How to Prepare Your Teens for Work

Jan 28

Do you know what a lot of teens have but were never prepared for beforehand?

A job. That’s right. Many teenagers have at least a summer job but they were never taught how to be an employee or how to deal with earning a paycheck.

You might wonder what on earth there is to prepare for when they’re slinging burgers and fries. But, actually, there’s a handful of key things that would go a long way if they were to be taught about them first!

I know, I know…it’s hard to get your teenager to stay in the room long enough for you to get a sentence out. And they might huff and puff while you’re rambling. But we were all those lovely, polite, eager-to-learn monsters once, so we all know that in between the eye rolls and exasperated sighs, some things do actually stick!

So, take your shot, Mama, and see what happens! Here’s a list of valuable topics to bring up to your child in order to prepare them for the working world.

1. Teach them what taxes are.

Do you remember that episode of Friends when Rachel gets her first paycheck from the coffee shop? She’s so excited, and then…she says “who’s FICA and why is he taking all my money?” I think a lot of people have that moment (and, let’s be honest, some of us have that moment all of the time) when they realize just how much of their paycheck goes to taxes.

It’s hard to digest, especially when you’re not expecting it. Your teen needs to know what gross pay and net pay are, and what all of those weird acronyms on their paystub are that deduct money. Help your teen out and give them a heads-up! It won’t take the pain of taxes away, but it’ll soften the blow.

2. Teach them how to do their taxes.

Between their young age, the low pay they receive, their lack of assets, and the fact that you’re likely still claiming them as a dependent — this will be the easiest time in their life to learn how to do it…and the easiest time for you to teach them!

This was something my mom taught me when I was a teenager, and let me tell you – there was a noticeable difference between me and my friends who knew how to do our taxes and my friends who didn’t when it came to financial literacy and overall responsibility.

I distinctly remember like it was yesterday when, during my freshman year of college, my friends and I who all had work-study jobs, received our W-2s in our mail. My one friend looked so confused and was about to throw it in the trash until we stopped her and told her what it was! When she didn’t understand what “W-2” meant, we then had to explain filing taxes to her. She had no idea! Her parents had never said a word to her about it.

Part of becoming a responsible adult is knowing how to manage your money. A big part of managing your money is paying your taxes! Your kid should be getting this information from you, not from their college dormmates or someone else who may not really know what they’re talking about.

Some high schools do cover financial literacy in class, but often not to the level that’s needed to make that connection to real life. And, even if your kid’s school does cover it thoroughly, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be learning it at home too. How many times do you have to repeat yourself to get your teen to listen or to fully absorb what you’re saying? Do you really think the one time their school covers such a broad topic it’s really going to stick?

Repetition and communication go a long way here. And if you don’t think you know enough about financial literacy yourself to teach them, there are plenty of books on the matter that you can get. Or, better yet, enroll both of you in a class that you can do together!

3. Go over checking and savings accounts, and credit cards.

What does this have to do with employment, you might ask. Well, once they have a job, the money that’s in those accounts is presumably coming from their paychecks. Their paycheck is the sum earned based on the offer they received for that job. And that’s the money that will be paying their bills.

So, if they don’t know how to manage the money that’s in their account, it’s not really going to matter how much money they make if they’re always in the red because they don’t know to check their balance regularly, account for bills that haven’t been withdrawn yet, or that they should be putting a certain amount away in savings.

Another point about this that connects to employment is that if your child accepts a job offer that’s too low and won’t pay their bills, then they’re going to be in trouble. If your teen knows how to manage their accounts (or balance their checkbook as they would say in the olden days), they’ll have at least a basic understanding of how much money they need to make, which will help them make a more informed decision when looking over a job offer.

4. Review the importance of saving for retirement early!

The younger they start, the more they’ll likely have, depending on the consistency of their saving and the amount saved. Maybe not all teens are in the position to do this, especially if they’re putting themselves through college, but it’s definitely worth having the conversation anyway. The compound interest they earn through an IRA or their employer’s 401(k) benefit is more beneficial the younger they are!

5. Teach them professionalism.

This is a biggie! Professional etiquette is lacking across all ages, career levels, professions, and employment stages.

The number of people who lead with a sense of entitlement is overwhelming, with little respect for other people’s time and a brash way of speaking. This isn’t an issue specific to younger people – it’s an issue with people of all ages – but I’m a big believer that it’s a problem because those people were never taught how to act in a professional manner.

