Without a high school diploma, it is nearly impossible to receive any post secondary education. Universities require a high school diploma for students who apply, meaning that without your diploma, attending a university is nearly impossible. And with a university education out of the picture, achieving a great career becomes much more difficult. But sometimes, circumstances prevent students from attending high school normally. About 30% of high school students each year do not graduate for one reason or another. The income gap between those who do graduate from high school and those who do not is significant—those who don’t earn their high school diploma earn significantly less than those who do. If you are unable to complete high school, do not give up—it is possible to get your high school diploma at home even if you are unable to attend school.

Although taking the GED test is an option, many people now recognize that earning an actual high school diploma is preferable to getting a GED (General Educational Development) through testing–some universities even refuse to accept a GED from potential students. Studies have shown that those holding a GED are not statistically different from high school dropouts in earning potential. For this reason and others, earning a high school diploma is a better option for those wishing to really improve their lives and have high achievement.

One option for obtaining your high school diploma at home is through online courses, such as those at CitizensHighSchool.Com Through this website, you will earn an actual diploma, not a GED, by taking independent study courses over the internet from your own home. Although the school is based in Florida, you have the opportunity to take the courses online wherever you like. Anyone can take these courses, from teenagers to those who have been away from school for many years. It is never too late to earn your high school diploma at home and change your life. And through Citizens’ High School, you are free to work at your own pace—you could finish your courses and earn your degree as quickly as you wish, or take up to three years to earn your high school diploma from home.

Online-Education.Net is another helpful online tool for helping you get your high school diploma from home. This website has compiled information and links to various institutions online that offer educational opportunities, both in the form of high school online courses and college courses online. Online homeschooling is one method of earning a high school diploma online that is featured on this website.

Not being able to complete high school does not mean your career cannot advance and your life cannot substantially improve. Through these and other options, you can successfully complete high school and earn your high school diploma from home.

Click Here To Earn your High School Diploma at Home and Get More Than a GED.

However, Ebay isn’t the only site out there. And with their recent changes in policies and price increases to sellers, a lot of sellers are angry and looking for other sites besides Ebay where they can sell their things.

This may come as a surprise to some people, but there are lots of online auction sites that are just as good or even better than Ebay - depending on what you’re selling. The problem is the process of trying to find profitable online auction sites can be a long and tedious process. But, we’ve done all the hard work for you :). We’ve scoured the Net and waded through all the information out there and came up with 19 of the best online auction sites for you to make money on. The websites that you see below are some of the busiest and most profitable online auction websites for selling.

So if you don’t have a car and can’t get around to places to sell things, then the following list of online auction sites may be the perfect solution for you.

http://www.kijiji.com/

http://www.buyitsellit.com/

http://www.alboa.com/

http://www.plunderhere.com/auction/cgi-bin/Auction

http://www.winkelf.com/

http://www.etsy.com/

http://www.wagglepop.com/bin/Auction

http://www.elfingo.com/

http://www.ecrater.com/

http://www.onlineauction.com/

http://auctions.overstock.com/

http://www.tazbar.co.uk/

http://www.epier.com/default.asp

http://www.bidville.com/ (1,088,690 listings)

http://www.shopit.com/

http://www.buyerschoiceauctions.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.pl

http://www.hibidder.com/

http://us.ebid.net/

http://www.ioffer.com/ (2,371,340 listings)

In future articles, we will cover the above auction websites in much more detail, however, this list should get you started. Be sure to check them out carefully before signing up with any of them.

Happy selling!

Have you had any luck selling on Ebay or other auction sites? If so, tell us about it by leaving a comment in the comment box below, or head over to the discussion forum to tell us about it.

Not only that, but many payment processors have complicated set ups that that require some programming skilled to get started. But for visitors to TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com, we understand that you want to be able to get set up to collect money quickly and easily, so I’ve researched several methods that do just that - help you get set up to accept payments online in the fastest amount of time possible, and for the cheapest fees available. Whichever payment processor you decide to go with, it’s possible that you may still need the help of a sibling or a parent to help you. For example, in the case of Paypal you need a bank account in order to get your money out of your Paypal account. If you don’t have a bank account then, your parent or a relative should be able to help you with this. Also, with all of the payment processors below, you will still need to do some research by visiting the sites below to learn more about each payment processor and to find the one that is best for you.

