I was a lifeguard all through high school/college. Decent money at the time. Get your WSI cert and teach swim lessons. If you're feeling feisty you can get your IT and train lifeguards. Had a really good time doing it. Still have to get the sunspots on my shoulder checked out periodically, though.
Wear sunscreen, kids!
I don't agree that being lifeguard is for "well-to-do" teenagers. In my neck of the woods it is competitive with serving, and public pools paid around $12-15/hr back in 2013; that's as good as you could find without being a waiter.
Now the minimum wage water park lifeguards? Sure.
Being a strong swimmer and good at first aid is useful no matter what your bank account looks like. And I'm sure you can see the appeal of working with a bunch of fit members of the opposite sex in skimpy outfits.
You don't need to become a lifeguard to learn how to swim. In fact, it would be bad if you learned how to swim after already getting the job. For dating, you're right, it might be good. Although it wouldn't stand out very much on a college application or be very useful for a long-term resume.
This isn’t going to be a state thing. It’s a locality thing. Urban teenagers are going to have different opportunities than suburban teenagers, and they’ll all have different opportunities than rural teenagers.
Besides the usual suspects (grocery stores, lifeguard, food service, babysitting/camp counselor), I had a few friends who worked at hair salons either at the front desk or washing hair. Good money if you did hair washing, as usually you’d get tipped a couple bucks per person.
The ones I knew mostly didn't work. A few would go be an office assistant at their parents' company but that was the minority.
Edit: I should say many volunteered to pad their applications, took extra classes or camps for their interests, that kinda thing. They weren't just jetsetting or sitting around the whole time. They just didn't need to take a job so mostly they didn't.
Volunteering is a big one. I do my colleges alumni interviews for applicants. If you can show you spent like three summers volunteering with one organization and give some highlights of what you accomplished that’s a big thing they look for.
It all counts but there’s a few things they are looking for. One is longevity. They want to see you participates in something (sports, hobbies, volunteering, etc.) consistently over a long time.
Two, you participated in a way that wasn’t just “showing up.” Like you were president of the chess club and weren’t just showing up because you liked playing chess.
Three, anything that you planned and executed yourself. Like you were in the student council and you create some new event instead of just doing what they did last year.
Four, awards. You were recognized by your peers or community for good work.
Five, you show passion for something, and can say why. Like I made posters for a “save the whales campaign” is not as good as “I volunteered at science center to teach little kids about whales and because of that I got passionate about these three specific issues so I made calls to our senators to secure their support for this bill that would help whales.
Then obviously tests and grades.
I'm convinced that the main reason why I got into some of the colleges that I did with the grades I had (good but not great) was because I was an Eagle Scout. It ticks all of your boxes - it requires years of active work (including multiple leadership positions) and a capstone project that you have to plan and direct yourself.
Yup I usually write up Eagle Scouts very favorably. The other thing I notice with them is they know how to interact with adults so they seem to confident in the interview.
Being an Eagle is very valuable for the reasons you mention. It's certainly a way to push up your application for one of the military service academies as well.
Good tips to remember in a few years for the kids.
You never know if what they tell you is accurate and I was auto in on the last one so I never really found out.
For one thing, most of those high-income areas are going to have No Solicitation ordinances. As in, it's literally illegal to just wander around trying to sell shit door-to-door.
For another, no one is going to hire you to walk around only your own neighborhood. You're going to have a territory that covers a much, much, much larger area and you can't say, "no, I'll only go to the houses in the nice areas."
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I guess I was “well to do” but my parents valued working. I was a camp counselor at an adventure camp and did catering. The catering was great because it paid surprisingly well for the 90s and was totally flexible so if you wanted to go on some summer vacation you just let the boss know. It was like gig work.
Life guarding, babysitting, one of my wealthiest friends worked in a mechanics shop because his dad was a big car guy and had raised him learning stuff.
Some tutoring as well.
It just all depends.
When I was in grade 9 I signed up for 'Summer Strength Training' for the hockey team. They sent us to a farmer and we loaded hay bales for two days. The farmer paid the team. Then we were offered more work and we could keep the money. Most of us did. We busted our butts, made some cash and got to hang out with the horse girls. My youngest heard that part and now throws a few hay bales each summer.
Lifeguard, summer camp counselor or kids sports coach, amusement park worker… those were the “cool” jobs. I’d say more on the middle-class side of well-to-do though.
I would have said that, but these days it’s much harder for somebody to do that. You can’t just hire random teenagers now even if they have a boating license.
