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Our son is 15 years 10 months and is anxious to find a summer job - most of the places he's looked into (supermarkets, some larger retail stores) require employees to be 16 years old. In this month's Cary Living magazine, there is an article that says students as young as 14 can work throughout the summer. My general question to this group: have any of your sons/daughters found employment under the age of 16, and (generally) in what fields? Thanks for the help!
My daughter was unsuccessful last year looking for a job. She eventually found a few clients as a babysitter and now has some regular jobs doing that for $10/hour. So she's actually doing much better than if she were working for minimum wage at a store.
Back in the old days we'd send that young man out to the tobacco or cotton fields! Hard work out in the field builds character and inspires young people to further their education to avoid such employment..
Edit: a few ideas - I may be out of touch here but try golf course or park maintenance. Car washes and landscapers may also be open to the idea..
There are a lot of restrictions on 14 year old employment as far as hours, the equipment they can use, etc. Even those cart pushers at Target can't use the automated cart-corraler till they are 18!
As someone who hires many high school students for camp and other youth programs ( we do have a minimum age requirement of 16; but have had people start working on their 16th birthday); one piece of advice I will give you is please do not call/email/drop in to chat with any hiring managers for your son. Let him do it himself.
If I am hiring teenagers (or people of any age) I need to be sure they are responsible and mature enough to take the initiative to reach out to find information about the job and/or where they are in the hiring process themselves. Nothing turns me off from a potential employee more than when their parent is the one who calls to see if we are hiring, checks on the status of their application or work schedule etc. I understand parents needing to be aware of their teen's work schedule especially if they will be the ones driving them to and from work; but let your son show the initiative of reaching out to his supervisor on his own.
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