1. Paypal.com

Paypal is probably the easiest and most well known way to accept payments online. Not only that but it’s also one of the cheapest methods for accepting payments online. It allows you to receive or request money from anyone with an email address in 190 countries and regions that accept Paypal. To request money for an auction, request payment from a customer or send a personal payment request—just enter the recipient’s email address and the amount you are requesting. The recipient gets an email and instructions on how to pay you using Paypal.

2. Alertpay.com

AlertPay is another popular payment method that works very similar to Paypal. It’s an internet payment service that allows you to send and receive money online securely and quickly. Member to Member Transfer: Send a payment to an AlertPay member by creating a transaction. Payments are instant and both parties will receive a confirmation email for proof of payment. Member to Non-Member Transfer: Non-members can also receive payments from members. They will receive an email informing them that they have received money through AlertPay and that they must complete the free registration process to claim their funds. Once you open an account with AlertPay, your funds are held in a secure location until you are ready to use it. Withdraw at your convenience and no need to maintain a minimum balance. See withdrawing options for you country. Opening an account is absolutely free. Fees are charged upon receiving funds to your AlertPay account. AlertPay has several withdrawal methods to withdraw your money from your AlertPay account which includes bank transfer and check.

3. Moneybookers.com

Moneybookers enables any business or consumer with an email address to securely and cost-effectively send and receive payments online – in real-time! Use Moneybookers to:

* Send money via email from your credit/debit card or bank account
* Make online purchases
* Collect money via email

Moneybookers delivers a product ideally suited for small businesses, online merchants, individuals and others currently underserved by traditional payment mechanisms. As a true global payment solution, they welcome customers from every nation of the earth! Moneybookers is a leading international online payment system and electronic money issuer authorized under UK and EU law and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK. Payment options include, Credit card, domestic and international bank transfer, cheque, and more.

4. Daopay.com

Daopay provides an improved and ready to use solution: Payment by Phone! Are you selling games, music, pictures, memberships or any other products or services by the Internet? If so, you can use daopay to accept payments by phone. Once you’ve signed up with Daopay, your customer will just need a telephone to be able to pay. Turn your visitors into customers! Also, when you allow payments by Premium Rate numbers your customers have the possibility to pay anonymously and fast. In general, they accept all web sites as long as they are not involved in illegal activities, for example sales of child pornography, radical political statements, racism, etc. To integrate Daopay, you can use their different integration methods for Daopay to your website including EasyPin, EasyMail, EasyPass, DirectAPI. Set up is free of charge. There are no monthly costs. Payout will be done only by bank transfer.

5. Fxsource.com

FXSource is the ultimate tool for any online business conducting commerce across borders. The billing system allows customers to purchase from businesses in other countries with the same simple payment methods they are already using locally. The FXSource system allows your business to penetrate new markets and increase sales by reaching consumers that either don’t have or do not wish to use a credit card online. FXSource allows you to purchase online using your existing bank account. There is no account to setup, no credit card needed, and your personal information is not disclosed to FXSource or any third party. When a customer chooses to pay using FXSource, they are presented with an emailed electronic bill that they can pay at their bank’s web site. If you have ever paid a utility bill from your bank account, you already know how to use FXSource. FXSource accepts vendors in most of the world. Regardless of where vendor is located, customers can pay their native currency.

6. Cashu.com

Cashu is your Payment Gateway to the Arab World and Beyond. Sell online at the lowest commission rates in the Middle East. Integrating cashU on your site is quick and simple. No setup or installation fees! It is FREE to add cashU to your site!

7. Epayarea.com

EPAY is the first online payment solution offering free online access to the broadest array of financial services. With an EPAY account, you can access your money in any country and make payments worldwide. As a leading Internet Payment gateway, EPAY provides the following payment services:

* - Debit cards
* - Virtual credit cards (VISA, MasterCard)
* - Mobile payments
* - Email payments
* - Invoice services
* - Currency conversion between EPAY Dollar and EPAY Euro
* - Affiliate opportunities

Users can fund their EPAY account using:

* - Bank transfers
* - E-gold
* - Pecunix
* - Other EPAY accounts

Money transfer options - EPAY offers the broadest array of online money transfer services, helping individuals and businesses with their e-commerce, online shopping needs, and online payment needs.

8. Libertyreserve.com

Libertyreseve.com is an easy to set up payment processor account that you can easily access to accept payments quickly. Just like wallet is to your bank account, Libertyreserve Wallet allows people to keep a small balance handy for quick payments, while keeping the bulk of your balance in your main Liberty Reserve account.

