Lilysamur2_small
Reputation: 1

Where did you work when you were 14-15?

I work with youth and assist them in finding jobs. This summer we are getting a lot of 14 and 15 year-old's in looking for jobs. I'd like to place them in positions they won't quit after a day or two, even if its only volunteering. We have the ability to subsidize their wages.

I'm having trouble coming up with ideas. I realize they should be home playing video games, smoking weed, and knocking up the Governor's daughter, but some of these kids are really motivated to work, and why should be be exempt from stimulating our economy?

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19 Answers

  • Image00666_small
    Reputation: 3564

    I had my own business cleaning fish tanks for the local school district.

    Concurrently with that, I was a telephone solicitor for the Texas State Trooper's Association. I had a deep voice for my age and I would pretend to be a retired cop calling for donations. It worked surprisingly well on the Geritol crowd.

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  • Avatar_default
    Reputation: 6

    I detassled corn in Iowa.  The season lasts just two or three weeks mid-July, but it made an impression on me vis-à-vis manual labor.  Maybe you can ship some kids out for seasonal farm work.

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  • Cinnamon_004_copy_small
    Reputation: 138

    I did a lot of babysitting when I was that age, and babysitters actually make quite a bit of money these days. Don't know if that's a job you are placing people in, but I really liked it (kept babysitting all through college) and learned a lot about working with kids. I think there is an incentive to sticking it out because you actually get to know the kids and they depend on you. If you're also placing teens at volunteer jobs, what about helping out with local elementary school summer programs/tutoring/etc.?

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  • Kermitsex_small
    Reputation: 2421

    Movie theater, which is actually the worst place for a teen to work, unless they're working well away from any theater where their peers are likely to show up. There's nothing worse than being uncool (which l was) and having to wait on the hottest, most popular people in school. However, during the summer of '90, when l was fourteen, l came to Seattle, and worked at the the Mission downtown for part of my time here. Among other things, l also cut trails, picked vegetables (and yes, detassled corn...what's up with that?) and cleared trash; this was part of a program called Journeys for 12-15 year olds that l would highly recommend for kids of that age group; you can more info on Journeys here.   The same man who ran it when l was there is still keeping it going, and he's just a wonderful guy, l'd be happy to pass on more of a reference if you're interested.  Anyway, these were all volunteer jobs, but very good for me; l stayed in shape, had a great time, and learned a lot. (They're also a wonderful resource if you're looking to expand your work with youth)  lf you can subsidize income, these type of jobs might work well.  Some of the stuff we did was tedious, but that's not as bad for a kid if s/he has friends to do it with.

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  • Lookalikes_small
    Reputation: 2589

    Picking fruit. You had to catch the bus at 5 a.m. in the summer, which was just evil. And I hate picking strawberries worse than poison - nasty evil stoop labor, with the back of your neck getting burnt. The bush and tree fruits are much easier - raspberries, peaches, apples and such - but they aren't ripe yet. I don't think the pole beans and peas and such are ready yet, either.

    You used to not be able to get a work permit for anything except agricultural before you were at least 15-1/2 - has that changed? One of my earliest jobs when I did have a work permit was as a nurse's aide in a nursing home; you want to talk hard work, that's the way to go. It's also damned good experience to learn to deal with old people as human beings.

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  • Kogepan03_small
    Reputation: 296

    I volunteered at the UW Medical Center as a gopher. Pay was a can of soda per 3 or 4 hours of time and the chance to carry around any and all substances that come out of the human body, front to back and in between.

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  • Photo_small
    Reputation: 1254
    Moderator

    Not sure it'll help but here's my teen work history...

    Age 12: Worked at my Uncle's Middle Eastern Imports booth at the Flea Market

    Age 14: Arby's (I lasted less than a month and quit on Beef Day!)

    Age 16-18: Worked at my Aunt's Head Shop (Taj Mahal Imports). Not only was this an awesome job but it had all sorts of fringe benefits if you know what I mean.

    I also played video games, smoked weed and hung out with my girlfriend but I felt a real need to work and make money. I'm not really sure where that drive came from but I always had some kind of job since I was 12.

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  • Tookie-mini_small
    Reputation: 2

    Holy crap! I detassled corn too! Worst job of my life. This was in Illinois, and the other girls on the bus (we moved from field to field) used to talk about how many fingers deep they were, and best drugs to take for certain kinds of highs. I was 14. I told them that I preferred over the counter stuff. They nodded and thought that was cool.

