Is your teen going to work for the first time this summer? It’s a lot to ask a kid to go from unemployed to employed and all that entails. Remember your first job? Remember the anxiety? Before your teen heads off to work, you can get them ready with a little prep. Actually, this prep can begin long before they reach the teen years. Here’s the approach you can take to get your kid ready for their first job:
Enforce The Rules At Home
A job is all about rules. You have to check in at a certain time. Leave when the shift is over and most importantly, follow the boss’s orders no matter how ridiculous they might seem at the time. If you have a set of rules at home that you enforce, then you’re really helping your teen get ready for that first job. You’re instilling in them the need to follow guidelines and procedures. Obviously, taking out the trash, cleaning their rooms and mowing the lawn are a bit looser. However, failure to follow the rules should have consequences like no allowance or a cut back on Xbox time. Hit ’em where it hurts!
Allow Them To Be Problem Solvers
As much as we want to fix any problem for our kids, it might be better to sometimes let them work out things for themselves. You can absolutely provide support but if they get into a conflict with a sibling or classmate, then try to get them to see the situation from all angles. When the “storm” has calmed down, see if they can come up with a resolution that will work. This will fire up that part of their brain needed for problem solving at work. That will certainly come in handy.
Give Them The Chance To Dress Up
If your kid spends most of their days off from school in sweats and T-shirts, then they might rebel against the workplace uniform. This is why you need to get them to dress up on occasion. If the family goes to church, then it’s a perfect chance to bring out the “good clothes.” Maybe going to a fancy restaurant is a good time to break out the suits and dresses, too.
Take Them Through A Performance Review
Any teen going for a job will come out on the other side with some sort of performance review. Before they get there, it might help to have them write out their own perceived strengths and weaknesses. This can help them identify areas that need to work on like procrastination. In other words, let them write their own report card.
Adjust Your Work Attitude
We are the models for our kids. If we come home everyday cursing at the boss or dreading going back to work, then what do you think that will be teaching your kid? This doesn’t mean you have to constantly sugarcoat things but they are going to take their work attitude approach from what you show them. That could be a game changer.
Once your kid starts earning their own money, they can also begin to pay their own way to things like the movies or hanging out with friends. That might not make a huge difference in your budget but a little extra cash coming into the house can’t hurt, right? Will your kid be ready for their first job?