9. Swreg.org

They offer numerous customer payment options including: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Switch, Solo, Paypal, US Check, UK Cheque, International Money Order, EFT, ACH, BACS, Wire Transfer, Credit Card by Phone or Fax with 16 toll-free international numbers. They are continually working on adding additional payment options to make it easier for your customers to buy your products.

With the multiple payment options they provide you with the ability to fully customize the purchase process. They offer the option to set prices in GBP, EUR, and USD and they pay you in your store currency! Subscriptions and reoccurring orders can be set-up in your control panel to automatically process based on your settings. Once you determine the settings, their system automatically handles the rest.

10. Ccnow.Com

They have helped thousands of clients sell online, from start-ups to established businesses. If you have or are building an online storefront and are ready to accept payments, ccnow can help you. With the CCNow e-commerce shopping cart, there’s no need to struggle with shopping cart software. Their online shopping cart will enable you to sell online and accept credit card processing in no time. We never require customers to create an account in order to make a purchase. If some of your customers don’t want to pay with a credit card, they offer PayPal as an alternative, and you don’t even need a PayPal account to accept PayPal payments.Your shopping cart will be fully provided by CCNow. All you need to do is log on to your account and cut and paste the snippets of HTML code to place in your ecommerce storefront. That’s it – you’ll be ready to sell online in minutes.

11. Ccavenue.com

Ccavenue is a Payment Gateway, Merchant Account and Online Credit Card Processing Services for Global eMerchants. CCAvenue offers an unbeatable package with complete credit card processing options, at very competitive rates. By using CCAvenue’s payment gateway services, you allow your customer to pay through any major credit card. CCAvenue gives you the facility to accept all major international credit cards and minimize lost transactions.

12. Plimus.com

All you need to do is open an account by filling out their quick form. Once you fill out the short form you will gain access to their website where you can set everything up for the product or service you want to sell. Once you do that, you will be shown a link that you can place on your website to start selling. You can start selling as soon as you complete the steps above. They even provide hosting of your products and offer secure downloads for your customers. This download link expires a few days after the order is completed. There are no upfront or setup fees to join Plimus, They only charge a sales commission on your sales (a little expensive compared to the others). If they collect any sales for you, you will get this on the 15th of every month. Notification report for the previous month which includes the amount you have earned for that month is sent out to you by email. Your money will be sent on that same day depending on your selected Method of Payment, either Check, Direct Deposit, Wire Transfer, PayPal or pre-paid MasterCard.

Final Notes

Of all the payment methods discussed above, the first 8 payment processors are probably the easiest to deal with. The others take a little bit more know-how and cost a bit more to get set up. Whichever one you decide to go with, the time you spend investigating a payment processor that’s right for you will be time well spent in setting up your business. So don’t rush over this information. Take your time and find the payment processor that is right for you.

People all over the world are finding it convenient to share files and images online. But, it’s not as easy to share with so many people via email. To do this the person would have to upload each file and mail it out to each person. Many people like the convenience of sending only one link that anyone can use to find their images or files easily.

This is where image/file hosting services come in handy. Thanks to file sharing, anyone can upload images, documents or any sort of file and share it with friends, family or with co-workers. Examples of image and file hosting services are shareapic.net, photobucket.com and .imagehosting.com. Even youtube is a file sharing site that specializes in the sharing of videos!

Who uses image hosting?

Just about everyone uses image hosting, including, teenagers, college students, office workers, business people, ebay sellers, small business owners, families - everyone you can think of!

And as for you, you can start your own image hosting site just for kids! They can store images, videos, mp3’s, songs, computer games, computer software, cell phone ring tones, digital camera photos and albums, plus, much, much more.

How to make money

One way you could make money as a kid with an image hosting site is through advertising - i.e, you could place google ads on your site that will entice people to click on those ads (learn more about putting google adsense on your site here). One of the main ways that free image and file hosting sites make money is by this kind of advertising. Don’t belive me? Just check out any website which is a free video/image/file hosting site and see how many of them use google ads to make money. The only thing that you need to do to make money with google adsense is to sign up with their adsense program. Then log into your account once its setup and copy a small snippet of code in your pages, and viola! - ads automatically appear.

