CHRISTMAS JOBS 2011 - SEASONAL JOBS FOR TEENS

Today is November 1st 2011 and although Christmas seems reasonably far away, it is really right around the corner: especially if you are looking for a job this holiday season.

Remember that the Christmas buying season starts big time right after Thanksgiving but there is a lot of increased buying now all through the month of November. That means retail shops and restaurants are really kicking up their hiring RIGHT NOW! If you wait, you might miss out.

Finding a job has been hard in 2011 but the months of November and December are the one time you KNOW that employers are hiring, at least in the retail and restaurant sectors. Now is the best chance you will have of finding work. You may only find something that is part time or maybe that is all you want anyway. Regardless of what you are looking for, now is the best time of the year to get out there and find work.

Great jobs for 17 year olds this time of year can be found by going to Snagajob. They have all the employers that hire teenagers and you can get a good start by going there. It is free so you don't have to worry about paying and if you have a resume you can submit it online right at their site. You can also use Snagajob to get a good idea of what companies are hiring and what types of jobs they are hiring for.

The first two weeks of November will be when most employers hire the bulk of their holiday staff. If you have been frustrated this year with job searching (and who hasn't?) now is the time to get out there and get hired!

FINDING A JOB = HARD WORK

It is probably true that it is harder to find a job when you are 17 years old than when you are an adult. That can be for a variety of reasons including a lack of experience, maturity, education, and employers hesitancy to hire teenage workers. But one thing is the same for you now that will still be the same for you as an adult: IT TAKES HARD WORK TO FIND A JOB NO MATTER HOW OLD YOU ARE!

A lot of people put their resumes up on job sites like Monster, Job.com, Snagajob and others and then sit back and wait. THAT IS THE WRONG APPROACH. That might work if we had very low unemployment rates but right now with them being so high, you have to go to the jobs and not expect them to come to you!

When looking for jobs for 17 year olds, you need to do everything you can to find them and apply to them. That might include:

1) networking (means letting everyone know you want a job)
2) sending out resumes
3) scouring online job boards for openings and ideas
4) studying the companies you are going to apply to
5) starting to learn job interview skills
6) learning how to always be upbeat and positive
5) and generally working your butt off

Hopefully the economy will someday turn around making jobs easier to find. But the lesson you are learning now that job hunting is NOT easy and TAKES A LOT Of WORK is a great lesson to remember when you get older. Jobs are valuable and everyone wants and needs them. They will ALWAYS be competitive and should never be taken for granted.

HAVE YOU ASKED YOUR PARENTS FOR HELP FINDING A JOB?

It is July 2011 already and a big number of teenagers have been unable to find work. If you are one of them, have you asked your parents for some help?

When I was 17 my mom helped me get a job at a cafeteria. She knew someone who new of a job in a cafeteria and that is often the way things can happen. Your parents have totally different connections than you do and they might be able to get some job leads though people they know or work with.

Jobs for 17 year olds just aren't going to come knocking on your door at this stage. To get a job now you probably need help from someone who has an "in" with an employer or someone who happens to know of an open job. By getting your parents to ask around on your behalf, you will have more of a chance of making a connection with someone that can lead you to a job opening.

Many teenagers are hesitant to ask their parents for help, no matter what the situation is. They are too concerned about getting respect and looking like they don't need anyone's help. Sadly, many teenagers don't even have a good relationship with their parents for a variety of reasons.

But this is the time to put all differences aside and ask them for assistance. The economy is not going to get any better this summer and 17 year olds needing a job need to find one right away. Asking your parents to help in the job hunt is a smart thing to do even if it might not be what you want to do.

TEEN UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AT 24%

Are you wondering why you can't find a job?

Last month in May (according to the Labor Department) the unemployment rate for teenagers 16 to 19 years old was more than 24%! That's way up from last year at this time when the rate was about 13%. Things have gotten worse with the economy and teenagers are really being affected.

A 24% unemployment rate means that 1 person out of every 4 people can't find work. It is actually probably even higher than that though, as many teens aren't bothering to look because they don't think they can find anything. If they aren't looking then they are not being counted in the statistics.

If you are out looking for any kind of jobs for 17 year olds, you have probably heard this standard line from employers: we aren't hiring, just taking applications. You give them your application but in your heart you know that you will never be called.

Going from shop to shop, business to business, employer to employer, handing out your resume has to be one of the worst feelings ever! It is one of hopelessness, especially now when you know that your chances are so slim.

Make sure you are taking advantage of online job sites like Snagajob where you can find employers that are hiring in your city or town and in many cases apply online. With an unemployment rate this high for teenagers, you have to take advantage of every resource you have both online and offline to find a job. Make sure you also ask your parents for any help and advice they can give you because sometimes they will have connections through friends at their work who know of opportunities.

CASHIER JOBS BEING REPLACED BY MACHINES

McDonald's in Europe is going to be installing touch screen computers in many of it's restaurants that will allow people to order and pay without ever talking to a real cashier. This is similar to the quick checkout machines we have in American supermarkets where you can scan your own items and pay for them by inserting cash or credit card into the machine.

