by Scott Freeman

Created on: July 21, 2009   Last Updated: July 25, 2009

Finally your son or daughter has reached that magical age when they need to get out of the house and earn their own money! Of course, after the years we have spent organizing their play dates and sports we want to set this up so our precious teen can slip right into job we have set up for them. After all, we will always be around to shield them from life's little bumps.

Stop!

Stop!

Stop!

Let's see, our teen has reached the point of wanting or needing a job, this is true. But more important then this first job is that our child is taking the first steps into the un-sheltered "real world" that most of us live in every day. While we need to be supportive of our teen, advise them and help them prepare it is not our job to get the job for them. I will go so far as say, if we get them a job we are doing our teen a disservice.

So what can we do to help?

Give our teen an honest appraisal. This would be looking for both positives and negatives. Are they good with their hands, level headed, good common sense, flighty and can remember to close the door when they come in the house. Great with computers, enjoys interacting with people, artistic, detail oriented? All these and more are a great way to talk to our teen about what type of job they are fit for. The teen who drifts into flights of fancy at random moments probably should not be around running machinery or flames.

Discuss the proper clothes to wear for interviews. Rarely will your teen be applying for jobs where they need to wear a suit but ratty t-shirt, baggy shorts and grubby sneakers with no socks is not going to make a good impression. Same goes for your daughters low cut shirt and too short skirt. Clean, neat and presentable are what they need to go for.

Discuss what hours and days you are agreeing they can work as well as what conditions you put on their having a job. What grades they need to maintain, chores around home that still need to be done, how much or how little help you can provide on transportation, what types of jobs they can get or cant get.

Practice, practice, practice! Run through some of the questions they are likely to be asked as well as their answers. While these should not sound rehearsed, they should flow naturally from your teen.

Do they have the need information to complete a job application? SS#, photo ID, work papers if required by your area, their emergency contact names and numbers. These are all things that they need to know or have on them.

Hygiene matters. A shower

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