In this business model, a free hosting site owner places advertisements around the pictures that people upload to his site. When the ads are clicked on, the site makes money! It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme, but it is a way a kid can make money from their own website. Another way is, of course, to charge a fee for the use of your service.

Getting started

So, just how do you get set up? First, you need to sign up with a webhost to host your website. And of course you would need to know how to build a website yourself. This, of course, is the tricky part because you would have to have some experience to do this or you can just use an image hosting script such as the one below:

With this script you can have your own image hosing website where other kids can upload, download images by using their computer. They can access their files from any Internet accessible computer, anywhere, anytime!

What can this script be used for?

Start your own Image and file hosting site

Fast and easy image and file uploading.

Edit file names and descriptions.

Short and simple image and file URLs.

Edit and delete the images and files you have uploaded.

Create and share picture galleries.

Create downloadable URLs for digital files.

With the help of the above script, you can provide your friends and other kids with an easy to use image and file sharing system with two different types of memberships.

With the two membership types, your customers can choose between a free membership or a pro membership - pro membership is where they have to pay to use your site. The script will automatically take care of the purchase of a pro membership for you. You can sleep, go on vacation with your family or got to school and the image and file hosting program will continue to make money for you. Your paying members will pay you through paypal and you will instantly be paid for every customer who signs up for your file sharing system. Through paypal, anybody can pay you using any kind of credit card.

Also, this script makes it easy for you to make money with google adsense thanks to the innovative features included with this software, it allows you integrate Google Adsense onto every page or you can turn this off for paying members.

If you like the Internet and you like fiddling around on your computer, then a image/file hosting service may be a great way for a kid to make money. This script is available to Subscribers of this site. If you are a Subscriber of TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com, click here, and then download the the script discussed above to begin building your own image hosting website.

However, the script isn’t necessary if you have the skills to program your own site. Either way, it’s a great business idea that you and a few of your friends can do together. And a nice idea would be to build an image hosting site just for kids at your school or for people in your area.

Do you know of other ways to make money as a kid? If so, tell us about it in the comment box below, or visit our TEEN DISCUSSION FORUM.

ANSWER: Charles, there are a lot of things that you and your friends can do to earn money. Check out the article:

20 Good Ideas for Teenagers Who Want to Start Their Own Small Business during the summer to Earn Money

The article above gives you several different type of business models that you and your friends can start up. If you’re into photography, read How can a Teenager Photographer Make Money This Summer? for an idea for a photography business you can get into as a sideline for the summer. You may also want to consider starting an online gift shop: How Teens Can Make Money Online With Their Own Online Gift Store or making your own screen savers: How To Make Money Building Your Own Screen Savers.

Who is going to pick you and drop you off? It is better if your parents volunteer as it is not advisable to travel with a stranger even if they are your clients.

How much time will you be able to allocate for babysitting? You have to finish all your other work beforehand so you can properly commit to your babysitting service.

You may want to consider religious factors. You have to respect other people’s religion and if you are not comfortable, you can graciously refuse your service. Follow the parents’ rules about food and snack times.

When deciding rates you have to estimate how many other sitters are in your community. Before starting a babysitting service determine whether babysitters are scarce, high in demand, etc. so you will have an idea of what price to set and what kind of demand you can expect.

Make a note of all the emergency numbers, best way to reach the parents, where the flashlights are, etc. Bring games, toys and books to entertain them. You should learn how to put the kids and parents at ease and make it enjoyable for all.

Starting a babysitting business is a big responsibility. Parents trust you with the light of their lives and you have to be alert and prepared for every possible mishap. If you plan every detail of your babysitting business, follow them efficiently and act professionally, your babysitting business is sure to succeed.

If you need a bit of help with starting baby sitting services and what to consider, check out our other articles where we discuss in detail all of the issues we touched on above. Some of the articles that we posted so far about starting baby sitting services include the following:

Ways to Start Babysitting

How to Start a Teen Baby Sitting Business

Making Money With Teen Babysitting Qualifications

If You Want to Start a Babysitting Business

How to Start a Teen Baby Sitting Business

How To Know If Starting A Babysitting Business Is Right For You

What are your thoughts about starting a baby sitting business? Share them with us on our Teen Discussion Forum.

And that ought to sum up summer vacation for children in elementary and middle school — but for teenagers, not so much.

