18 Job Ideas For Teens [You’ll Love #5]

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There are different reasons why a teenager may want to get a job. Whatever the case may be, getting the right job can set the tone for the rest of your life.

And that can be a good thing. Just know that there are plenty of jobs, especially in this particular economic climate, and we’re here to help you navigate them.

If you’re going to be working hard to earn some extra bucks then it only makes sense that you’d want to be paid well for it. Let’s take a look at jobs that actually pay decently.

What Kind of Jobs Are Available for Teenagers?

Generally, the jobs employers can offer to teenagers are limited because there are laws guiding how minors are to put in work hours and the type of work they can perform under state law.

With all the restrictions for jobs for teenagers, it might be difficult to find high-paying jobs. Difficult— but not impossible. There is a small variety of jobs to choose from for teenagers 14 years of age and above that pay well.

As of 2020, most of the jobs available to teenagers pay the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour at the federal level, sometimes higher in certain states. Generally, the ones you would consider good jobs for teenagers are ones that allow them to develop workplace skills for future jobs and careers.

Any teenager under 18 years of age is covered by The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which sets the federal minimum age of employment at 14 years old. However, that’s generally around the time they start high school, and that in itself can already be quite a stressful experience. 16 years of age is a better time to start getting work experience if need be, as the child has gotten some high school experience under their belt and can decide for themselves if they want to get work experience prior to college.

Regardless there are a good number of high-paying jobs for teenagers which do not require anything except the ability to learn on the go. We categorize the following jobs under the following scopes:

• No prior experience needed
• Experience needed

High-Paying Jobs With No Prior Experience Needed

Below are 11 high-paying jobs that you could start right now with little or no experience: 

1. Landscape Laborer

As a landscape laborer, you will be expected to perform certain duties, aside from mowing the lawn, including trimming hedges, pulling out weeds, and watering plants.

Depending on the location of the job, you may also be required to maintain floral growth on fences, fountains, and bushes.

All these duties are usually carried out with easy-to-use equipment like secateurs, mowers, and shears. This is to say that you do not require previous knowledge to work as a landscape laborer. On average, the hourly pay of a landscape laborer is about $13.64, which is well above the federal minimum wage.

2. Babysitting

If you have no problem with kids and are generally good with them, babysitting might be the perfect job for you.

Your primary responsibility involves you looking after and taking care of young children while their parents are away.

This may mean you making sure they are safe and sound at all times, preparing their meals, and feeding them.

Also, when necessary, you may need to help the kids out with homework, keep the children occupied with games, and put the children to bed late at night.

You can offer your babysitting services to friends, family, and neighbors or check out sites such as Care.com and Bambino for babysitting openings.  Babysitters have an average salary of about $16.13 per hour.

3. YouTube / TikTok

With the increased accessibility of the internet across the globe, YouTube and TikTok creators, more than ever before, are in a good position to earn serious money. And as teenagers, if you’re just looking to make extra money, it’s a great time to delve into this sort of opportunity. As you get older, you’ll see your channel make money and by the time you get a full-time career, it’s possible that you could decide to either focus on one or the other. As a backup, it could always just serve as additional passive income.

Creating content may be fun for you, but you’ll still need to put in the work to get your channel grown enough to rank and be monetized.

To do this, you’ll need to create and post original and engaging content regularly. It takes a lot of work to build up followership and have an audience. Teenagers who have YouTube and TikTok accounts can sign up for Google AdSense and earn money with their videos.

4. Pet Sitting

Pet sitting is yet another job around the block and is an easy way to make good money. On average, you should expect a yearly salary totaling about $37,861.

No special skills or previous experience are required to work as a pet sitter. All you’ll be required to do is watch over animals – mostly dogs and cats – while owners are away.

You may also be responsible for taking the pets to the vet if they fall sick. Additionally, you’ll need to feed the pets, keep their living areas clean, and take them outside. Looking to work as a pet sitter? Your best bet would be to spread the word around your neighborhood to people who might need your services.

