FACEBOOK AND TWITTER CAN COST YOU A JOB

If you are 17 and looking for a job, you need to watch what you do and say on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Even if you think your account is password protected, word now is that some employers, government agencies, and colleges are asking for access to your accounts. You can read the story here.

The fact is that what you say online can put your education and job search in jeopardy. It is just plain stupid to write all sorts of personal information about yourself and get into arguments online in these accounts. Teenagers have to start realizing that when they go online and post things, what they say is there possibly forever. Even if there is a password guarding your account, there is no guarantee that what you say will be safe.

Employers are now VERY AWARE that they can find all sorts of dirt on potential employees by what they post on those sites. More and more of them are trying to find Facebook accounts of job applicants and so you have to realize this is a very real threat to you getting a job, if you are misbehaving online.

When you are young you don't often realize what can happen with the things you post on the Internet. Teenagers don't understand that what they do today REALLY CAN adversely affect what happens to them in the future.

Hunting for a job this summer will be a tough task for all 17 year olds and teens of all ages. The economy continues to be bad which means not enough companies are hiring to meed the demand. Be careful what you do online so that it doesn't come back to hurt you if you get an employer interested in hiring you!

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.

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.

JOBS FOR 17 YEAR OLDS - DON'T USE A STUPID EMAIL ADDRESS!

One of the big mistakes you can make when applying for jobs is to use an email address that is unprofessional. If you are on the hunt for jobs for 17 year olds, make sure you make an email that you set up especially for employers.

Think about it, does an email address like "Iamhottoday@aol.com" or "sexyrachel@yahoo.com" sound like an email you should use when you apply for a job? Many employers, when they see an email like that, will immediately go on to the next applicant because they don't want to deal with immature children.

Your email address as well as the message you have on your voice mail, speak volumes about who you are and what type of person is applying for the job. You have to remember that if you want a job this summer or anytime in the future, it is adults that are going to be evaluating and hiring you.

Getting a job is a serious step into the real world that is run by adults. Getting jobs for 17 year olds is tough because of all the competition out there but you don't want to knock yourself out of the running for a job before you ever have a chance. Make sure you don't use a silly email or a silly voice mail!

SUMMER JOBS: IT'S NOT WORTH EVEN TRYING!

So you've heard it from your friends and seen it on the news: jobs for 17 year olds and teens in general are impossible to find. You think that no one is hiring and there are no jobs out there.

Does that sound like you? Have you even tried to get a job? Right now too many teens are giving up before they even get started just because they have heard it's tough. IF YOU NEVER TRY, YOU HAVE A 100% CHANCE OF FAILING!

The way you get a job in this environment is by never giving up. If you have been turned down 50 times then you try another 50 times, if that is what it takes. You have to keep applying for jobs no matter how you feel. Right now, that's the only way: to work harder at getting a job than the next guy and never stop looking.

There are lots of places to get jobs and maybe you haven't thought of them all. You can try camps, lawn care businesses, movie theaters, old folks homes, amusement parks, resorts, restaurants, retail stores, and any other places you can think of. There are companies out their hiring 17 year olds and teenagers of all ages.

One thing that might be keeping you back is if you are not applying to every job that you can do. Maybe you have not applied to any fast food restaurants because you think that working at McDonalds is to low a job for you. You are worried that your friends will laugh at you or make fun of you for flipping burgers. Well, that is the exact attitude that will contribute to your going the whole summer without ever being hired anywhere. Is going jobless cool?

When you are looking for jobs for 17 years olds, you have to start somewhere in the job market and that is usually at the bottom of the heap. You probably have little to no experience so you can't be picky about what kind of job you take, especially not now. Any job you get now will look good on your resume and it will show that you are willing to do hard work.

Employers like to see that and if you take the job flipping burgers this summer, you might be able to get something better next year because you will have more experience. Besides, you can learn a lot of things at a fast food restaurant including how to cashier, customer service, cooking, teamwork, how to deal with a boss and other things that will benefit you later on in life.

So, don't be the one saying that it is not even worth trying to get a job because you know there are none out there. There are jobs available and you have to be prepared to keep looking until you finally find one. Good luck!

WHERE TO FIND GOOD JOBS FOR 17 YEAR OLDS

The summer job hunt is beginning to heat up for teens now and many are wondering where to get the good jobs. Another question might simply be: what is a good job?

