By: Riley M. Evans

Are you a teen? Are you looking for summer job opportunities? I can help. I’m an 8th grade student at E.B. Frink Middle School and I’m thinking about jobs for the first time, because I feel it will be good for me to have some high school work experience. I’m here to give advice to teens in Lenoir County looking for summer job opportunities.

Looking for a job can be difficult, especially for teens, but there are many online resources that can make looking for a job much easier. One of the many resources is NC Works. NC Works offers many different jobs to research and choose from. I have spent time looking at the sources they offer and there is a surplus of options. A few of these options include a source to help you create a resume, career information, recruitment assistance, and finding employers. As a teen, I need job-seeking websites to be trustworthy and easy to navigate, and NC Works is one of those websites. Job opportunities available in Lenoir County (and elsewhere) are listed within this site.

Lifeguarding is a great option for a summer job. Lifeguarding teaches teens responsibility and keeps them productive during the summer months. It’s also a super fun job to do! According to politician and college president Ben Sasse, summer jobs for teens help them learn great responsibility, leadership, and the value of hard work.

Car washing, working at fast food restaurants, or working in retail are also good options for teens. If any of these sound interesting to you, take the time to research more about the jobs and the different businesses under the jobs you’re interested in.

Talking to your parents about your interest in getting a summer job is very important. Your parents can help you learn more about the job you think you might want to do. Getting a summer job as a teen can help you prepare for future jobs and careers. It’s good to have some early work experience before you go into college.

It is also very important to look into the wages of the summer jobs you’re interested in. According to the popular job-seeking website Indeed: you would make around $10 an hour if you decided to be a lifeguard, though it may vary depending on the place you work. This goes for all jobs. Another good thing to know is the minimum wage, the minimum wage in North Carolina is $7.25 an hour.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: around 24% of teens choose to work in food service. Other popular jobs are in sales/retail: around 19% of teens work in that sector. I personally think that these are all wonderful job options for teens.

Lenoir County offers a wide variety of jobs available to teens, so don’t stress about finding a job that you can do. It is also a good idea to research the restrictions on certain jobs for teens. Like after nines. Be sure to research the jobs that don’t require teens to be driving after nine.

If you have friends that have jobs, talk to them about their experience and what it’s like. Getting advice from your peers is always a good thing. But don’t let someone else’s opinion influence yours. If you want to work in retail, but your friend says you should get a job washing cars, talk to someone else that will encourage what YOU want to do. I hope this helped! You got this!