The John Tesh Blog

Help Your Teen Land a Summer Job

If your teen is hoping to land a job this summer, he’d better start job-hunting now.

According to MSNBC this summer is going to be especially hard for teens to find a job.

A recent study of 1100 companies by SnagAJob.com reports nearly half the hiring managers have no plan to take on any more seasonal workers this summer.  MSNBC reports 31% of these managers are not hiring due to budget constraints. 

If you still haven’t picked up on the immediacy of this problem, check this out:  76% of the hiring managers surveyed said they expect to fill the few positions that are now open by May.

So how are you as a parent going to help your teen get that summer job?  Here are some job search tips that will be of great help to your teen.

•Your task as a parent is to be a coach or encourager - that’s all.  You can offer to help your teen, but he or she has to do the real work of finding work.  It's their responsibility to contact companies with openings, fill out the application and interview. 

•Introduce your teen to your contacts - then move out of the way. Most likely you have professional contacts who work for organizations that offer summer jobs.  Put your teen in touch with these colleagues and then give your child the responsibility to initiate the conversations on their own.

•Steer your teen to key job boards and resources. Start with the job boards that specialize in summer work opportunities for teens: TeenJobSection.com, JobDoggy.com and GrooveJob.com.

Don’t overlook your local newspaper’s employment classifieds and any nearby college’s career center. 

•Encourage your teen to spend the majority of his time networking not just looking for jobs on his laptop. Why?  Because 90% of job openings are not advertised and 90% of job candidates only apply for advertised work opportunities.

Have your teen make use of social networking sites like FaceBook and put out the word among his friends that he’s looking for work.   

In addition, MSNBC suggests having your teen tell everybody he knows that he’s in the job market.  They can speak to parents of their friends, teachers and adult friends of their family. Let them do their own marketing.

•Make sure your teen looks his best when applying for a job.  Many teens don’t see the importance of dressing and acting professionally during the hunt for a summer job.  Inform your teen that he or she needs to stand out.  If they’re applying for a job at a retail store, whether it’s Hot Topic or Pacific Sunwear, they can’t stroll in wearing a baseball cap and donning sunglasses, asking for an application. 

•Emphasize the necessity of a positive attitude with your teen. When walking into a store or company with a job opening, stress the importance of expressing enthusiasm and showing a willingness to learn.  Your teen should also be respectful towards their future boss or fellow employees.

It would help if they knew something about the company or store they’re applying to.  Have them Google the company and be familiar with it.  Such research will help them develop answers to typical interview questions they’ll be asked or to think of a few questions they could ask.

For a list of places where teens can find jobs, check out the Guide For Teens: How to Find a Summer or Part-Time Job.

John
Email John: johnsblog@teshmedia.com

In my book Intelligence For Your Life:  Powerful Lessons For Personal Growth you'll read more about how to raise teens. You can purchase the book at your local bookstores or order it online from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

Ways To Keep Your Teens From Fighting

The new trend of teens beating up a fellow teen just to post a video of the attack on YouTube or MySpace is most disturbing.   

Recently, eight teenagers videotaped the brutal thrashing of a 16 year old Florida girl.  The teens lured the unsuspecting high school student to a friend’s home to attack her and then posted the film of the pounding on YouTube.

Who can we blame?  The website for allowing videotaped beatings on their site, the teens for using violence to gain internet notoriety or the parents for raising physically aggressive adolescents?

Psychologists warn of a connection between increasing internet usage and increasing violence among teens. Therapists suggest adults get more involved in what kids are doing online.

While your teens may not go to the extreme of beating up one of their classmates, it’s not uncommon for them to get involved in serious verbal disputes with each other.  Before parents try to stop teens from fighting, consider thesel issues:

What Parents Need to Know About Teens Fighting

•You cannot always protect your kids from conflicts. Teens need to learn how to deal with differences with their friends in a positive way.

As parents you can help by acting like a coach or cheerleader when your child is caught in a dispute. If you’re always jumping into your teen’s battles to solve them, you rob them of learning how to resolve matters on their own. 

However, you can’t totally remove yourself as a parent.  You have to monitor the bickering and negative exchange to make sure the conflict does not become physical or involve internet harassment. If a conflict is getting of control, as a parent you have the right to contact the school to step in.

•You cannot treat your child as a victim.  Every conflict has two sides and your child has contributed to the conflict in some way.  Ask your child how they fueled the fire of their dispute and challenge them to take responsibility.

•Teach your child friendships are supposed to be positive. If a friendship causes your teen stress and trouble, then ending the relationship might be a good thing. Someone who fills your life with hurt and betrayal is not a friend.  It may be time to walk away and focus on friends who will be true to you.

What Teens Need To Know to Stop the Fighting

Teach your child to take the initiative to end a feud. Once your teen contacts their estranged friend, they can focus on  why the fight started in the first place.  Let me suggest the following plan of action from Wikihow, you can suggest to your teen to salvage the friendship:

•Explain to your friend how you miss their friendship.

•Reply to any response they give and feelings they share.  If they tell you they were hurt by things you said, ask for their forgiveness.

•Admit you had no idea how your words or actions caused them so much hurt.

•Confess to them you were hurt by the things they said as well.

•Share your feelings and allow one another the freedom to listen. It will take the both of you to put the dispute to rest.

•Request you both meet in person and get everything out in the open.  If they’re open to meeting with you, perhaps your friendship is on the mend.   

John
Email John:  johnsblog@teshmedia.com

In my book Intelligence For Your Life:  Powerful Lessons For Personal Growth you'll read more about how to take care of your relationships.  You can purchase the book at your local bookstores or order it online from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.