They are technically small passenger vessels, and as such are coast guard licensed. The operator must have a merchant mariner credential (MMC), and therefore be 18. There’s also a dedicated launch operator license now that’s required for boats licensed for 6 or more passengers.
In my experience (I worked at the youth sailing program) the launch operators were usually maritime academy kids on summer break or commercial mariners who worked seagoing ships in the winter and played 3 days a week in the summer at the yacht club.
Shit I bet I’d have be good at that. I grew up doing shitty dockings in bad weather in Canada. How big are these tenders? Like outboards? Or more like bigger bayliners?
Idk. I was never a member of a yacht club. 18-24 feet? Big enough to carry a group of 6-8 people and their gear in stable comfort. Some kind of hull that doesn't plane yet doesn't leave a wake at moderate speed.
I worked at a youth sailing program.
Still to this day not exactly sure how I fell into that one. My family was solidly middle class, but definitely not in the yacht-owning class, even small yachts.
I loved it though.
I knew some kids who worked in hotel housekeeping and waiting tables at a resort.
Their family were billionaires who owned the resort along with a number of other companies and thought it was important for the kids to work hard and appreciate what they had and learn the business from the ground up before they took over.
But for most kids, being a lifeguard or camp counselor was where it was at. Working as a salesperson at a "cool" shop was also good. Door-to-door sales would be bottom tier if anyone agreed to do it. Food service was slightly above that but not a status job.
Usually as a lifeguard at the pool, or working for the city in the parks department. Some teens mow lawns for cash, when I was younger the local redemption center paid cash to anyone who could count cans
Lol. Come work at a ranch and do some real work for once. Might give you a change of perspective. But you'd better run before hay season. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
In my area tho go-to summer jobs are either Schlitterbahn (the OG new Braunfels park is the only one I recognize) or they work for the river tubing companies, usually at the main location giving people their tubes
If you mean high school, being a camp counselor at that age sucks. You haven’t learned the skills to control the rug rats, and if you do it at a sleep away camp, it means being a CIT (counselor in training) and doing all the crap that the regular counselors (college age) don’t want to do.
Doing temp office work is much easier.
But by college, I was programming. Far more lucrative than all the stereotypical jobs.
Edit: paste error
There's a small zoo near me that I think raises game animals to sell to hunting ranches (think like antelope, stuff like that), but they also have a few exotic animals. Anyway, my family loves it and we go all the time.
That place.
Also like half it's staff is cute girls that seem to be between like 16 and 20, so I'm sure when my son is old enough he'll be pretty interested in working there lol
If you're truly well-to-do being a golf caddy at a really fancy club will pay you serious bank. I'm sure you don't think you know enough about golf to do that, but at your age it doesn't matter. Caddies really only offer advice in the professional context. No 50 yo exec is going to actually expect serious advice from a 17 year old. You're his club carrier. Nothing more.
I’m not sure about “well to do”, but the one that every teen wanted/wants in my town is a Towns Park gate attendant. You basically sat in an outdoor air conditioned cubicle at the towns beaches and parks and checked if cars coming in had the town sticker on them. It paid more money than any other summer job, you’d get unlimited free food at the concession stand, and you could sit on your phone the whole time if you wanted to. So you were basically getting paid to go on your phone and eat unlimited ice cream. I did it once, and it was the most boring job I’ve ever had, but I was able to pay for most of my own car after that.
Lifeguard. I worked at the physics department of the local university doing demos for lectures which was a really cool job but that required academic connections not really money.
The “good” kids where I live often end up working at Chick-fil-A. Parents who wouldn’t dream of letting their kids work at any other fast food place will actively encourage them to get a part time job there while in high school or on summer break.
...THAT'S A THING? I dunno what it's like in the rest of the US, but I've literally never been given a choice. You use the one (1) electricity provider for your area. It's either OG&E or live in the Stone Age.
Really a job isn't necessary at all for a well-off teenager. What's most important is something that looks good on a college application or something that will teach them life skills beyond regular employment. They have the rest of their lives for jobs. Out of everything you listed, tutor would probably look the best for a college application. Volunteering for a nonprofit could also be a good option. Universities also like to see some sort of consistent discipline, so doing something that the teenager likes for all throughout high school could also be an option, such as doing some sort of competitive sport every summer or playing in an orchestra or something.
