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School Job Lists for Tweens
by Janet Bodnar

With regard to your recent columns on teenagers and summer jobs, I would just like to add that your teen audience and their parents can learn quite a bit at www.teens4hire.org, a Web site that offers job-hunting tips, a jobs database and other resources.

Thanks for the tip on this Web site, which is aimed at teens 14 and older who are looking for full-time, part-time, summer or vocational jobs.

Since I started writing about summer jobs several weeks ago, I continue to be swamped with pleas for help from younger kids between the ages of 11 and 13. They say they want to work, but they aren't old enough to be hired for a "real" job, for which you have to be at least 14.

A few have put some thought into their search. Says one, "I love animals and want to find something connected with them, but my parents say I have to be older." In general, however, they haven't gotten beyond a vague "I want a job. What can I do?"

In my columns, I've offered a number of suggestions about what kinds of jobs kids this age are suited for and how they should go about finding one. Today I'd like to make a modest proposal: that middle-school and junior-high guidance offices act as a link between adults who are looking for help and kids who are looking for work.

I know counselors have a lot on their plates, so I'm not suggesting anything too elaborate or time-consuming. But I think schools are a natural place for adults who are in need of assistance to post their job descriptions.

To get access to this list, students would have to fill out for the school a sort of preliminary resume. Besides giving pertinent information about themselves, they'd also have to give some thought to what kind of work they'd like to do, where and when they'd be available, and what skills and qualifications they have to offer -- everything from making good grades to participating in extracurricular activities or sports to volunteering.

That would help kids focus their search. In return, they could get job leads from the guidance office, along with tips on how to polish their resume and impress prospective employers -- valuable job-hunting skills that are sure to give them a leg up when they get a little older and head out into the workplace for real.