Teenagers struggle to find jobs without prior experience
Becoming a teenager translates to a whole list of new experiences. These range from starting high school, to driving and finally to the dreaded and near impossible task of finding a job. As more and more students start driving and going out on their own, more and more are trying to find a job in order to pay for gas and their hobbies. The only problem with this is actually finding the job.
In California, you have to be 14-years-old to be hired into a workplace. This is not taking into account that the majority of places raise the age requirement to 16-years-old. This creates a problem that many high schoolers run into, as almost every place that is “hiring” requires previous job experience. When you are a sophomore or junior in high school, it is hard to stand out on a job application without prior experience, which is made even more frustrating by the fact that you are trying to get your first job. Everyone has to have a first job, in addition to not having job experience, teenagers are also considered “too young” and “irresponsible” to be working in many places.
With the newfound responsibilities of a job comes a lack of knowledge about the work world. Not knowing about overtime rules and age regulations oftentimes results in younger employees being taken advantage of in the workplace. Businesses might also consider hiring a teenager to be “taking a gamble,” further resulting in unfair treatment and scheduling issues. Teenagers and their schedules will never be put as a priority in the workplace. Adding to the scheduling issues, most places that do hire teenagers tend to overhire. This means that even if you do manage to get a job in high school, you will barely be able to work enough to earn the money that you need.
Furthering the issue of teenagers being taken advantage of in the workplace is the treatment they face from customers. While a majority of customers can handle the idea of treating a working teenager respectfully, there is a large handful that think our age group is incapable of properly working. This leads to rude customers, bad reviews and the idea that responsibility should be placed on older people, no matter experience levels.
We are not entirely placing the blame on the workplace. In order to get a job, you have to pursue one, and we acknowledge that not all teenagers try or have the drive to find a job. When teenagers apply to a job without considering that other people who do have prior work experience are also applying for that job, they tend to be disappointed with the outcome. This makes it difficult to want to pursue another application process, in fear of having the same result. However, most teenagers are more determined to get a job than adults consider, especially with the increasing number of teens driving and increasing gas prices. With unfair working conditions and a competitive application process, the obstacles surrounding teenagers getting hired are often overlooked. These obstacles will continue to increase and further affect future teenagers aspiring to find a job. Without recognition, making the workplace an attainable goal for teenagers is near impossible.