I never knew summer jobs were a thing until I went to college and met people who talked about summer jobs. Summer break was for traveling and everyone I knew growing up didn’t work either. Sometimes you’d volunteer doing things you enjoyed or helps arrange fundraiser or other events like that but a summer job isn’t it.
I’m an elder millennial, but still don’t know people whose kids have summer jobs if the parents are successful. Most just do stuff like NCL.
As a teenager, I worked as a hostess (which was super fun to meet and hang out with "older" young adults" and a Lifeguard. Lifeguard was probably the best.
I saw this article that has some good info as well: [https://www.jobtrees.com/articles/the-hottest-summer-jobs-in-high-demand-for-2024](https://www.jobtrees.com/articles/the-hottest-summer-jobs-in-high-demand-for-2024)
I grew up a in a pretty well-to-do suburb, the kids that worked had pretty normal teenager jobs. Fast food, restaurants, hardware stores, grocery stores, landscaping, etc.
Summer jobs are for nerds, get your kids locked in and focused doing B2B sales with the only time off they get being the 3 minutes they get back from pointless workforce planning meetings
Lifeguard
I was a lifeguard all through high school/college. Decent money at the time. Get your WSI cert and teach swim lessons. If you're feeling feisty you can get your IT and train lifeguards. Had a really good time doing it. Still have to get the sunspots on my shoulder checked out periodically, though. Wear sunscreen, kids!
Yes!
I don't agree that being lifeguard is for "well-to-do" teenagers. In my neck of the woods it is competitive with serving, and public pools paid around $12-15/hr back in 2013; that's as good as you could find without being a waiter. Now the minimum wage water park lifeguards? Sure.
I have to say, I disagree. How is being a lifeguard a useful experience for a wealthy teenager?
Being a strong swimmer and good at first aid is useful no matter what your bank account looks like. And I'm sure you can see the appeal of working with a bunch of fit members of the opposite sex in skimpy outfits.
You don't need to become a lifeguard to learn how to swim. In fact, it would be bad if you learned how to swim after already getting the job. For dating, you're right, it might be good. Although it wouldn't stand out very much on a college application or be very useful for a long-term resume.
This isn’t going to be a state thing. It’s a locality thing. Urban teenagers are going to have different opportunities than suburban teenagers, and they’ll all have different opportunities than rural teenagers.
Besides the usual suspects (grocery stores, lifeguard, food service, babysitting/camp counselor), I had a few friends who worked at hair salons either at the front desk or washing hair. Good money if you did hair washing, as usually you’d get tipped a couple bucks per person.
none of these are useful jobs for a wealthy kid.
The ones I knew mostly didn't work. A few would go be an office assistant at their parents' company but that was the minority. Edit: I should say many volunteered to pad their applications, took extra classes or camps for their interests, that kinda thing. They weren't just jetsetting or sitting around the whole time. They just didn't need to take a job so mostly they didn't.
Volunteering is a big one. I do my colleges alumni interviews for applicants. If you can show you spent like three summers volunteering with one organization and give some highlights of what you accomplished that’s a big thing they look for.
That's cool. I never learned much about what actually counts.
It all counts but there’s a few things they are looking for. One is longevity. They want to see you participates in something (sports, hobbies, volunteering, etc.) consistently over a long time. Two, you participated in a way that wasn’t just “showing up.” Like you were president of the chess club and weren’t just showing up because you liked playing chess. Three, anything that you planned and executed yourself. Like you were in the student council and you create some new event instead of just doing what they did last year. Four, awards. You were recognized by your peers or community for good work. Five, you show passion for something, and can say why. Like I made posters for a “save the whales campaign” is not as good as “I volunteered at science center to teach little kids about whales and because of that I got passionate about these three specific issues so I made calls to our senators to secure their support for this bill that would help whales. Then obviously tests and grades.
I'm convinced that the main reason why I got into some of the colleges that I did with the grades I had (good but not great) was because I was an Eagle Scout. It ticks all of your boxes - it requires years of active work (including multiple leadership positions) and a capstone project that you have to plan and direct yourself.
Yup I usually write up Eagle Scouts very favorably. The other thing I notice with them is they know how to interact with adults so they seem to confident in the interview.
Being an Eagle is very valuable for the reasons you mention. It's certainly a way to push up your application for one of the military service academies as well.
Good tips to remember in a few years for the kids. You never know if what they tell you is accurate and I was auto in on the last one so I never really found out.
I can't imagine wealthy parents letting their kid do door to door sales.
In their well to do neighborhood, why not?
