Author Topic: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?  (Read 8350 times)

liamwarlord

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Just like it says in the tittle I' d like to get summer job, and start growing my mustache. I would just like some helpful tips about how to apply for a job. It would also be very helpful to know of some self made jobs (ex: baby sitting). I'd really like to start growing my stache :).

My situation:
I am 16 years old, and I am reasonably fit.
I live in an middle/upper class neighborhood/city (Castle Rock CO)
I have several months of free time due to summer break.
I'd prefer to only use a bike, and not use a car.

Any ideas of how to turn a long and boring summer break into a mustache growing experience would greatly appreciated.

Icecreamarsenal

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2014, 09:48:21 PM »
How are your grades?
I was tutoring at that age, pulling in $25/hour, cash. I only worked 4 hours a week but my more motivated friends made much, much more. Lifeguards make $15. Babysitters $10-15 depending on the neighborhood.


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kkbmustang

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #2 on: June 10, 2014, 09:54:55 PM »
Hi Liam-

Several suggestions for you:

Read these two blog posts first:

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/07/25/50-jobs-over-50000-without-a-degree-part-1/
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/08/05/50-jobs-over-50000-without-a-degree-part-2/

Then look around your community and start a dog sitting/house sitting/baby sitting/lawn mowing/errand running business. Make flyers and post on local mommy group pages/blogs/churches/community bulletin boards, etc.

Spend the summer planning out what you are going to do after high school. College? Trade school? How will you fund it? Research grants and scholarships you can apply for and get ready to rake action when you reach the appropriate age and time.

Also, find out what needs are out there that you can fill. For example, I'm locally looking for a teenager to teach me and my kids how to edit video, upload to youtube and create memes. You may be able to offer a similar service where you are. Put your entrepreneur hat on and go get 'em.

arebelspy

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #3 on: June 10, 2014, 09:57:46 PM »
Might I suggest an activity that will grow your stache long term, but not short term?  Something like dedicating time to learning specific skills.  Coding a particular computer language, for example.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

liamwarlord

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #4 on: June 10, 2014, 09:58:50 PM »
Thank you both. I think Ill try the tutting idea because I have very advanced skills in math and chemistry. again, thank you

kkbmustang

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #5 on: June 10, 2014, 09:59:16 PM »
Might I suggest an activity that will grow your stache long term, but not short term?  Something like dedicating time to learning specific skills.  Coding a particular computer language, for example.

Ooh, that's a good one.

liamwarlord

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #6 on: June 10, 2014, 10:00:32 PM »
Any suggestions on how to learn a new programming language, I've been using http://www.codecademy.com/learn

kkbmustang

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #7 on: June 10, 2014, 10:03:20 PM »
Totally talking out of my ass here, but could you take a class at a local community college? It wouldn't be that expensive and you might be able to hang onto that class credit for fulfilling college requirements. Not sure if there are rules about minors taking those classes for college credit or not. Something to ask about.

liamwarlord

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #8 on: June 10, 2014, 10:05:07 PM »
Totally talking out of my ass here, but could you take a class at a local community college? It wouldn't be that expensive and you might be able to hang onto that class credit for fulfilling college requirements. Not sure if there are rules about minors taking those classes for college credit or not. Something to ask about.

Ill look into that, thank you

liamwarlord

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #9 on: June 10, 2014, 10:30:52 PM »
How are your grades?
I was tutoring at that age, pulling in $25/hour, cash. I only worked 4 hours a week but my more motivated friends made much, much more. Lifeguards make $15. Babysitters $10-15 depending on the neighborhood.


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How did you get the word out about your tutoring

Emg03063

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #10 on: June 10, 2014, 10:38:13 PM »
Self employed landscaper.

Matte

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #11 on: June 10, 2014, 10:44:35 PM »
Just a bit of advice from someone not too much older (9 years) is to try and find a job  high standards.  You will learn invaluable skills in how the real world works.  I worked a couple places, store and rental car company that both had more mature and longer term workforces.  I was the bottom guy and had the hardest work but it was good.  Both these places required arriving ready to work (early, arriving with a minute to spare was frowned upon) always a good appearance and no excuses for being tired.  Honestly look for these kind of businesses, judge the existing employees.  Don't just hand in a resume and leave, strike up a conversation and ask questions.  Let them know your motivation.  Research the business beforehand too.  This attitude got me jobs as a teen that usually only people in there 20s had.  By the time I had my diploma at 19 I had good references that went to bat for me and got me a very good industrial 6 figure job.  I don't think I would have had the same luck if I would have started off choosing a job Iwasnt really expected to perform at. 

