Many teen’s first work experiences are often in fast food restaurants and retail stores, and they are often able to maintain these positions throughout their high school and college years. Not only do young workers learn important work skills, but they also receive the self esteem building effects that earning your own money provides.
With the current state of our economy and the high unemployment rates that many seasoned workers are experiencing, many young people are losing the job opportunities that have traditionally been held by teens to older and more experienced unemployed workers willing to take lower paying jobs just to keep a roof over their heads. With this type of competition in the workplace, how are young people supposed to develop the skills necessary to become work ready? Well, the answer often lies in other work opportunities: Internships and Service Learning experiences.
Service learning projects and internships are two of the most important experiences that young people can undertake to move them toward work readiness. Employers regard past work experience as vitally important in predicting the workplace success of new employees. In order to get that experience, young people need employment opportunities, and service learning projects and internships provide just that.
Where can teens find these opportunities?
Many non-profit, government and for profit companies often offer unpaid work experiences that are great learning opportunities for community youth. Many community organizations are always in need of volunteers to carry out community service delivery as well as outreach and recruitment assistance. Municipal offices often welcome resident support with their community events and public education needs and often will allow reliable young people to assist in the office or with municipal sponsored special events. As well, many local communities have public access television studios that young people can not only volunteer to work in, but may also be able to learn production and editing skills. The civic leadership opportunities that young people can participate in and parlay into work skills cannot be overlooked. Many municipalities and community organizations would not only welcome, but rely on youth developed leadership councils to assist them in creating programming for their teen population.
Internship opportunities can often move young people to the front of the list of the hiring process when their required education is completed. Many employers consider internship experience of extreme importance in making hiring decisions. The skills learned while participating in an internship placement can often only be acquired while in a work experience and are a great marriage between young people’s preferences and what they are learning in school. This “test-driving” of a job provides valuable insight into an industry; allowing a young person to determine if the field is right for him/her. As well, internships allow employers to teach potential employees exactly what they want them to know – making them the perfect employee when they are ready to hire!
The best way to learn about internship opportunities is to simply ASK! Young people interested in working for a specific company should submit a Letter of Inquiry to the Human Resource department explaining why they are interested in working at the company and how this experience will benefit their future plans.
Job Boards such as Groovejob.com, snagajob.com and theinternqueen.com are great resources to research internship opportunities and company’s requirements. As well, local colleges and universities often post internship opportunities that can be viewed by anyone interested.
