Many homeschooled teens are ready to get their first job during the high school years. It’s an important first step toward maturity and independence. I’m sharing tips to help you with job planning for homeschooled teens, while helping you keep your sanity in the process!
The Importance of Job Planning for Homeschooled Teens
Our family has a strong expectation that when you turn sixteen, you’ll begin seeking out your first job. Both my husband and I worked during high school, and it was valuable life experience. We want the same for our kids. Working as a teen encourages responsibility and provides the opportunity to earn money and learn important financial lessons.
Additionally, depending on the type of job your teenager obtains, it can help solidify career interests and choices. McDonald’s provided my daughters with experience in customer service, cashiering, food preparation and more. However, the environment at their particular location was often stressful. These types of experiences, while difficult, provided important experience for them.
Unique Job Opportunities for Homeschooled Teens
Homeschooled teens can use the flexible schedule of homeschooling to their advantage. Because you create your school schedule, you can adjust as needed and work creatively with an employer. Your student may be able to work a morning or afternoon shift that public school students can’t.
Additionally, businesses that close by 5pm are typically not an option, unless you are homeschooled and have that flexibility of schedule. This can open up a wide-range of opportunities a traditionally-schooled teen wouldn’t have.
Finally, many homeschool teens have acquired skills that will be enticing to an employer, such as being highly self-motivated and capable of independent learning. Specialty skills that your student gains as a homeschooler might also give them an edge above their peers.
Homeschooled students that incorporate things like baking and cooking, sewing, wood-working, animal husbandry, etc. into their everyday learning may possess skills other applicants lack. Who knows where that knowledge might take them and what opportunities they’ll provide as they search for that first job!
Career Planning Versus Job Searching
In my opinion, the areas of career planning and job searching can overlap, but they can also be considered separately. It’s crucial to start thinking about careers with your teen and exploring their interests, BUT we can also be mindful that a job can just be a job for the high school years. It may have nothing to do with their future career and that’s okay.
In high school, I worked in the children’s department of our local library. I wasn’t thinking of potentially being a librarian or working with children. I had no clue what career I wanted to pursue. However, I gained valuable skills and I was making money. That was enough at the time.
If your teen already knows what their future career entails, that’s great! You can tailor their job search to in that direction. Keep in mind, though, that if it doesn’t work out that way, that’s okay, too. Our children are on their own journeys and God has a plan for their lives. Rest in the promise that He will provide what they need-even the right first job!
Preparing Your Homeschooled Teen for Employment
Consult Employment Laws for Minors
Before you begin, it’s important to consult the employment laws for minors in the state where you live. This will help you understand what jobs are off-limits, age requirements, hours permitted, permits needed, etc. This will save you from wasting your precious time applying to the wrong jobs, but will also help you understand what an employer can ask and not ask of your teen.
Create a Resume
Not every place will require a resume, but it’s helpful to have one ready before your teen applies. There’s nothing worse than filling out a long online application, only to realize a resume is needed. Take the time to create one first. There are plenty of free templates online that are focused on high school students.
Resume crafting is a great pre-job activity to help your teen understand the importance of details, portraying themselves positively, and even identifying areas that need more development.
Allow plenty of time for this step. It took my son and I much longer to create his resume than I thought it would. He began working from a template, but needed quite a bit of my help revising it and honing all the details.
Finally, don’t forget to highlight unique experiences that will help your homeschooled student stand out from the crowd! This can include experiences, skills, volunteer roles, awards received and more.
Hone Job Readiness Skills
Over the years, you’ve likely been teaching the basic life skills that will help your teen get that first job. These are skills like having basic manners and a courteous demeanor, being punctual, following instructions, and keeping a positive attitude. However, it never hurts to practice interview skills or discuss what they’ll wear to an interview (This is something that caught me off guard).
Does your teen own anything other than athletic pants or jeans? Do they know how to give a firm handshake? Do they need to trim their fingernails? These are the types of things you might not be thinking about in the midst of submitting job applications, but they’re worth a mention.
Consider Volunteer Experiences
Before any of my kids secured a job, they put time into volunteering, mostly at our church. This is a fantastic way for your teen to gain important job readiness skills like being on time, good communication, following instructions, etc. If your looking for volunteer opportunities, you might also consider non-profits in your area or ask neighbors or other moms where their teens had good volunteer experiences.
Use a Job Planner for Teens
It’s important that your homeschooled teen take the lead and do most of the brainwork in the search for their first job. I was happy to help my teens think of places to apply, but I needed to know they were thinking about it, too, not just letting me do all the work.
Another huge challenge, and possibly the most difficult one, was keeping tabs on the status of their job search. I wanted my teens to easily be able to inform me of details, such as where and when they applied, and other info, like pay rates and hours.
While I suggested they keep track of those kinds of details, it just wasn’t happening.
I wish I had thought about creating a job planner to help them stay organized, but I didn’t. Lesson learned. So, when it was my son’s turn to job search, I suggested he create a job notebook. Something that would appeal to teens and be simple to use. (This was a great project for his Intro to Graphic Design class, too!)
If its your teen’s first time looking for a job consider equipping them with the My First Job Planner for Teens.
My First Job Planner for Teens will help your teen brainstorm answers to important questions like:
- Where do I want to work?
- How many hours do I need/want?
- Where would I like to work?
- How far am I willing to travel?
There are planning pages for up to ten different jobs where teens can:
- Record information about potential employers
- Record pay rates and other job details
- Track submitted applications
- Consider pros and cons for each job
Finally, your teen will be prompted to think about their top job choice and record info about their new job. There’s even a Certificate of Congratulations in the back you can give your student as you celebrate getting their first job.
Besides keeping things organized, My First Job Planner for Teens is a great way to help your teen mark this momentous milestone in their life-looking for and getting that first job is a big deal! You can find more details about the planner in my Etsy Shop, Holistic Mom Creations.
Conclusion
Job searching alongside our teens means they’re growing and maturing into the adults. It can be a challenging season, however, and require your help and guidance. Your teen is learning so much about life right now! I hope these tips help you equip them to make the most of this first job search. Try using a job planner to help them keep things organized, and keep your sanity as their job search mentor. Good luck and may you be celebrating a first job very soon!
(PS-For even more details about job planning for teens, check out this article at Money Prodigy. She delves in-depth on this topic, and has some great tips.)
