcel for a senior, walk a neighbor's dog, or shovel snow off of sidewalks in your neighborhood. With a little creativity and some entrepreneurial spirit, this can be a great approach to making extra cash, whether you're looking for after-school or weekend jobs.

For teens, this flexibility is a big bonus. After you turn 14, even more options are available when it comes to good places to work for teens.

The jobs below generally don't require very much work experience. And their typical hours of work often fit well with teenagers' school schedules. Some of these jobs also have the potential to help with your long-term career goals. Check out the section on companies that hire minors for specific examples of teen-friendly employers. Most of the wage info below represents the average or median for that occupation. As a teen, you'll probably start out at a lower wage than that amount. When you think about the jobs available for teens, fast-food service might be at the top of your mind.

Statistics reveal that restaurants employed around 1. This is a good industry for a first job, partly because fast-food restaurants tend to have a lot of vacancies.

In fact, fast-food service can be a great answer to the common dilemma: How can you get job experience if you must have experience to get a job? That's because these businesses often hire people who haven't worked before. In almost every community, fast-food companies are hiring year-olds for entry-level positions.

And don't dismiss the value of having fast-food experience on your resume. Many employers say that it shows you have self-discipline and a good work ethic. Plus, the quick pace of this work can be great preparation for many careers. For example, if you want to work in the culinary arts, fast-food cooking can actually teach you a lot—even if your goal is to prepare gourmet dishes in the future. Retail stores are some of the best places to work for teens. Working in retail can be especially valuable if you find a job in a store that aligns with your interests and goals.

For example, future fashion designers or fashion merchandisers can learn a lot by working in clothing stores. And many retail stores offer good first jobs for year-olds. For example, although hiring practices vary by individual businesses, Adidas, Best Buy, Justice, and T. Maxx are retail stores that often hire and year-olds. Many stores will only hire people who are 16 and older.

But responsible younger teens can also find retail positions, so it's always worth asking a store about its policies. The most common companies that are hiring and year-olds are grocery stores such as Publix, Safeway, and Kroger.

Teens who work at these stores typically bag customers' groceries and gather shopping carts. Check out additional companies that hire teens in the section below. Are you good at a particular subject in school? Why not help others learn to master it by tutoring them? Your school counselor can connect you to students who need help.

You can also find clients by advertising your services. Green Jobs Innovation Fund. The goal of the Green Jobs Innovation Fund is to increase the number of individuals completing training programs who receive industry-recognized credentials and to increase the number of individuals completing training programs for employment in green jobs.

This allows users to see a visual representation of local resources to identify potential partners and reduce duplication of effort. The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth provides strategies for connecting youth with disabilities and other disconnected youth to summer jobs and work-based learning experiences. The site has a searchable database of strategies for connecting youth with disabilities to employment.

Below are some resources that share other communities' experiences with supporting youth employment and other summer activities for youth, including lessons learned and opportunities for the future. This study, prepared by Brandeis University, documents the implementation of the ARRA summer youth employment initiative in four communities that received large infusions of federal funds.

The study describes the local context for implementation, provides insight into specific assets and innovations that were used to achieve the community goals, and identifies best practices. This national evaluation of summer youth activities funded by the Recovery Act, conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Summer Youth Employment Rates Plunge.

This article provides a few local strategies for financing summer youth employment programs. Notable is a youth intern tax credit approved by the Philadelphia City Council to reward local businesses for hiring young people. They worked hard and finished the job in the time I had esimated it would take. I would definitely hire either one of them or both of them again and I will recommend the hire-a-teen program to other people in the community.

The process of hiring them was convenient and easy to use. It is a great service and I am a very satisfied customer. The program is a referral service for middle and high school students between the ages of years old.