liamwarlord

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #12 on: June 10, 2014, 10:51:29 PM »
Just a bit of advice from someone not too much older (9 years) is to try and find a job  high standards.  You will learn invaluable skills in how the real world works.  I worked a couple places, store and rental car company that both had more mature and longer term workforces.  I was the bottom guy and had the hardest work but it was good.  Both these places required arriving ready to work (early, arriving with a minute to spare was frowned upon) always a good appearance and no excuses for being tired.  Honestly look for these kind of businesses, judge the existing employees.  Don't just hand in a resume and leave, strike up a conversation and ask questions.  Let them know your motivation.  Research the business beforehand too.  This attitude got me jobs as a teen that usually only people in there 20s had.  By the time I had my diploma at 19 I had good references that went to bat for me and got me a very good industrial 6 figure job.  I don't think I would have had the same luck if I would have started off choosing a job Iwasnt really expected to perform at.

Thank you for the good long term advice

ketchup

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #13 on: June 10, 2014, 10:53:21 PM »
My most high paying gigs in high school were fixing Xbox 360s (charged $75 for the fix, $15 in parts I believe, could do the job in 45 minutes once I'd practiced on a few dozen), and cheating on online math homework (worked out to around $12/hr).

Location and work environment should be your two greatest factors.  Look at places nearby where the employees seem to be enjoying themselves in some capacity.  In high school, I worked at an ice cream shop 1/4 mile from the school with some awesome people, and it was great.  The same job with crappy coworkers and/or a few miles away would have been awful.

And don't work the 3am shift at Target.  Don't do it man.  Two months is all I could take, and I can take a lot of bullshit.

Matte

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #14 on: June 10, 2014, 11:08:08 PM »
Some good side hustles I had were installing car stereos and speakers I got at the wrecker, buying performance mufflers online and installing them for cash to people at school.  Easy ways to put out a little cash and make 60-80 bucks profit in a couple hours.  Good how to videos online.

Cwadda

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #15 on: June 10, 2014, 11:15:02 PM »
A lot of my friends in high school and their late teens work as lifeguards. It allows you to get CPR certified. They all make about $9/hour. I also have two friends who teach swim lessons. One works at the town beach making $15/hour. The other does private lessons for up to $30/hour.

Throughout high school, I did a lot of independent odd jobs for cash. Landscaping, moving furniture, etc. I worked as a dishwasher briefly at a restaurant. I also worked at a Vineyard for around $15/hour which was pretty fun, but didn't get great hours. Both of these jobs taught me a lot about management. Currently I'm directing the music program at a church at about $50/hour.

Oh, also, refereeing. I have a friend who's really into that. It's all cash and he went on to reffing intramural sports in college.

I would agree with the others: try to find a job that gets you high level skills for the long term.




Icecreamarsenal

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #16 on: June 11, 2014, 01:18:14 AM »
How are your grades?
I was tutoring at that age, pulling in $25/hour, cash. I only worked 4 hours a week but my more motivated friends made much, much more. Lifeguards make $15. Babysitters $10-15 depending on the neighborhood.


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How did you get the word out about your tutoring

I was asked to tutor by someone's mother at church. This was because I did well on a standardized test called the SATs, don't know if they still have that. After that the referrals started pouring in.
I do like rebel spy's suggestion, something that'll produce for you long term.

kkbmustang

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #17 on: June 17, 2014, 11:30:47 AM »
This weekend two teenage boys rang my doorbell. They said they noticed that my address numbers on my curb were very faded and asked if I'd like for them to paint new ones on. Normally, I'd say no. But I wanted to support their entrepreneurial spirit and I used it as a teaching moment for my kids. We chatted with the young men (one of whom went to the same school my children attend) and learned that this is apparently a pretty lucrative gig. ($20 for one and $15 for each additional one. In my neighborhood, there is usually one directly in front of the house and another near the driveway. I just had them do one.) They scraped the paint chips off the curb, then spray painted new ones. They did a great job. All they needed were stencils, painters tape, and black and white spray paint.

I could have done it myself, but I wanted to teach my kids a valuable lesson AND support these kids.

Trudie

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #18 on: June 17, 2014, 06:24:41 PM »
Lots of good ideas here.  I think it's good to find something where you can be around adults and where you can have interaction.  I had a friend who worked at a car dealership in high school.  They taught him to detail cars and he was a jack of all trades and the dealership.  He learned a lot being around adults all day and was expected to act professionally.