5. Dog walker

Closely affiliated with pet sitting, dog walking is another popular pet-inclined job. Everyone has at one point or the other seen a dog walker. As a dog walker, you would be responsible for taking others’ dogs out on walks. Especially dogs whose owners don’t have time to walk them.

This is an easy and rewarding job that requires little or no experience. Considering it? A good place to start will be reaching out to your neighbors or putting out a post on social media to let people in your area know that you are available to walk their dogs. Or, you could sign up for Rover or Wag which allows you to make up to $1,833 a month.

Check out Rover vs Wag to see if either one of them is for you.

6. Cashier

This is a pretty common one; you’re more likely to secure a job as a cashier than any other job when job hunting. The average salary of a cashier is about $10.55 per hour.

As a cashier, you would be expected to ring up customers’ products, collect cash, process card payments, and hand out change when necessary.

There is nothing complex about the job. At most, you’d be required to perform price checks, bag items, and validate coupons or gift cards. These are relatively easy to get the hang of. The most equipment you might be exposed to is the POS or tilling machine which is also pretty easy even for a first-timer.

7. Acting

Are you talented in acting or have plans to pursue acting as a career? Hear me out. You might think this is some gig that you need connections to get into. And that’s the kind of headlines that get people to read articles. But it’s not always true. There are plenty of actors and actresses who have legitimately climbed up the ladder and made it on their own.

For this path, you might as well start early and apply for acting roles. It’s the kind of job that’s flexible and, at the same time, pays well. An average salary of about $11.00 per hour isn’t a bad deal for a start.

As an actor, you will have to read scripts, memorize your lines and interpret them to act out a certain character. You may start by searching for roles from local theater productions or check out audition sites such as backstage.com for paid acting roles.

Remember, even famous actors and actresses started from somewhere.

8. Sales Associate

This is one of the less demanding jobs depending on the company you work for. As a sales associate, you’d be required to work in a store and assist those customers who make or want to make a purchase. If you’re an extrovert, then this may be ideal for you. It comes with an average salary of $11.06 per hour.

Your other duties as a sales rep or associate may include you responding to customer inquiries and complaints, making product recommendations to customers, and maintaining the tidy appearance of the store. To get a sales associate job, look out for stores in your surrounding that have openings or vacancies.

9. Server

This is typically a shift job in restaurants, bars, and fast food establishments, but with an okay enough pay. You get paid an average salary of about $11.42 per hour.

However, the real gold comes from tips. It’s sort of a point of pride that waiters and waitresses make their money mostly from tips. This depends largely on the type of restaurant and the volumes they see on a day-to-day basis. However, it’s entirely possible to make $25.00+ an hour overall.

With the rise of the expected tipping percentages, you may be able to make a lot more than you think being a server. Especially if you have some experience and can get a job at a higher end place.

As a server, you would be responsible for taking orders from customers, relating these orders to the kitchen, getting the prepared food to customers, refilling drinks, and collecting payments – really, nothing too complicated.

Also, you would clear up tables after a customer is done and arrange the area for new diners. To get a job as a diner, you should try local restaurants and fast food outlets around you. They’ll be your best bet for job openings.

10. Caddy

Caddies work for golfers. You could consider them assistants. Caddies run simple tasks like carrying golf bags, replacing ball marks, measuring yardages, and holding the flag.

With a little time and practice, it is a job you could grow to love. It’s a very cool job with an average salary of about $11.74 – $15.87 per hour.

If there is a golf course near you, you may be in luck!

11. Thrift With eBay

Teenagers with their parents’ permission can participate in eBay selling. By doing so, you could make a lot of money buying from thrift stores and items that are on sale. If you’re thrift-savvy, even better. 

You have to have an eye for things still of value that you can trade, such as collectibles and vintage clothing. So start gathering things to sell!

High-Paying Jobs With Prior Experience Needed

Below are 7 high-paying jobs you could do if you have some prior experience: 

1. Customer Service

Are you a teenager who is comfortable with talking on the phone, outgoing, and good with people? If yes, you can get a job as a customer care service agent. It’s another flexible type of job, and the pay is about $9.50 per hour.

