“Be good at conversing,” said Shannon Kurtz who has been working at a nursing home with seniors for around six months, but was previously employed at Sendik’s for around three years. 

Being able to get and keep a job while being in high school is an important skill to achieve in order to prepare for the future and your future career. It helps create social skills and leadership abilities that can help create habits that lead to success. 

Being able to acknowledge a customer or patient right away is an astounding way to grow a customer base of people who like you and so they know you care about more than just your job. If you make them feel like you have other priorities while on the clock you are showing them that you don’t take your job seriously and it won’t help you get a job in the future.

If you have a job with someone who is higher up than you, it is also necessary to show them that you are a team player. On Christmas Eve, Kurtz was asked to cover a Christmas day shift. She really wanted to spend time with her family especially because she also worked Christmas Eve. She picked up the shift anyway because she wanted people to know she really is a team player. “Pick up shifts you're not scheduled for when they need you, prepare for the next shifts employees, and go above and beyond when you're clocked in to show them you are a team player and a hard worker,” are tips Kurtz has told us.

Leadership is a very exceptional skill to have as a teenage worker as well. Being sure people are on task and doing what they should could get you promoted where you can make more money and have more responsibilities. If someone is messing around or not doing what they should be doing, put them back in line and if they don’t know what to do, show them.

The importance of working as a teen is an extraordinary experience for future careers and helps you grow as a person mentally and physically. It puts an idea in your head about what the work field is going to be like when you become an adult. It also shows people you are willing to work for your own success and can be independent.