This shows that as technology advances, all jobs that can be automated will be in the future. Customer service is getting harder and harder to find now days with these touch screens substituting for real people.

Who is hurt by this new trend to replace people with computers?

Teenagers and young workers are one group that is hurt tremendously as they are the ones that are often hired for cashier jobs. If you are looking for jobs for 17 year olds, one of the jobs you CAN get and CAN get hired for is a cashier job at any one of the fast food chains. This disturbing news and trend of replacing people with computer touch screens will directly take jobs away from teenagers.

While this story just involves the European McDonald's for now, you know that if it is successful there it won't be long before a similar system starts to appear here in the United States. If that happens, it will mean even fewer jobs for 16 and 17 year olds who need to find summer work.

What will be next? Will they someday replace the workers behind the counter who make the burgers and shakes with machines as well?

For now though, teenagers who are still looking for a summer job at McDonald's or anywhere else should go to Snagajob where it is free to sign up and look for work.

RETIREMENT COMMUNITY JOBS FOR 17 YEAR OLDS

Our population is aging as the first wave of Baby Boomers is now starting to retire. That generation is the product of a lot of couples giving birth at the end of World War II and these Boomers are starting to create a big demand for retirement communities.

More and more retirement homes are popping up all over the country and the chances are that at least a couple of them are somewhere near you. This is the type of place you might never have considered looking for work but some of them might have hiring jobs for 17 year olds.

In order to work in a place like this you will have to be a teenager who is very respectful, polite, even tempered, patient, upbeat, and enjoys being around older people. If you have a spotless job record you might inquire to find out what types of jobs you qualify for.

I have three cousins who worked in the dining room area of an assisted living home when they were teenagers. It does take a special type of person who enjoys interacting with senior citizens who are often times not in the best of shape. That is why patience and understanding would be two of the top qualities you would have to have.

These types of retirement homes employ maids, waiters, cooks, serving people, and need help in other areas as well so there are opportunities for teenagers. As a 17 year old you might try to locate what retirement communities are near you and stop in to find out if they have any job openings. The turnover rate of employees in this type of business is usually quite high so that means they are often looking for good people.

To find the communities near you please search online for: retirement communities, retirement homes, assisted living communities, continuing care communities and add your city or town.

JOBS AT MCDONALD'S FOR 17 YEAR OLDS

One week from today on April 19th, McDonald's is going to hire up to 50,000 people across America. They are calling it the "national hiring day" and while they are really going to be hiring people, it is sort of just a stunt for publicity. Summer is very close now and they are gearing up for those busy months.

McDonald's has 1000's of restaurants that are hiring all the time so you can always go and apply for a job. You don't have to wait for April 19th. You can go to each individual McDonald's store and apply there or you can go to their website to see what stores near you have jobs that are open.

McDonald's has been a longtime job source for teenagers and 2011 is no different. So, if you want to get a summer job behind the counter at McDonald's, now is the time to start looking.

You can also look for part time and full time summer jobs at Snagajob

COMPANIES THAT HIRE 17 YEAR OLDS

So many jobs require you to be eighteen years or older and that makes it very difficult for teenagers to find work. So, if you are looking for jobs for 17 year olds, it helps if you can find out what companies have jobs for workers that are under 18.

I have gone through the available jobs on Snagajob and this is partial list of the bigger companies that hire 17 year olds along with the job titles in parenthesise of the available positions:

Burger King (Team Member, Shift Coordinator)

AM/PM (Crew Member, Assistant Manager)

Applebee's (Host/Hostess, Line/Prep Cook, Server)

Arby's (Crew Member)

Bed Bath & Beyond (Cashiers)

Bojangles' (Team Member)

Boston Market (Crew Member)

Chic-fil-A (Day Time/Evening Team Member)

Cracker Barrel (Cooks, Servers, Host/Hostess)

Dairy Queen (Cooks, Crew Members, Cake Decorators)

Domino's Pizza (Customer Service Representatives)

Dunkin' Donuts (Crew Members, Shift Leaders)

Golden Corral (Cooks, Line Person, Prep Person)

Hardee's (Crew Members)

Jiffy Lube (Lube Technician)

Kmart (Cashier, Loss Prevention, Replenishment)

Luby's Inc. (Food Attendant, Cashier, Waitstaff)

Marshalls (Merchandise Associate)

Pizza Hut (Team Member, Server)

Sears (Cashier, Sales Associate, & many more)

Sonic Drive-In (Cooks, Carhop/Skater, Drive Through)

Steak n Shake (Servers, Drive Through, Grill, Fountain)

T.J. Maxx (Sales/Merchandise Associate)

Wendy's (Crew Members, Shift Leader)

These are just SOME of the companies that hire 17 year olds and you can find them all and many more on Snagajob. It is free to sign up with Snagajob and in many cases you can apply right there online. At least you can get a great idea of all the different businesses that hire 17 year olds and you can start applying to the ones in your town or city.