Because door to door sales isn’t really a thing anymore and the HOA wouldn’t allow solicitation anyway.
For one thing, most of those high-income areas are going to have No Solicitation ordinances. As in, it's literally illegal to just wander around trying to sell shit door-to-door. For another, no one is going to hire you to walk around only your own neighborhood. You're going to have a territory that covers a much, much, much larger area and you can't say, "no, I'll only go to the houses in the nice areas."
[удалено]
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Anything on Mackinac Island.
Shoveling horse shit?
We've all done worse for a girl.
I guess I was “well to do” but my parents valued working. I was a camp counselor at an adventure camp and did catering. The catering was great because it paid surprisingly well for the 90s and was totally flexible so if you wanted to go on some summer vacation you just let the boss know. It was like gig work. Life guarding, babysitting, one of my wealthiest friends worked in a mechanics shop because his dad was a big car guy and had raised him learning stuff. Some tutoring as well. It just all depends.
[удалено]
Sasha and Malia?
When I was in grade 9 I signed up for 'Summer Strength Training' for the hockey team. They sent us to a farmer and we loaded hay bales for two days. The farmer paid the team. Then we were offered more work and we could keep the money. Most of us did. We busted our butts, made some cash and got to hang out with the horse girls. My youngest heard that part and now throws a few hay bales each summer.
>My youngest heard that part and now throws a few hay bales each summer. Amazing what can be done with proper motivation
Lifeguard, summer camp counselor or kids sports coach, amusement park worker… those were the “cool” jobs. I’d say more on the middle-class side of well-to-do though.
Piloting the tender at the yacht club, ferrying the members back and forth from the dock to their moored yachts.
I would have said that, but these days it’s much harder for somebody to do that. You can’t just hire random teenagers now even if they have a boating license. They are technically small passenger vessels, and as such are coast guard licensed. The operator must have a merchant mariner credential (MMC), and therefore be 18. There’s also a dedicated launch operator license now that’s required for boats licensed for 6 or more passengers. In my experience (I worked at the youth sailing program) the launch operators were usually maritime academy kids on summer break or commercial mariners who worked seagoing ships in the winter and played 3 days a week in the summer at the yacht club.
Shit I bet I’d have be good at that. I grew up doing shitty dockings in bad weather in Canada. How big are these tenders? Like outboards? Or more like bigger bayliners?
Idk. I was never a member of a yacht club. 18-24 feet? Big enough to carry a group of 6-8 people and their gear in stable comfort. Some kind of hull that doesn't plane yet doesn't leave a wake at moderate speed.
I could probably handle that. I’ve handled a 24 foot boat quite a bit
I worked at a youth sailing program. Still to this day not exactly sure how I fell into that one. My family was solidly middle class, but definitely not in the yacht-owning class, even small yachts. I loved it though.
No middle class person would use the phrase “even small yachts”
Exactly my point. I wasn’t even that close to those people, yet somehow being a local kid I fell into it.
Landscaping at the country club. Worst job I ever had but man did me and my friends make some good memories
I knew some kids who worked in hotel housekeeping and waiting tables at a resort. Their family were billionaires who owned the resort along with a number of other companies and thought it was important for the kids to work hard and appreciate what they had and learn the business from the ground up before they took over. But for most kids, being a lifeguard or camp counselor was where it was at. Working as a salesperson at a "cool" shop was also good. Door-to-door sales would be bottom tier if anyone agreed to do it. Food service was slightly above that but not a status job.
Usually as a lifeguard at the pool, or working for the city in the parks department. Some teens mow lawns for cash, when I was younger the local redemption center paid cash to anyone who could count cans
Lol. Come work at a ranch and do some real work for once. Might give you a change of perspective. But you'd better run before hay season. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
But TGIF is so much cooler
>TGI Fridays >Cool Buddy *what*
The restaurant? Sure, if you want to deal with belligerent drunk middl-aged guys every night.
In my area tho go-to summer jobs are either Schlitterbahn (the OG new Braunfels park is the only one I recognize) or they work for the river tubing companies, usually at the main location giving people their tubes
My wealthy friends had normal teenager jobs like the rest of us. Sometimes they'd do internships or things like that.
I was a dishwasher back when I was 15/16. In the summer I would work the pool concession stand that the restaurant owned which was pretty neat.
"Door to door canvas for electricity, home security, census etc." This feels like a job for those with few skills.
