EARLY YEARS: Employment experts say teens should think outside the box, when searching for summer jobs

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – School’s out and, for many teens, now is the time to earn some cash.

“Of course, there are your typical ones with the food and beverage, the hotel motel entertainment industry, a lot of tourism like Parks and Rec, a lot of jobs there for teenagers in the summer,” says Toni McLawhorn with the Greater Roanoke Workforce Development Board and Virginia Career Works.

For the younger teens, 14 and 15-year-olds, a worker’s permit is needed.

“It’s really easy to do now. There are forms online that- first of all the person has to have a job and has to have an employer who’s agreed to hire them under a worker’s permit. So, it’s not like you get a worker’s permit and then find a job, it’s just the reverse,” says McLawhorn.

If your teen already knows what he or she wants for a career, there are some options.

“A lot of times, if somebody tells me, I want to work in computer networking for example, I might do a Google search to see who in the area hires in that type of work,” explains McLawhorn.

McLawhorn says even if the employer doesn’t offer part time or summer positions, teens can still ask about internships.

That could eventually lead to full time work.

But if you’re not sure where to start our job search, you can always head to the Virginia Career Works Office for help.

“I would like to just emphasize that people need to be very intentional with their job search. One of the biggest issues we hear from the business side is people not showing up for interviews, and not showing up the first day of work if they’ve been offered a job and ghosting. Please don’t ghost,” says McLawhorn.

Virginia Career Work is a great resource for your teen to find that summer job. You’ll find a link to it here.

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