For high school students, the summer can be a great time to dip a toe into the adult pool by obtaining employment. A summer job will keep your teen from becoming bored and restless, but it will also be an opportunity for growth and development.

“A summer job will help a child learn about responsibility and dependability,” says Long Island child development specialist Lori Barrett. And these lessons are different than those related to school. For instance, she says, “If you slack off as a student, you are only hurting yourself. Slacking off on a job usually means you are affecting others negatively.”

Showing up on time, being courteous and respectful to both the employer and

customers, learning new skills, accepting tasks without complaining — these are all part of handling a job with maturity and finesse, which can do wonders for your child’s self-esteem and self-confidence once school begins again in September.

Then of course, there’s the monetary reward. Earning one’s own money is an empowering experience, but also, a steady paycheck is a great opportunity to teach your teen about value, budgeting and saving.

So how to know if your teen is equipped to handle a summer job?

“Your child is probably ready if he has no problem getting himself up and out for school in the morning and if he keeps track of and manages his own assignments,” says Barrett. But perhaps most important, she says, he’s ready if he says he wants to get a job and feels he can handle the responsibility.

The hunt is on

Depending on your teen’s age, maturity level, interests and availability, a summer job can run the gamut from working 9-to-5 in an office environment, to flipping burgers to cleaning and maintaining neighborhood swimming pools. So before your child begins the hunt, sit down together and go over what’s truly attainable and what isn’t. For example, suppose your teen wants to work at Splish Splash in Riverhead but you live in Holbrook. If she drives, are you comfortable with the distance? Or, perhaps you’ve heard that counseling jobs are available at a nearby day camp. The location may be great, but does your teen do well with young children? Once you’ve discussed these and other logistics, there are myriad job opportunities that await.

“Unemployment is at historic lows and there are plenty of positions out there,” says Suffolk County Labor Department spokesperson Peter Simeone. And now is a great time to start looking, before college kids come home.

Where to begin

During the academic year, 16-year-old Jake Myers of Northport has been working one day a week after school at a local bowling alley. This summer, however, he’s expected to get either a full-time or part-time job. “In the past, he’s gone to sleep-away camp, but at his age his father and I feel he should stay home and experience a job. Plus he wants to make money,” says his mom Susan.

Finding the right job might be challenging, though. Like the parents of many teens on Long Island, Jake’s mom and dad both work full time and he doesn’t drive yet.

Transportation to and from a summer job is one of the biggest challenges suburban teenagers face. But if counting on a parent, older sibling or public transportation is out of the question, one’s own neighborhood is a great place to begin, perhaps by creating an entrepreneurial enterprise — dog walking, mowing lawns or maintaining landscaping, cleaning pools, becoming a mother’s helper, or taking on household chores for an elderly neighbor or the parent of a newborn or infant.

Or try seeking jobs at shopping strips, fast food or regular restaurants and business centers that can be reached by foot or via bicycle. Fortunately, the Myerses live within walking distance of Northport Village, so Jake has been applying at the retailers and service businesses that line Main Street. Other local options are checking job postings at supermarkets and libraries, and the employment section of your weekly shopper’s guide.

Credits:

BY CLAUDIA GRYVATZ COPQUIN

Special to Newsday

The article continues: “High school students want the ‘cool’ jobs: Working at popular retail chains, camp counseling and ice cream shops are some examples. But some find the only jobs available are in the fast-food industry or manual labor.”

An adult in the recruiting industry provides a reality check: “the stigmatized jobs are not that bad . . . McDonald’s has a wonderful training program . . . . Sometimes our perceptions are off. If we were more open to learning about a company . . . maybe there would be more opportunities.”

To break into the job market, an expert suggest new applicants try companies such as Chick-fil-A, which hires students as young as 15.

So How Bad Is a Fast Food Job, Anyway?

I wrote about “McJobs” way back in November 2003 (“Burger flippers get no respect these days”). This is worth repeating:

“While these days I try to avoid the [fast food] cuisine, unless forced to go there to satisfy family members, I am an unabashed supporter of McJobs. My first job, at age 16 in 1974, was at the McDonald’s on East Third Street in Bloomington, Indiana.

It was very hard work, especially on [Indiana University] football weekends, but we really had a lot of fun. So much so that when I got together with some old friends last summer, with whom I had worked there, we stopped in at the old store and posed for this photo (that’s me on the right). I met store assistant managers intent on working up through the ranks, and regional managers who had already done so. To them, it was certainly not “dead-end work,” but good old-fashioned American opportunity.

