I originally wrote this article for PARENT Magazine in 2005. Finding and keeping a part-time job lays the foundation for your future.

Has something happened since I was a kid looking for a part-time job? That was more than 40 years ago, and the answer is no. Teens today are basically the same as they were then. We had long hair; they have long hair or no hair. We had bellbottoms; they wear their pants down around their knees and maybe have a few more piercings and tattoos; but then, every generation has its “look”.

Odds are that the people who hire you for a job will be 20 to 30 years older than you are. Appealing to their style when you walk in the door for the first time is an important factor in getting the job you want.

Looking for a job

Be a chameleon during your job quest. This will catapult you by leaps and bounds ahead of the others who aren’t or don’t care about their appearance. Changing the way you look and act when entering the potential job environment is essential. Fitting into that environment can enhance your odds of getting the job you want. You have to bridge the gap between yourself and the potential employer.

Blending into one of your job choices goes beyond what you wear. You need to not smell-no colognes, no perfumes, no cigarette or body odor; leave your “cool” at home, leave your parents at home, leave your boyfriend or girlfriends at home.

Above all, smile with a little enthusiasm. Employers list lack of enthusiasm as their number one turn off!

I am not a vegetable person. When I was a kid, and to this day, I don’t like lima beans, beets, Brussel sprouts or PEAS! But you must understand the four P’s before you start a job quest.

• PLANNING: You will not get the job you want on the first day you start looking. Make a plan a couple of months before you begin your search. This will keep you motivated and focused.
• PATIENCE: Remember, getting the job you want and not “grazing” the mall collecting scores of job applications can limit how fast you get the job you want. So, hang in there, it may take a few weeks.
• POLITENESS: Smile and say thank you instead of using slang-such as “no problem” or “my bad.” Talk like they talk; bridge the gap.
• PEST: There is a fine line between staying in front of a potential employer and getting noticed and being a pest. Overpowering them can be as bad as not asking for the job in the first place. Remember, every time that you step on their turf during any part of the job seeking process, you are taking them away from their work. You can usually detect when you are bugging them.

In a nutshell, finding the part-time job you want takes some thought and effort. It’s not easy. It can be as important to your goals as any sport or school activity.

Many colleges look at teen-job history right along with grades. Having and keeping a part-time job can also help with your self-confidence and time management and teach you life skills in ways nothing else can.

Keeping a job in good standing

Once you have that first job, it can be B-O-R-I-N-G, unless it’s the job you want! How many burgers can you put in a bag before you start to think how nice it would be to not have that job?

The point is that if you have chosen a job that you think you would be interested in, then it probably won’t be as boring as the one you “grazed” and found.

So chose wisely because you need to stay there for at least 6 months. A year or two is better. The reason is if you jump around from job to job too much, it can backfire. Future potential employers will assume you will leave them quickly too, and will be less inclined to hire you.

The biggest reason to stick with a job for at least six months is that when you give your two weeks notice that you are leaving, the best thing that you can take with you is a letter of recommendation on their company’s letterhead. Then make copies and attach them to the next job applications that you fill out. At 16 or 18 years old, this can be more beneficial than a resume’.

While on the job, don’t be “needy”. The idea is to fit in to the situation and not to cause extra work. You are supposed to do the work, not be the work. Asking a question once is good, asking the same question twice raises a flag.

You are on the job not to be friends with your co-workers, but it is important to learn to get along with them.

One of the top ways to loose your job is to miss a shift of be late consistently.

There are 1.6 million excuses for why employees are late—from “I just got encephalitis 10 minutes before my shift”, to (one of the most common), “I got a flat tire”. I have live in Fort Collins for 30 years and I have had ONE flat tire and it was not on the way to work. If you need to miss a shift, arrange to have it covered by another employee. Many businesses have a “one strike and your out” policy on missed shifts.

Employers are bound by law to keep your government papers for seven years. They usually keep those papers is a file along with various other notes on your performance. Keeping your job in good standing keeps this file free of “incidents”. Down the road, six years after you long left company XYZ, your “career” job might check up on you by contacting one of your part time jobs from years earlier.

The idea is to do the work you are hired to do with a smile, learn to get along with co-workers, get paid for it, and have fun…you CAN have fun at your job!