Tory Johnson: 10 Tips to Get Your Kid a Summer Job
Advice and resources on how to pound the pavement to nab some summer work.
May 31, 2010 — -- To line up summer employment, it's all about old fashioned pavement pounding right now. Share these tactics with your teens to help them hear, "You're hired."
Talk to friends and neighbors. Encourage your kids to start close to home by promoting their own skills and interests and telling friends and neighbors that they're willing to offer a helping hand. It could be baby-sitting, tutoring, music lessons, house painting, yard work -- whatever they feel comfortable and confident doing. If one person doesn't have steady work, teens can juggle multiple clients with the same needs.
Find more job searching resources on at the "GMA" Jobs Club page, click here.
Ask directly for leads. When talking to the people in the neighborhood, kids should also ask directly for introductions and job leads. "If you don't need my time and talent, do you know someone else who might?"
Approach local store owners. Maybe you've shopped in the same grocery store for 10 years -- if not longer. You're a familiar face, so ask the manager about summer openings on behalf of your son or daughter. Once you find out about the opening, give your kid the information and let him or her take it from there.
Walk the mall or Main Street. Many stores never advertise their openings online or in the Sunday paper. Instead, they put a "Help Wanted" sign in the window or they wait for customers to inquire about opportunities. Walk in ready to interview while explaining your connection to the establishment. If it's a favorite place to shop, explain why you love the merchandise. If it's a category of retail that you admire, share that. This differentiates you from others who drop off resumes without saying a word.
Consider an internship. A great place to find teen internships is through non-profits, which often have access to opportunities with large employers that we never hear about because external candidates can't apply. The positions are limited and they're filled by non-profit groups that do the screening, recruitment and placement. This is also a great addition to a college application.
Tory Johnson is the workplace contributor on ABC's Good Morning America and the CEO of Women For Hire. Talk to her at Twitter.com/ToryJohnson.
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