Right now, with the economy being so awful, any job might qualify as a "good job". If you can get any type of job at all, you might seriously think twice before turning it down.

Take a look at the poll in the right column of this blog. As of 4/14/10, it shows that over 50% of you have been looking for a job for MORE THAN 6 months! Now that is an unscientific poll but judging from all the bad news about jobs you hear, the poll is probably pretty accurate.

Snagajob remains the #1 online site for teenagers to find jobs for 17 year olds and other ages. They have the best selection of companies that have historically hired teens and have the types of jobs that teenagers can do and like doing.

Looking online together with searching offline is your best bet to find a job this summer. But if you wait too long you will end up with nothing as demand for jobs is high. Even though it is only April, many 17 year olds are already out there looking and trying to nail down summer work. You need to start right now too, if you are really serious about finding a job!

17 YEAR OLDS HAVE NO JOB HOURS RESTRICTIONS

Now that you are 17 years old, there are no hours restrictions put on you this summer when you get a job. You can work as much or as long as you want and you can work any hours during the day. This is different when you were younger and you were required by law to work only during certain hours.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour but you might legally make less if your job includes tips. Many waiter type jobs that are heavily dependant on tips do pay a lot less than minimum wage. Also, there are a few states (Alaska, Illinois, Oregon, and others) that have a minimum wage that is higher than $7.25 so you might make more depending on where you live.

Just because you are 17 doesn't meant that you can't make more than minimum wage. If you have experience and are good at what you do, you might indeed be able to make more. However, for the majority looking for summer jobs for 17 year olds, the $7.25 hourly amount is what you will be getting.

It appears that there are still more teenagers looking for jobs than there are jobs available again this year. 17 year olds will be up against more adults than younger teens because they can now apply for jobs that involve driving.

Many adults are frustrated as well about the bad economy and the lack of jobs which forces them to apply for jobs they wouldn't ordinarily want. So, if you are a 17 year old looking for a summer job, you may have to beat out some adults to get hired.

The sooner you start looking for work the more chances you will have to find something so start right now!

HIGH SCHOOL JOBS SHOULD NOT INTERFERE WITH SCHOOL

One of the potential problems of getting a job while you are in high school is that it can interfere with your studying and after school activities. That is, if you get a job during the months that school is in session.

Summer jobs are great because you have lots of free time and probably need to earn some extra money. Most kids have time to kill and a summer job is a great way to spend part of it. But if you get a job during the school year, it can take away from what some consider to be more important things, like homework. It is often not advisable for students to have jobs during the school year because it will mean less time to do the things that kids should be doing like studying, having fun, and participating in different activities.

With this economy being so poor though, many families may need their 17 year olds to work if they can all year long. Any additional money they can bring in to help the family is very important, especially if one or more of the parents are out of work. It is a difficult time right now for many families and jobs are in high demand.

Completing your education seems to be the most important thing you can do when you are young and very few people would disagree with that. However, right now some 17 year olds are needing to work even during the school year just to make extra money for their Mom and Dad. Some kids may even be quitting school just to help pay the mortgage and put food on the table.

In years past, jobs for 17 year old students were most often sought because the kids just wanted some extra spending money. If that sounds like your situation, you should make sure your new job doesn't take away from you doing well in school. Your future is in your education and not the hourly job you have now. And if you need a job to help out your family, try to do your best at both your job and school. It is a tough time for many and all you can do is to keep your head high and work hard at both.

JOBS FOR 17 YEAR OLD HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

One thing you should make sure of when you are choosing possible jobs is that it won't interfere with your school. Having a job is great, especially now when they are so hard to find, but all teenagers should remember that going to school should be their first priority.

It might seem that school isn't that fun or won't benefit you that much. It might seem that having a job and making money is a better alternative and it won't matter if your school grades or activities suffer. But remember, any job a 17 year old can get is one that doesn't pay well and probably doesn't have much of a future. For instance, do you want to spend the rest of your life mixing shake a an Orange Julius in the mall or waiting on people behind a counter?

Getting an education should almost always be your first priority. Right now that might be hard to understand with the economy being so bad and families experiencing hard times. Perhaps you need a job to help out your family and if that is the case then there is not much you can do other than try your hardest at both school and your job.

However, if you are working just because you want extra spending money, remember that your education is what will ultimately be the most valuable to you. You need to get good grades and try to get into college, whether it be a small local college or a bigger one away from home. You mustn't let your job hurt your chances later in life.