I learned the work ethic through the famous words of revered founder Ray Kroc: “If you’ve got time to lean, you’ve got time to clean.”

While I wouldn’t envy anyone trying to support a family working a McJob, I heartily recommend it as a life-stage job for young people, and would hope a good work record at such a job is viewed positively by persons making hiring decisions for higher-paying jobs as well, rather than as a sign of lack of ambition.”

A Smattering of Statistics:

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics shines some interesting light on the food preparation industry as a whole:

* 1/5 of cooks and food prep workers are between 16 and 19 years old.
* 2/5 of food prep workers are employed part time
* Because many workers “burn out from the fast work pace and pressure to fill orders quickly,” job openings are plentiful.

For those who can hack it, there are rewards for sticking with the job. The BLS states that “experience as food and beverage preparation and service workers is essential for promotion into managerial positions.” (Duh.)

A bonus for future fast food and restaurant managers: The growing U.S. population means more mouths to feed. The restaurants that crop up to feed the people need managers. You get hired. And isn’t that the happiest of endings?

Credits:

Story - employmentblawg.com

However, across the nation the job market has been weakening and teens are feeling the impact.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nation’s teens, ages 16 to 19, are experiencing a record low employment rate since the late 1940s. In 2007, 34.8 percent of U.S. teens were employed, the lowest average employment rate for teens since the end of World War II. All ages, races, and genders are experiencing the weakening job market, but teens who are 16 or 17 years, males, black and Hispanic and low-income are most at risk of joblessness.

Although it can be difficult for all young people to land jobs, high school students have other obstacles besides a slim amount of available jobs—especially now.

Senior Parker Bonello has had a difficult time securing a summer job. “A lot of people are not really looking because they have people from college coming back or they need more than part-time employees,” he said.

Bonello tried unsuccessfully for a job at The Original Soup Man restaurant, which he found listed on Craig’s List. He then applied to work at Urban Outfitters, but once again was turned away.

“I was having a hard time finding places that were hiring right now at places I am interested in. I don’t want to settle for a job I won’t like,” said Bonello. “Places are just not hiring a lot of people. There’s a lot of demand [among job searchers] but not a lot of supply. There are a lot of people looking for jobs and not nearly enough jobs to fill everyone. I have definitely felt the decline in jobs for people my age.”

Senior Jane Lucas from Hopkins High School in Minnesota thinks that being too selective may be the problem.

“There really are a lot of options. The thing is if you are picky, it can be hard to find a really good job,” said Lucas. But she does agree with the statistics showing a weak job market. “I definitely see that it is the teens who are getting most of the job opportunities taken away.”

Lucas works at the Bryn Mawr Coffee Shop and The Tea House, a Chinese resturant. She secured both her jobs through family or friend connections.

Senior Annalise Sundberg struggled all last summer to find a job. “It’s hard because realistically you need to be 18 to get a lot of jobs. I turned 18 at the end of the summer, but I wasn’t at the right age at the time. It’s also hard to compete with the college kids. You have to apply earlier than you realize.”

This summer may be one of the worst times for teens. In a new survey, researchers at the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston predict that this will be the toughest job market for teens since 1948, when the federal government began measuring teen employment.

Because of the weak economy, they report that only 33.5 percent of the nation’s teens, ages 16 to 19, had jobs in the January through March period compared to 35.8 percent a year earlier. This summer will also be weak, they predict, with only 34.2 percent of teens employed.

Credits:

Story - employmentblawg.com

According to the Center’s study, “The overall teen employment rate (36.6%) in the past three years (2004-2006) was the lowest in the past 60 years.”

Traditional teen jobs like newspaper delivery are now done by professional services. Food service and retail jobs are largely going to immigrants, rather than teens, according to Andrew Sum, a labor market expert at Northeastern University. “And if you walk into a mall or grocery store, you’ll see large numbers of older people working at jobs teens used to have,” he said in a Knowledge@Wharton report.

The brunt of this unemployment falls on racial minorities. According to the study, White teens were employed at nearly twice the rate of Asian and Black teenagers (51%, compared to 27%).

But low employment levels are bad news for all teens. The study, which advocates a federally-funded teen jobs creation program, said:

The loss in teen job opportunities has become extraordinarily high, depriving teens of a chance to obtain work experience, develop the soft employability skills desired by employers, and receive earnings to support their own personal consumption and contribute to their family’s economic well-being, especially among low income youth.

