How Do You Help Your Teen Look for Work?

My middle child, I'll just call him "Son" in blog posts, is unemployed. He needs a job, but at 19 years old, he has his standards as you can imagine. This is not a good year for Son to be so picky. The Sacramento Bee reported that the regional teens are competing with the senior market, a trend happening in other parts of the country as well. The unemployment rate in our local region for ages 65-74 was cut in half during the two year period of 2004-2006, down to 3.1 percent. According to the article, this summer's teen employment rate nationwide will be the lowest since 1948.

Since I have been involved in career education since my oldest was in diapers, my kids have been raised with career awareness drilled into their heads. So have their friends who have also been harassed since they were in elementary school. I have abused our local teachers, who have been tapped into with surveys, emails, reviews and more. When my kids were in preschool, I would have told you that my children would be experts in job search skills when they became young adults.

Fast forward. Son recently returned from his first year of college about 400 miles away from home. He is in his third week home and there are no real job prospects. He his on his way this afternoon to go to a Starbucks Job Fair and he wanted to know what to wear. I guess I'm glad he asked and when I think about it, it really isn't a bad question. Is a tie overkill? Probably, I tell him.

What really disturbs me is that he thinks going to one place a day is real job hunting.

Yesterday, he dropped in on his previous employer to kick a few tires. His ex-boss was nice enough to give him a lead to another job. That was the one place Son applied to yesterday. After filling out and dropping off the application, exhausted Son went out to eat with his buddy (who at least is already employed).

Son is actually a good worker, but he wants to make the fast buck. When he applied last week at a car dealership, he was told it was a 60-hour a week job. Uh, what? "Do people actually work that many hours?" he asked. Selling cars is no longer on his job-radar.

I don't mean for this post to be a complaint session about my son. He's probably only been out to lunch for fast food two times since he's been back because he has little left in his bank account. He's a good kid (really, he is! Just ask his grandma.) But, I do wonder what other parents do to help their children, who may be a little unrealistic, look for work.