Please, please, please, for the love of world peace, have that talk with your teenager! If they have their professional act together, then they’re steps ahead of a lot of other job seekers.

A good starting point is talking to them about using simple, polite words. We’re going back to preschool days here – please, thank you, may I, etc. These words are basic and seem like a no-brainer, but they’re missing from many people’s vocabulary and these words make a huge difference! It shows a baseline of respect and consideration of others that will set your kid apart and make them shine with little effort.

Another great thing to point out is word choice. How your teenager phrases something can impact how it comes off to HR and the hiring manager.

For example, if your teen is applying for a role but needs to know the schedule because they have classes, sports, and other extracurricular activities, I’m sure they’re anxious to find out if the job will give them the flexibility they need. But walking in and blurting out “what’s the schedule because I need to know if this will be worth it for me” isn’t the way to go about it. They can ask questions and get the answers they need from HR and the hiring manager in order to know if it’s a position they want to pursue without being rude.

As with anything in life, it’s not always what you say, but how you say it. It’s noticed and, yes, it’s used as a reason to disqualify people from further consideration.

A polite way to ask in order to get the same information is, after explaining why they’re interested in the role, to say, “while I’m very interested in working here, I do have other responsibilities with classes and basketball, so I’m wondering what schedule you’re hiring for. I’m hopeful it’s something that I can take on”. They’re still asking the question, they’re expressing that they need to know this information before they can say for sure if it’s a job they can pursue, but they are wording it in a respectful manner with a softer approach.

Once they have the job, their ability to be professional is going to be put to the test even more. They are going to work with and for rude people – it’s not a matter of if, but when. They aren’t going to get along with everyone, their boss is going to schedule them at some point when they requested to have time off, someone is going to try to pull them into drama, and there is always “office politics” to deal with. We all know it’s true because we’ve all been there.

It’s a frustrating experience, to say the least, and for kids who are handling it for the first time, it can be hard to navigate! But that doesn’t mean they should act the same (even though they really want to).

The way they speak to and treat people, even when they are disagreeing with someone, matters. And if they decide not to show up for that shift that their boss scheduled them for…well, then there’s a decent chance that their hours might be cut down. Are they prepared to deal with those consequences?

These are things that you don’t think about before your first job because you’ve never really been in those situations before! But, hearing it from Mom before it happens can help them roll with the punches better than they would on their own.

It’s also a good idea to point out to your teen that maintaining a professional demeanor throughout their employment is worth it because they never know how it will impact them down the road.

There were multiple times as an HR Generalist and HR Manager that rude employees, who had established a bad reputation for themselves as being just that – rude – as well as unprofessional, obnoxious, disagreeable, hard to work with, etc. would come to me wanting to know why they didn’t get that other job they applied for or why they weren’t promoted. They were often at a loss like they couldn’t think of one reason why they were passed over for the position they wanted.

Meanwhile, everyone in the company, even people who didn’t know them, had heard about their bad behavior! All of the negative characteristics I just listed were the reasons they didn’t get the job they wanted. The manager didn’t want to deal with them because they were known for being a nightmare! You don’t want your kid being THAT person.

Putting their best foot forward, even when it’s hard, is what is most likely going to move them forward in their career. Talk with them about the fact that there is a difference between establishing boundaries and assertively enforcing those boundaries with others in order to protect themselves versus being downright rude and aggressive. It’s also worth mentioning to them that life isn’t fair, so they might not get every opportunity or promotion they deserve.

6. Encourage them to always be teachable.

No one knows everything. Even if someone has been in the same job for over a decade, something new comes up along the way that they have to learn.

Change happens all of the time at work. The moment an employee thinks they know everything or becomes resistant to change is the moment that they start down the path of being more of a negative asset than a positive one. And if they’re viewed in a negative light, then that for sure will impact their growth and development in their career at their current employer.

Also, when they’re not teachable, they rob themselves of new skills that could have been put on their resume, which in turn could have led to a better job opportunity somewhere else.

So…in a nutshell… no one’s kid is perfect, not even yours. They didn’t come out of the womb knowing how to be an employee.

If you want your child to be successful in their job, whether it’s their first job as a teen or their 10th job as a middle age adult, and to not be THAT person at the office, then the above points are worth talking about with them!

I swear they’ll possibly thank you for it. I mean, definitely not today. Not tomorrow either. Maybe in 10 years…maybe. Godspeed.

Gayle Guthrie