Reasons why Teens should get Jobs Early
Teenagers need clear goals and direction, and having a job can help them gain the insight they need to decide which career path to follow. Teenagers and their parents might think that one must be at least 18 years of age with a high school diploma in order to get a decent paying job, but that is not always the case.
Teenagers would highly benefit from getting jobs early for the following listed reasons:
Greater awareness
Some jobs look cool but might not be as glamorous as they seem. Watching someone else work at their job from the outside looking in gives a completely different impression of that career than if you were to work at that job yourself.
Teenagers need to know what jobs suit them best and which jobs are not for them. Dreams and ideas change, but having early exposure to working will help teenagers decide what they do not want to do for work.
Teens who are applying to college will especially gain from early exposure to working because if they work in fields that are related to their chosen majors and discover that they don’t like the work, they can make different decisions for college.
Teenagers who get jobs early can also save the money from their part-time jobs to use towards college expenses.
Appreciation for Mom and Dad
Parents pay a lot of the bills that help teenagers to thrive. Things that many teens consider to be “necessities” such as the most popular brand of shoes, cell phones, and fun money for going out, will be better appreciated by teens when they are forced to take responsibility for paying for those things.
Moms and dads have huge responsibilities running households, maintaining their careers, and caring for themselves and for their children. When teenagers get a taste of how much work their parents must do to pay for food, shelter, and extracurricular activities, teens will gain more much appreciation for how much their parents do for them.
Getting a head start
Some careers are very competitive, and it makes good sense to get established as soon as possible in certain fields instead of giving the edge to the competition.
Teens that start working early can impress employers who could give them their future big career breaks.
A career can give a man or woman a sense of purpose, helping them to know what it is they are called to do on earth. Careers can change; not everyone is meant to work at the same career for the rest of their lives and there is nothing wrong with that. Changing careers is a part of life.
When teenagers learn about how the real world works early on, the responsibilities of adulthood will not be as shocking a transition to them because they will be accustomed to working and being accountable to people that depend on their contributions.