Plus, car detailing is a super lucrative skill.  People have no interest in doing it, and if you get a few basic tools and skills under your belt you could probably make a good side hustle out of it in the future without too much trouble.

I think the tutoring idea is also excellent for you.

Would you have the option to work as a gopher at some sort of professional office?  For instance, law offices often use kids to deliver documents to the courthouse to be registered.  You might also scan or shred legal documents.  ( I know a kid who does this.)

At your age I think it's just good to build confidence and to find something you can excel at.  The more you can show your stuff around adults and get them to respect you the more you'll benefit in the future.  Sometimes it's not so much the substance of what you're doing, but the fact that you learn to read people, can learn to carry on conversation, and can get along with adults.

You seem like a a great kid with some initiative.

phred

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #19 on: June 17, 2014, 08:23:19 PM »
Can you do homeowners swimming pool maintenance?

5inatrailer

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #20 on: June 17, 2014, 09:06:53 PM »
It really depends on what you like to do, or are generally interested in exploring

and what your resources are (access to skills expertise, tools, vehicles, peers)

I was a bicycle courier downtown and man I LOVED that job.

I bought some stuff from a guy who paid his way through college by installing laminate floors for about $400 a day.  His older brother taught him how to do it and gave him the tools (access to skills and tools)

When I was 16 I took the summer off as I knew it would be my last on ever.
I was not wrong,...so far.

GGNoob

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #21 on: June 20, 2014, 09:36:43 PM »
I work for a school district in Northern Colorado and we hire high school students to help us deploy computers and iPads in the summer. The students this year are making $12.70 an hour. Too bad you aren't closer, but maybe next summer you could look into that at your school district.

When I was 17, my summer job was basic training. Joined the Army National Guard just days after my 17th birthday and went to basic training during the summer between my junior and senior year. Not a traditional summer job, but it's a thought. They also then paid for my college 100%, so that helped me out too.

Red Beard

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #22 on: June 21, 2014, 09:45:11 AM »
At 16 I would think about going the lifeguard route at a public pool (if possible) for a few summers for a couple of reasons. First, there aren't too many jobs where you can get true management experience at your age. If you work hard for a few summers its reasonable to believe you could be managing a team/budget/facility by the time you are 18 which looks great on a resume when applying to internships. Secondly, working as a lifeguard is FUN. You are 16 - you'll have plenty of time to be an adult later. Some of my most fond summer memories come from working at the pool. Did I make a lot of money? Not really, but I was able to save almost all of it and I certainly wouldn't trade the experience for a few extra dollars an hour. Plus, you could still take a coding course online or at your local CC as schedules tend to be fairly flexible.

Joel

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #23 on: June 21, 2014, 10:09:35 AM »
I worked at a dairy in high school, but one thing that I am not seeing mentioned. Why not try to enjoy the last two years of your childhood? Hang out with friends, and enjoy having no responsibilities as that will change soon.

darkadams00

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Re: I am 16 and I am looking for a good summer job. Any suggestions?
« Reply #24 on: June 21, 2014, 01:25:03 PM »
I encouraged my sons to approach summer/part-time work like this:

1) Get a job with a local company, regardless of what it is (assuming it's legal, of course) and what it pays (assuming at least min wage). An entry-level teenager shouldn't start out in the "I only work jobs that interest me/pay $X.00 per hour/have Y schedule" mode. Learn to show up on time, be respectful to bosses, coworkers, and customers, and give an honest day's work when you're on the clock. Be attentive to detail, even in tasks that aren't your favorite. Learn the details of every position in your business. Be dependable. Seek out opportunities to grow in your job and demonstrate initiative. Teens who can do this in a fast food job will do well in the future when they're trying to meet sales numbers, meet project deadlines, or manage employees. You have a lifetime for specialization. You need a good foundation now.

2) In your free time, find out more about who you are and see how you can grow that knowledge into income. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses and figuring out how to parlay that into income takes time, but not so much time that you couldn't already be earning along the way. Budget your time like you should budget money, and you will have plenty of time in the summer to work part-time, socialize, and learn about yourself.

Hundreds of successful, small businesses start this way---working a job while learning a skill and then expanding that skill over time into a new job. You can waste an entire summer "discovering yourself" and not have a dime in your savings account at the end. Do both of these tasks well, and you will have both earned and learned---never a bad proposition for a teenager.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!