Becoming a teenager comes with a lot of changes in life, like wanting responsibility and not being financially dependent on your parents. By earning your own money, you will be able to do the things you want to do (within reason) without having to ask your parents to pay for you. This can range from buying clothes you want to wear, paying for music to support your favourite artist, buying tools and materials for a hobby you’re interested in or taking a special someone out to dinner and a movie.
Whatever the reason for wanting to make your own money is, getting a job and becoming financially independent will also allow you to learn about good work ethics, smart saving and the value of money. Finding a job can be hard though, especially if you don’t know where to start looking or have any ideas of what you would like to do. Here is a list of some jobs that we think are well suited for teenagers who have little to no experience working.
Babysitting
Babysitting is an ideal job for a teenager, as it requires no real qualifications and is very flexible work. Parents may want a babysitter while they have work during the week or on the weekend for a night out, so finding work to meet your preferred schedule should be fairly easy. As babysitting is mostly just supervising a child so they aren’t alone at home, you can do homework while they watch a show or play a game together and relax after you’ve followed any important instructions that the parents have given you. Almost every family will need a babysitter at some point, so finding the work and making some money should be pretty easy.
Lawn Mowing
Lawn mowing is a great fit for teens looking to make money during summer and doesn’t mind doing some physical labour. Lots of people prefer to pass on mowing the lawn to someone else so it wouldn’t hurt to ask around and see if anyone in your area would pay for you to do it for them. If you do a good job mowing the lawn so it looks neat and even, you may get asked to do it for them again.
Dog Walker
If you love dogs then this is the perfect job for you to start doing in your teenage years. Dog walking is basically just getting paid to do some light exercise and spend time with dogs, the only downside to this job is that you have to clean up after them if they decide to have a toilet break while you’re walking them. Dog walking can also open up the opportunity of pet sitting for them if their owners plan to go on vacation, which means extra money on the side for you.
Fast Food
Fast food restaurants are always looking for teenagers to fill their roles even if they have no experience. This work is suited towards people that can thrive under pressure and have quick thinking, and you’ll have to enjoy (or at least tolerate) interacting with customers and working together with fellow employees. The experience you gain while working at a fast food restaurant is quite valuable, and can look good to future employers when it’s time to move on to bigger and better things.
Newspaper Delivery
Even in the age of technology with access to anything on the internet, there are still people who prefer to read from paper instead of a screen. Your job is simple, make sure you deliver all of the newspaper you have and get paid for it. Walking will get the job done, but if you have a bike that could potentially speed up how fast you can deliver all your papers which means you can finish up your job for the day a bit earlier.
Supermarket
Getting a job at your local Woolworths or Coles is a good way to get some experience and make some money. The main positions that teenagers fill when getting jobs at a supermarket are to man a checkout, but you could also get a job stocking shelves depending on what’s available. If you’re looking to get a job at a supermarket, make sure you can handle the amount of shifts you get rostered on for and that you still have ample time left for school assignments and exam preparation when the time comes.
Family Business
Although this option isn’t available to every teenager out there, if your family runs it’s own business then you could see if there’s anything you could do to help out and make some pocket money in return. The best thing about running your own business is the flexibility, so your parents would be able to find you something to do when you have spare time whether it’s after school or during the weekend. What you’re doing for work will depend on what business your family runs, and maybe one day if you stick to it you could end up running the business yourself. Whatever happens down the line though, it can be a good starting place to make some money, experience being in a working environment and bonding with your family as well. Grant Sommer from Best Price Roofing notes that many contractors in his industry will hire their teenage children as apprentices when they finish school giving them an opportunity to learn a valuable hands on skill and give them an opportunity to run their own business.
Cafe Worker
Working at a cafe can be a great opportunity for teenagers to earn some money, with most cafes looking to hire junior staff. If you get the job, you can expect to be taking orders and payment at the register but you could even get a job in the kitchen doing food preparation and doing dishes, or learning how to make coffee and other drinks your cafe sells. Customer service is important in hospitality jobs, so making sure you treat every customer respectfully is key to keeping your job and making more money.
These jobs for teenagers are quite easy to pick up and keep your commitments to. Always remember to put your education first, as an entry level job for teenagers can make you pocket money now but the pay won’t seem that great 5 or 10 years later.