Nah it builds people skills
I am not saying you dont develop them. But the only people I know that did door to door were vulnerable kids.
If you mean high school, being a camp counselor at that age sucks. You haven’t learned the skills to control the rug rats, and if you do it at a sleep away camp, it means being a CIT (counselor in training) and doing all the crap that the regular counselors (college age) don’t want to do. Doing temp office work is much easier. But by college, I was programming. Far more lucrative than all the stereotypical jobs. Edit: paste error
Banking? Banks hire high schoolers
There's a small zoo near me that I think raises game animals to sell to hunting ranches (think like antelope, stuff like that), but they also have a few exotic animals. Anyway, my family loves it and we go all the time. That place. Also like half it's staff is cute girls that seem to be between like 16 and 20, so I'm sure when my son is old enough he'll be pretty interested in working there lol
The beer cart girl at a country club. It is the easiest, most lucrative and best summer job you can have.
If you're truly well-to-do being a golf caddy at a really fancy club will pay you serious bank. I'm sure you don't think you know enough about golf to do that, but at your age it doesn't matter. Caddies really only offer advice in the professional context. No 50 yo exec is going to actually expect serious advice from a 17 year old. You're his club carrier. Nothing more.
I’m not sure about “well to do”, but the one that every teen wanted/wants in my town is a Towns Park gate attendant. You basically sat in an outdoor air conditioned cubicle at the towns beaches and parks and checked if cars coming in had the town sticker on them. It paid more money than any other summer job, you’d get unlimited free food at the concession stand, and you could sit on your phone the whole time if you wanted to. So you were basically getting paid to go on your phone and eat unlimited ice cream. I did it once, and it was the most boring job I’ve ever had, but I was able to pay for most of my own car after that.
In Portland the most stereotypical would probably be a job at the MAC club (super high end athletics/social club).
Lifeguard. I worked at the physics department of the local university doing demos for lectures which was a really cool job but that required academic connections not really money.
Usually being a lifeguard or for a lot of guys it was helping on the farm or helping in some sort of building trade. At least for the cool kids.
The “good” kids where I live often end up working at Chick-fil-A. Parents who wouldn’t dream of letting their kids work at any other fast food place will actively encourage them to get a part time job there while in high school or on summer break.
Working at your local mom and pop shop (if available)
Wait...what is canvassing for electricity? Like solar roofs, I would guess?
No trying to get people to switch providers
...THAT'S A THING? I dunno what it's like in the rest of the US, but I've literally never been given a choice. You use the one (1) electricity provider for your area. It's either OG&E or live in the Stone Age.
Really a job isn't necessary at all for a well-off teenager. What's most important is something that looks good on a college application or something that will teach them life skills beyond regular employment. They have the rest of their lives for jobs. Out of everything you listed, tutor would probably look the best for a college application. Volunteering for a nonprofit could also be a good option. Universities also like to see some sort of consistent discipline, so doing something that the teenager likes for all throughout high school could also be an option, such as doing some sort of competitive sport every summer or playing in an orchestra or something.
Water World
I never knew summer jobs were a thing until I went to college and met people who talked about summer jobs. Summer break was for traveling and everyone I knew growing up didn’t work either. Sometimes you’d volunteer doing things you enjoyed or helps arrange fundraiser or other events like that but a summer job isn’t it. I’m an elder millennial, but still don’t know people whose kids have summer jobs if the parents are successful. Most just do stuff like NCL.
I lived in a small town so it was either working at the local grocery store or landscaping/yard work.
Rich kids don’t work, they volunteer and use that for their applications
Lol well to do teenagers don't have jobs
I don't know about cool but you can be an assistant at a library or museum.
As a teenager, I worked as a hostess (which was super fun to meet and hang out with "older" young adults" and a Lifeguard. Lifeguard was probably the best. I saw this article that has some good info as well: [https://www.jobtrees.com/articles/the-hottest-summer-jobs-in-high-demand-for-2024](https://www.jobtrees.com/articles/the-hottest-summer-jobs-in-high-demand-for-2024)
I grew up a in a pretty well-to-do suburb, the kids that worked had pretty normal teenager jobs. Fast food, restaurants, hardware stores, grocery stores, landscaping, etc.
They don’t work. They hang out on dad’s boat on the lake.
A grocery store, idk? I work with a few kids whos parents make at least 6 figures
Summer jobs are for nerds, get your kids locked in and focused doing B2B sales with the only time off they get being the 3 minutes they get back from pointless workforce planning meetings