The Struggle for Teenage Employment is Real
The struggle for jobs for teenagers is real. In this past week I have applied to around 8 jobs. Guess how many responses I got? None. That’s right; not a single one! Yes, I’m a teenager and only 16 years old. Yes stores give preferences to people older than I am. Yes, a teenager not having a job is the least important thing for the job market. But, I want a job. I want a car. I want cash that I can spend on the things I want. If you’re a teenager and don’t agree with me on this one I would be quite surprised.
So I set a goal for myself that I would take every single opportunity that I get. Today I went out and drove around Scottsdale and grabbed 12 different job applications from different stores. I spent the past two hours trying to fill out all these applications and just finished. Man do I need a break. Each application is like 2 pages and asks so many questions. After completing all 12 applications I decided to surf the Internet. I searched “jobs for teens in Scottsdale, AZ.” After scrolling through a couple pages of results on Google I came to a source that redirected me to the local news channel website. It featured a article about a teen like myself in search of job opportunities as well as the teen job coordinator for the City of Scottsdale, Sheila Williams.
In the article it mentioned that there was a job expo for teens to participate in. There would be many different hiring managers from a variety of stores at this expo and it would be a great opportunity for a teen to get a job. To my luck I found out that the expo happened two months ago and that the article was three months old. What actually stood out in the article was that it mentioned a hiring manager saying that maybe out of 50 to 60 applications that he or she received, he or she would only accept one or two teens. This provided a reality check in my mind and assured to me that if I keep trying and throwing myself out there, I will eventually find a job. Yes, it will be hard and demoralizing but I have confidence that I will find a job. To any teens out there reading this, just know that if you keep trying and throwing yourself out there, there’s nothing that can stop you!