Jobs for 17 year old high school students should be ones that allow you to ample time to study and participate in school activities. Part time jobs with a lot of flexibility are what you might want to look into so that you get the best of both worlds: working and staying in school!

MALL JOBS FOR 17 YEAR OLDS

One of the all time favorite places for older teens to work has been at malls. The movies have glamorized this as more times that not, when you see a teenager working in a movie, you see them at some job in a mall.

Mall jobs are great for 17 year olds because it is a safe environment where teens hang out anyway. It is warm, there are usually lots of places to eat, many stores to shop in your off hours, and it is a popular hang out for the younger generation. Most teens would agree, a job at the mall sure beats a job at a senior center!

Job openings for 17 year olds at malls probably will be an issue again this summer. There are only so many openings and there are many more students who want work than there are jobs. As jobs at malls are some of the most sought out after, you need to get lucky to get one.

One of your best chances is if you know someone already working at a store that will help you get hired. If you have a friend who is a good worker and will give you a recommendation, you may stand a better chance of getting hired than someone else. This is when it is great to have a best friend who can help you out.

If you are lacking that inside connection, your second best bet is to start looking early which means NOW! You might check out every store you might like to work in and ask for the manager. Tell them you are or will be looking for a job and see if they give you any pointers or positive feedback about your possibilities. This is where it really helps to have some experience and knowledge of the job you might want.

By the time you are 17 you might already have some valuable job experience. If you do, don't forget to tell your prospective employers about it. With job competition so high, you need to use everything you have to get a job and any experience will put you in front of many others. If you have enough to make a resume then you should definitely get one made up. Jobs for 17 year olds are going to be very competitive this year and this summer. If you want a job at your local mall, get going early and lock down that job if you can!

RESUMES FOR 17 YEAR OLDS LOOKING FOR JOBS

If you want to get a step ahead of your fellow students in the job search in 2010, having a resume is one of the ways. When you are looking this year of jobs for 17 year olds, being able to give an employer a resume will make you stand out over most of your competition.

Seventeen year olds usually don't have very much job experience and you may think it will be hard to put a good resume together. However, if you ask your parents to help you, it may be easier than you think.

A resumes purpose is to tell the employer a little about you and it sort of summarizes who you are and what you have done. Any type of job you have had, from mowing your neighbor's lawns to real jobs, might be put on your first resume. You might also add any awards you have won or other accomplishments you have had in your life. The idea is to present yourself in the most honest and positive way you can so that any prospective employer will have something to remember you by.

Resumes are now often put online and there are several free job websites where you can do that. You should also hand a paper copy of your resume to whoever interviews you for any job. This will let them know that you are serious about getting a job and will also make a positive impression.

Jobs for seventeen year olds are going to be hard to find in 2010 and anything you can do to stand out from the crowd will help you get work. Having a resume is a smart step that you can do to give yourself the best chance possible.

SUMMER JOBS FOR 17 YEAR OLDS - START LOOKING NOW

If you are a seventeen year old and know that you will need a job this summer, believe it or not you should start looking right now! That's right, even though it is the middle of winter and the coldest weeks are here right now, you need to start looking for that summer job right away.

Everyone who is looking for a job, whether they are an adult or a teenager knows how hard they are to find. During the winter months and holiday season, some new jobs opened up in retail and restaurants that you might have been lucky enough to get. During the summer, the same thing happens where some jobs will be available that are purely summer time jobs.

Knowing how difficult it is to find a job, it makes sense to get out and start looking early. If you start looking for summer jobs for 17 year olds right now, you will get a big jump on most of your peers. Wouldn't it be great to land a job before they even start looking?

In order to get a summer job now, you might have to take a job that starts right away or one that starts before summer begins. If you have that kind of flexibility, it will give you an advantage over students that are too busy to have a job during the school year.

If you choose to wait to look for a job until everyone else is also looking, you will be angry at yourself for not starting sooner. Getting out now and asking about jobs is the smartest move you can make if you are serious about finding jobs that are hiring this year. Make sure you stop in at the places you would like to work and ask about whether they will be hiring.

Even though you are only 17 years old, if you have a resume to give the store manager it will allow them to better remember you and increase your chances of getting called back for an interview. It is smart to start putting together a resume even if you don't have much job experience. You can always fill it with your school and after school achievements if you haven't had many jobs before.

