Uncouch That Potato

Written by Sandy Smith

This article is courtesy of Living with Teenagers.

Nag. Wax poetic about the sense of accomplishment. Offer fun alternatives (such as painting the house). Quote 2 Thessalonians 3:10: "If anyone isn't willing to work, he should not eat."

But if you really want to get your teen into the summer workforce, take him shopping. What teen doesn't want something — whether it's an iPod® or designer clothes — that his parents don't intend to purchase for him? Identify that thing, said Kendra Smiley, motivational speaker and mother of three sons, and then say, "If you get a job, think of the things you've always wanted. If you work X number of weeks, you're going to have the money to purchase some of those items."

Money may be what talks loudest, but it's hardly the only benefit, adds Dr. Randall Hansen, webmaster of Quintessential Careers. "Perhaps the best strategy is simply showing the teen the potential outcomes: more spending money, savings toward a car or college, valuable work experience, and a job history that looks good on a résumé and college applications."

Of course, there can be unexpected benefits, like this one from a teen acquaintance of Hansen's: "He worked in his neighbor's construction company, helping dig and place the property line monuments for a major subdivision. He came home dirty and sweaty and tired every single day — and complained every single day — but when he got back to school and the teen girls swooned over his newly found physique, he learned to appreciate it. He also learned he needed to get an education if he was going to avoid those types of jobs in his future."
(OK, if that story will motivate your teen, feel free to circle this and position the article in a strategic spot.)

Kill the Procrastination Gene
To get a job, your teen must overcome an overwhelming urge to procrastinate. The last few years have been among the worst in a generation for teen workers. In tight times, teens are competing with college students and displaced workers. And companies are increasingly more interested in hiring Grandma than your teen.

"Teens as job-seekers rank toward the bottom of the list, so they need to push hard to show prospective employers they have what it takes to be a great employee," said Hansen.

That doesn't mean starting a job search the day after school is out. Hansen suggests the best time to find a job is in the spring "as businesses are evaluating their needs for the summer — and before the college students return to town looking for summer jobs."

Parents can help their teens in the job search, but certainly shouldn't be making the phone calls for them. "Work with them on how to complete job applications, how to talk with hiring managers, and the importance of following-up with employers after submitting applications. If there are family friends who are hiring managers, then certainly the parents can be proactive in [recommending] their teen," said Hansen. "After that, it's best to let the teen sink or swim."

Trial by Fire
This may not push your teenager into the employment line, but summer jobs can be a great way to try out careers — before one invests at least four years of college in something unknown.

Phoebe Montgomery* always thought she wanted to be a lawyer, what with all the courtroom drama involved. But at 16, she worked a summer running errands for a law office.

"It was the best thing I could have done," she said. "While I enjoyed my time there, I realized it wasn't something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I don't think there was a better way for me to learn that. You can't know what an environment is really like until you're actually in it."
(Note: It's certainly better for your teenager to have such epiphanies now than thousands of tuition dollars later.)

Again, it is not recommended that you use this as a selling point with your child. The idea of spending a whole summer doing something that might turn out to be unpleasant could, from the teen perspective, cause his world to come crashing down around him, or set him up for a future as a complete and total outcast — at least in his mind.
(Note: It's up to you, Parent, to keep the summer job gig in perspective.)

"To a kid, summer is not always long enough," said Smiley, hence the fearful question: 'If I have a summer job, will I be able to do all the things I want to do?' (Of course, what he wants to do may involve a lot of couch sitting and a lot of sleeping, but once again, in the teen mind everything is relative.) Just encourage your reluctant teen to take the next right step, find the job that works for this summer, do the best he can, and go from there. A summer job does not require a long-term commitment!"

Hey, it's really not all that far from the couch to a summer job. But it can really pay off for you and your teen. So, get your teen to apply himself. Pun intended.

Journalist Sandy Smith is the features editor for The Tennessean, an award-winning newspaper published in Nashville.

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