Parenting | Teenagers and part-time jobs

Getting a job as a teenager is an invaluable life-experience, along with being an exercise in independence. It can be an opportunity for them to learn essential skills, such as communicating with strangers, professionalism, self-motivation, managing responsibility, along with the reward of financial payment for their efforts and how to budget and manage their money.

As a parent, you have a particular role to play in supporting your teenager throughout this process to help make it a successful one.

9 ways to guide your teen in a job:

1. The right time: Usually after Junior Cert the time for a part-time job has arrived. Teenagers have enough maturity and sense to be let loose into the workforce.
2. The right fit: Support them to find the right job for them. There’s no point in forcing them to work a consumer-facing retail job if this is something they dread more than studying for exams. There’s a job for every teenager out there, so help them figure out what it is they would like to do and find a job that allows them to do (some) of what they like.
3. Teach self-responsibility: Have a clear conversation with your teenager about committing to a job and the responsibility that comes with that. It’s not your job to pick up the pieces or phone the boss if they can’t show up for work. They’ll need to organise themselves on the days they’re in work, setting their own alarm, making sure their uniform is clean and dried in advance, etc. This is their first taste of a real working life and you need to explain to them all the various duties and expectations that come with that.
4. Encourage professionalism: If your teen cannot make it into work they should call to explain their absence themselves or if possible, organise someone else to cover the shift and let their boss know. Teach them that usually, if they present themselves well, they’ll be treated well.
5. Stay in the parent role: Parents should avoid getting involved in workplace issues. The exception to this if there is a child safeguarding issue and in that instance, parents must takes steps to protect their child as needed. But by a large, workplace issues between teen and employer is not an area for direct parental intervention. When issues do arise, support your teen to talk it out. Help them to explore options around resolving workplace issues. They will learn so much about life and grow with great confidence from doing this.
6. Marathon, not a sprint: If they struggle to manage a part-time job, along with other activities and social time, then you might need to help them re-distribute their time accordingly. For example, avoiding socialising the night before an early shift. If there is a clash of commitments and not enough time/energy to do everything, help them figure out what they want to prioritise right now.
7. Supporting resilience: Nobody does their first job quickly. Let them know that it’s inevitable they will make mistakes and teach them how to professionally handle them (own up to a mistake immediately, try to figure out how they can fix it or ask their boss what can be done to fix it, reassure the boss that it won’t happen again). You could maybe share some examples from your own life when you’ve made mistakes and how you fixed them. Preparing them not to fall at the first hurdle will go a long way.
8. Budgeting 101: Although they may immediately disregard this advice to spend the money burning a hole in their pocket, try to teach your teenager about budgeting out their wages and encourage them to set a small amount aside for savings. By getting them into the habit of budgeting and spending responsibly, you can build the foundation for good habits when they are working full-time when they’re older.
9. Believe in them: You may harbor secret concerns about how well they’re actually going to fare in the big, bad world, but project belief in your teen and they will believe in themselves. It is not about earning at the end of the day (although that has its charm), it is about learning survival skills and gaining self awareness.

For support and information on these or any related topics, our askonefamily helpline is open 10am-3pm, Monday to Friday. You can call the helpline on 0818 662212 or email helpline@onefamily.ie