This job is becoming increasingly remote, and the role requires you to own a computer with high-speed internet, probably a headset, and phone access.

Usually, with this role, experience is preferred because you must know how to attend to customers over the phone and address whatever issues they might have. Check sites online for customer service recruitments and openings.

2. Lifeguard

Another fun job you can do as a teenager is becoming a lifeguard. A lifeguard works wherever water is being used as a recreational activity, either on the beach or at the pool. Only experienced swimmers can become lifeguards, and the average salary is about $11.81 per hour.

If you get a job as a lifeguard, you would be responsible for enforcing safety rules and regulations around the swimming pool; you may also assist in providing swimming lessons.

You will always be monitoring the area for signs of imminent danger, rescuing swimmers, and performing first aid. To be able to carry out these tasks effectively, a lifeguard must be an excellent swimmer.

3. Retail Merchandiser

This job is mostly for (but not restricted to) teenagers whose parents are manufacturers because a retail merchandiser must have an in-depth knowledge of the product being sold.

Even though they are situated in the store to sell the product, they would have more than a basic knowledge of the company’s product. The average salary for the job is $12.72 per hour.

As a retail merchandiser, you would be expected to act as the middleman between the manufacturer and the retailer.

You would also be responsible for maintaining stock, ensuring proper pricing for products, correct signage placement, and sometimes creating and implementing sales strategies for the company’s brand.

4. Youth Sports Referee

This would be a fun job for any teenager passionate about sports. It’s a job that enables you to partake in something you love doing and, at the same time, get paid for it. The average salary is around $16.13 per hour.

As a youth sports referee, you would be overseeing games between sports teams in a youth league. You would be expected to keep track of start and stop times and ensure that all players adhere to the rules of the game, amongst other things.

5. Tutoring

Nerdy much? That’s a good thing. And, you can make money from it! Determine the subjects you’re very good at, then offer tutoring services for those subjects. This is one of the highest-paying jobs for teenagers, as the average salary is around $21.31 per hour.

If you’re tutoring students, you would be responsible for teaching and aiding your students with their coursework on specific subjects outside of regular school hours. 

As long as you’re tutoring, it is your duty to prepare a tutoring schedule that will help your students bridge the gap in school work. Being organized is a must. You would have to discover your students’ weaknesses, track their progress in school and devise strategies that would help each of your students excel in class.

6. Freelancing

Particularly skilled at writing, translating, or transcribing? All these are hot takes in the freelancing industry, as people always need people with this skillset and more to run projects for them. Freelancing is a high-paying niche as the average is about $31.56 per hour.

If you have the skills and experience, you’re in a good position to make money. You might have to do a little research on the various freelancing options there are to determine the one you’re good at. Afterward, you’ll need a computer, headset, strong internet connection, and good typing and English skills.

Check out How to Make Money with Fiverr.

7. Blogger

This might seem a bit much for a teenager, but those who are tech-savvy and creative or the ones who enjoy writing and photography could give a try on blogging as a way to make money.

It requires a bit of consistency before you start receiving returns. The average pay is $712.60 per week so that could be a motivation for you if you do decide to give it a try. However, that comes after a good amount of time spent working on it. Its trajectory is very much like starting a YouTube channel.

Luckily, setting up a blog is not overly complicated or expensive, and once monetized, teenagers can find blogging to be actually quite lucrative. It gives them an avenue to put out whatever content they desire, express themselves, and develop their skills.

In Conclusion

There are tons of great job options out there.

Let’s summarize these awesome teen jobs below:

1. Landscape Laborer
2. Babysitting
3. YouTube/TikTok
4. Pet Sitting
5. Dog walker
6. Cashier
7. Acting
8. Sales Associate
9. Server
10. Caddy
11. Thrift With eBay
12. Customer Service
13. Lifeguard
14. Retail Merchandiser
15. Youth Sports Referee
16. Tutoring
17. Freelancing
18. Blogger

Whether it’s to earn some extra cash or save some money for some future needs, there are more than a handful of job options available for you as a teenager. And most do not even require you to possess a degree or a qualified certification to begin.

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