A teen’s first job can help him build confidence, responsibility, and money management skills. The extra pocket cash is practically a bonus! George worked at McDonald’s as a teen, and he owes a lot of his work ethic to the experience. I think his manager’s immortal words still haunt his nightmares: “If you have time to lean, you have time to clean.”

Some Hopeful News

The Department of Labor regulates child labor conditions, and it has outlawed “hazardous work” for anyone under 18. In April, the agency declared its intent to strengthen these regulations by forbidding such practices as riding on forklifts, selling door-to-door, or operating certain types of industrial machinery. At the same time, it reportedly “signaled its willingness to open additional opportunities for younger teens in such jobs as banking and information technology.”

How to Find a Job

To get a job (and all the attendant perks), teens should start looking hard even before they get out of school for the summer. But it’s not too late. A smattering of tips from Shawn Boyer, CEO of SnagAJob.com, should prove helpful. Boyer recommends casting a wide net in your job search. Let family and friends know you’re on the hunt, and apply to many different businesses.

Boyer also recommends thinking outside the mall. For example, hotels and airlines need help caring for the influx of summer travelers. Amusement parks also need lifeguards and concession salespeople. Banks may hire teenage tellers, sometimes as young as 16. Companies like Mass Connections Inc. hire teens as product demonstrators. SnagAJob.com lists over 100,000 of these hourly jobs, searchable by zip code.

If you don’t get hired within the first week of your job search, don’t get discouraged. A SnagAJob.com spokesperson said:

Those who have already found a job might leave those positions in June, so there will be openings. In general, there is frequently churn in the hourly job industry and positions do become available.

Artistically or mechanically-inclined teens might consider doing a little entrepreneurship, making candles or soap or repairing bicycles. Growing herbs is also a clever possibility– but stick to legal herbs!

Other Tips

A job search site like SnagAJob.com can widen your opportunities by connecting you with companies you don’t know about. That also introduces some risk. SnagAJob tries to weed out fraudulent companies by making sure employers have legitimate addresses and phone numbers. A SnagAJob.com spokesperson also recommended that applicants make sure they feel comfortable with the job for which they are applying:

* Job descriptions have varying levels of information, and if you feel there’s not enough information for you, don’t apply.
* Don’t apply to a job if you are asked to pay money to receive a job.
* Don’t go to an unidentifiable address for a job or to any place that makes you feel uncomfortable.

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Face painter

Word processing service

Silkscreen service

Sign painter

Grocery delivery service

House cleaning service

Dog walking service

Baby-sitting service

House sitting service

Tutoring service

Hauling service

Telephone wake-up service

Site designer and developer

Handyman service

Gift buying and delivery service

Lawn, yard, and gardening service

Recyclable materials pickup service

Home and commercial window washing service

Car washing, waxing, and detailing service

Door-to-door flyer distribution service

Door-to-door sales of a product you truly like

House number painting service

Hardware or software consultant for installations, repairs and troubleshooting

Food delivery service, representing one or more restaurants

Manage a concession stand selling food in a busy part of your area

Make and distribute coupon booklets that represent local merchants in your neighborhood

Small catering service for parties, receptions and private dinners.

Organize yard sales to sell your things and other people’s things

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Do you know of other ideas for teen home based business ideas? If so, please let us know about it by leaving a comment in the comment box below, or tell us about it in our Teen Discussion Forum.

Camp counselor

Swimming instructor

Amusement park attendant

Counter attendant

Fast food worker

Messenger

Maid

Gas station attendant

Recyclable material collector

Car washer

Bellhop

Farm worker

Mover

Cashier

Cook

Babysitter or nanny

Daycare assistant

Home companion

Nursing aide

Retail salesperson

Deckhand on a fishing boat

Warehouse person

Receptionist

Hotel desk clerk

Restaurant host or hostess

Waitperson

Janitor

Kitchen helper

Kennel attendant

Dog and cat groomer

Landscape worker

Groundskeeper

Web site developer

Graphic designer

Word processor

Construction helper

Data entry keyer

Printing press operator

Computer programmer

Painter’s helper

Carpenter’s helper

Auto service technician

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Do you know of other teen job ideas? If so, share it with us by leaving a comment below or tell us about it in the Teen Discussion Forum.