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Your Teens's First Job Search

© Terrie Lynn Bittner

Recently, my children and I saw a teenaged girl arrive for a job interview at a fast food restaurant. My oldest daughter and I both watched her approach the counter. I whispered, "That's a quick lesson in how not to dress for a job interview."

My daughter was puzzled. "I would consider that appropriate. She's wearing a dress, nice shoes and make-up and her hair is styled neatly."

The girl was indeed dressed up and very neat. However, where my daughter saw a fashionably dressed teen, I saw something entirely different. I saw a girl whose dress was extremely short and tight, whose shoes were so big and clunky she made a tremendous amount of noise as she walked, and whose make-up was sufficient to cover four girls. To me, she looked like she was trying to get a date, not a job.

"But that's how girls dress for work these days."

I had my daughter watch as the interviewer approached, and asked my daughter what she noticed about the woman. She got the point. The interviewer was not sixteen. She was an older woman whose feelings about appropriate dress were probably closer to mine than my daughter's. It didn't matter how other teens might view the outfit; it mattered how the interviewer saw it. Later in the interview, the girl realized she didn't have the telephone numbers of her references or her social security number and had to go find her mother to get them. I was not impressed.

Before your teen heads out for her first interview, make sure she has some training in the art of job hunting. The first step is to help her figure out what kind of a job she wants. To do this, she needs to have some idea of her talents and her interests. If she is good at a job and enjoys it, she is more likely to be successful and to stay with her job.

This is a good time to practice the job skills she will need all her life. Too many employers talk of watching teens walk up and down the mall, submitting applications at every store with a help wanted sign. If there is a shortage of teen workers and no one more impressive comes along, they might be hired, but the person doing the hiring knows he is not getting someone dying to work in that particular store. If your teen wants to really impress the interviewer, use the techniques used by successful adult job hunters. Learn about the company. Come in knowing something about it and prepared to explain why she would rather work for this company than any other. Applying to a youth clothing store? Wear their clothes to the interview if they are appropriate. Can your teen describe what makes this store so special, why it would be the thrill of a lifetime to work for them? Can she make it sound like she plans to stay with this company the rest of her life, working her way through the ranks?

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