3 Tips For Preparing Your Kids For Their First Job

At some point in their lives, your children are likely to have a job. Whether this job is meant to support them financially or just give them experience, their chances of landing a job, especially as a teen, are going to be much higher if you’ve helped them prepare.

While the exact right preparation will depend on the particular job your teen is applying for, there are some general things that you can and should teach your child about maintaining professionalism and working like a professional too. These would include showing them how to calmly handle interviews and working the job well. In addition, you can teach them how to frame a good application that has a proper cover letter (check out these templates from Cultivated Culture), and a concise resume.

To help you know what these things are, here are three tips for preparing your kids for their first job.

Start Volunteering From A Young Age

Kids can learn a lot of the skills that will make them good workers from a young age. Doing chores around the home is a great way to start with this. But as your kids get older, you might want to help them learn how to interact with people or processes that they aren’t as familiar with.

One way to do this, according to Peg Rosen, a contributor to Understood.org, is to get your kids involved in volunteering around your community. By doing this, you’ll help your child to gain practical experience that will be invaluable to them when seeking employment, especially with their first job. Volunteering can also help your kids learn what they like or dislike about work so they can find a job that’s better suited for them.

Help Your Teen Recognize Potential Safety Issues

Not all jobs that your teen might be qualified for or want to have will be the right fit for them. And even if something seems good at the beginning, it’s important that you teach your teens how to know when a job isn’t safe for them or isn’t worth keeping.

While some teens might just get bored with working and want to quit, there are situations where your teen might need to quit because the environment might be unsafe for them. According to Amy Morin, a contributor to Very Well Family, some of these safety issues could include things like doing work they haven’t been trained for or being harassed. By helping your teen recognize these things, you can help keep them safe from physical or emotional injury.

Build On Their Speaking and Listening Skills

For many teens, getting a job will be their first experience in speaking with and interacting with people they have no rapport with. To help them navigate this successfully, you might want to help them learn how to both speak and listen well when talking to others.

According to Dawn Rosenberg Mckay, a contributor to The Balance Careers, being a good listener and speaking clearly and effectively will not only help your teen to get a job, but it will help them to ultimately succeed at that job and any future jobs they have.

If you want your kids to be ready to have jobs when they’re the appropriate age, consider using the tips mentioned above to know what you can do to help prepare them for this.