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  • Happyme_small
    Reputation: 1166
    Moderator

    I worked at a craft store when I was 15. It was just part-time retail that mostly consisted of keeping the shelves tidy and stocked and some cashier work. My favorite part was the pricing gun. I stuck those little stickers on everything.

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  • 01010501020101030820070526accd675b619d42c32c00678b_small
    Reputation: 65

    at my grandparents' apple orchard! Grading the apples (which means sorting them according to size/quality), and running the cash register and making displays at the market.

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  • Img_3380_small
    Reputation: 3752

    I got my first job at 14, just summers at a local (Juneau, Alaska) ice cream shop that made their own cones. I worked there every summer on and off until I was 20 (I had other jobs as well, but I stayed with them to cover shifts or pick up extra $$$ when I needed it). The owner was a really amazing guy who would go out of his way to give a lot of hard working kids their first jobs.

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  • 9d8d96af55ca0ab2a7e5f1fd7ab65a8538ec8fc6_m_small
    Reputation: -1

    This may not be of much help (especially since as the other gal said, I dont know that you can "place" kids in babysitting jobs.) but I have to tell this story about the brats I sat for:

    the parents had like 3 doberman pinschers - which were scary and mean, the kids would let them out, and the dogs would attack me. (im not exaggerating) the boy, pulled a butcher knife on me once, and also threw a trey of brownies across the house - taking little fist fulls at a time. I eventually went for the "fuck it" mentality, and on my last day, did not move from the couch, and read Rolling Stone magazine 5 minutes per page no more no less until the day was over. torture.

    so, to all the 14/15 year olds - dont babysit for weird white trashy people in eastern washington who have mean dogs, especially if you're only 12.

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  • Carbonglacierveirs_small
    Reputation: 19

    I worked as a dishwasher when i was 15. It was kind of tough being the scrubby little wet dish bitch, but I moved up in ranks pretty quick (prepping and line cooking). It gives you a quick lesson in every sort of utensil they use in a restaurant. The best part were all those cigarette and pot breaks we took :P

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  • Me_small
    Reputation: 1673

    I worked as a busser at a restaraunt. Not a lot of places hire the younger folk, but it's a nice way to get a foot in the door of the industry.

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  • Gold-head_small
    Reputation: 6000

    I mowed lawns in 100-degree heat in Dallas, Texas. Brutal. Stuff grows like mad there; after I was done I had to haul literally dozens of these stinking, boiling hot black plastic bags of grass to the curb, blistering hot to the touch, already composting inside (no mulching in those days in the suburbs). Frequently they would burst and dump their moldering contents all over me, smelling like corpse and raising a rash. I used to freeze gallon milk jugs of water and take them out with me, and they'd be gone by noon. All for the princely sum of five or ten dollars. I wouldn't recommend it (the mowing or the Dallas part).

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  • James_garner_leo_fuchs_a09_163_small
    Reputation: 326

    I collated paper and did binding work in a print shop. It was decent work, pretty safe, pretty easy, and I did a little work up at the desk Learned to interact with adults and customers - it was a good gig.

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  • Bikeowl_small
    Reputation: 427

    I worked for a take and bake pizza place. The store was owned by a good friend of my moms and so they hired me and let me work for them at age 15.

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  • Sacri_ordines_by_charism_small
    Reputation: 3723

    chiming in late, but summer's coming again (and you havent shroomed anyone):

    1st q: at 14: started my own landscaping/mowing/yard clearing biz. The following summer, sick of the smell of grass, cedar bark, and hot dry yard, (not to mention a couple uncomfortable cougar glares) I was cooking crap in a fast food place.
    Other ideas: I had friends who babysat, worked in repair/machine shops, volunteered with vets, rode point on horse tours, fixed people's cars, worked PT in music stores, taught piano lessons, did woodcutting, helped the disabled guy next door, painted the church, and at least 2 that stole metal for recycling money. All of us tried lemonade stands at some point, but it was always a losing proposition. And then there were those who didn't "work"...

    last Q: If they are motivated, try giving them a chance to open their own business. Yes, seriously. It's harder work in some ways, but think of the life experience they'll refer to, decades later...! PInpoint interests and brainstorm a business.
    Taking them seriously like that will only yield great results.

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  • Doorbells_002_small
    Reputation: 896

    In a child daycare center mopping up the pee under their naptime cots.... it was a job, but a not very important one.

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