Remember, the more effort you put into looking for a job and the sooner you start may mean the difference between you getting a job or going the whole summer without one.

JOBS FOR 17 YEAR OLDS IN 2010

2010 is almost here and that means a new year for job hunting. Many of you have been looking for jobs for 17 year olds for over 6 months as shown by the small poll at the bottom right of this blog. It looks like almost 80% of you have been looking over 3 months! WOW!

Will 2010 be any better? One of the bad things is that President Obama is going to raise taxes on anyone making $250,000 or more and that is going to hurt you in the job search. Now, $250,000 may seem like a lot to a teenager who doesn't have hardly any money but to a business, that amount is not much.

What it means is that any small business that makes over $250,000 is going to pay more in taxes and they are going to have to compensate by hiring fewer employees. Money doesn't grow on trees and with less money to go around, businesses lay off workers or don't hire new ones.

That greatly hurts your chances of getting a job in 2010 because businesses will not be as likely to hire you. So there is the already bad economy and now higher taxes on top of that means that 2010 might not be any better than 2009.

We need to see good things happen and have people start to spend money with confidence. Right now that is not happening as this Christmas buying season has seen lackluster sales and it seems that people are just not spending like they once did. This hurts all companies and your chance of finding a job.

If you are 17 years old and still looking for a job, all you can do is keep patient and keep trying. Do your best to apply to as many places as possible and always present yourself as best as you can. Give every employer a reason to say "yes" rather than "no". Hopefully by this summer (or sooner) you will have finally landed a job!

TEENS SHOULD USE FRIENDS AND PARENTS TO FIND AVAILABLE JOBS

Are you are one of the many teens looking for a job? If you are, you should not forget to use all job sources at your disposal. It might be embarassing if you have been looking for a while and had no luck, but you musn't let it discourage you too much. Jobs are tough for everyone now and finding jobs for seventeen year olds is no different than any other age.

Most teens have friends who have jobs and you should use them as a lead. If you do know someone who has an after school job or the type of job you might want, ask them how they got it and if they know of any openings. Sometimes teens who have jobs hear things at work about when their employer might be hiring or they might be able to put in a good word for you. Even if they don't know of any immediate job opportunities, they could give you valuable information of how they got hired. Perhaps they have a strategy that worked for them that you don't know about.

Another job search strategy not to be overlooked is to use your parents to help you get the word out that you need a job. This might be a tough one for a 17 year old because at that age you probably want to distance yourself from your parents as much as possible just because they embarass you. But if you really want to find a job and are serious, you need to consider that they might be able to help you.

Your parents might know someone that could hire you and they also might be able to put in a good word for you with one of their friends. Letting your parents help you find a job might not be what you really want to happen but it might be the difference in whether you go the rest of the year with or without that job.

AVAILABLE JOBS FOR 17 YEAR OLDS

Right now is probably the time when the most jobs are available for 17 year olds. This holiday season which will last through most of January, is the time when stores and restaurants are hiring so they can deal with the added shoppers.

If you are a 17 year old looking for a job, now is the time you should be out trying to find places that need extra help. If you find a job in retail, they might want to keep you way past Christmas and the new year because they have to handle all the returns. First there is the onrush of shoppers and then there is comes the two or three week period when most people make returns. So, if you get a job now, it might last for a couple months.

If you are a teen looking for jobs for 17 year olds, you can be smart and always think about the different places that might need help based on the season. Right now is the holiday season, which is your best bet for a job, but other times of the year give you other opportunities.

For instance, during the summer you should be looking for jobs in places that have more summer business. Amusement parks, community swimming pools, lawnmowing jobs and others like this are all jobs you can get in the summer but will not find right now in the winter.

During the colder winter months, a whole different group of employers will be possibilities for finding jobs. You might find jobs at ski areas, winter resorts, valet jobs (more people eating out means more cars to be parked), hotel housekeeping jobs (more people traveling for the holidays means more rooms being taken in hotels), and other such jobs that might pick up during the winter. Be creative, brainstorm with your parents, and figure out what types of jobs might be hiring more people during the cold months of winter.

Whatever time of the year or season it is, some employers will be hiring more than others. Older teens can do almost any job so if you can get it, you can do it. Figuring out where to go to find open jobs for 17 year olds is a challenge but if you put your mind to it, you may have a head start on most of your friends who are also looking for work.