By Rhonda Campbell
Finding teens summer jobs may best be left in the hands of teens themselves. After all,, teens are responsible. Proof is in the numbers. A whopping 97% of young adults between their teens and early twenties has worked a job, according to Child Trends. Due to child labor laws, many of these employment opportunities come in the form of summer jobs.

Fortunately, finding teens summer jobs has improved over the last several years. The challenge comes when teens apply to the same few summer jobs. Restaurants accounted for 32.5% of teens summer jobs, while retailers accounted for another 22.5% of the jobs, according to Pew Research.

Finding Teens Summer Jobs that Reward Beyond a Paycheck

Finding teens summer jobs takes innovation, especially if teens want to work jobs that stretch their abilities, give them a real feel for the adult working work, align with their passions and put them in contact with employers they may want to work for after they graduate from high school or college. Teens should consider the type of career they want to work. By working summer jobs that allow them to use their passions and talents, they could reap rewards that extend beyond a paycheck.

In addition to local restaurants, hotels, youth centers, beaches and retail stores, other places to find rewarding summer jobs for teens include museums, law offices and grocery stores. Teens who are in college can land summer jobs with major corporations, including Fortune 100 firms, by applying for internships. Many corporations start recruiting for these spots as early as December and January.

Great Contacts for Finding Teens Summer Jobs

Parents can search their firm’s human resources internship criteria. If their child fits the criteria, they can reach out to a college recruiter and find out what they need to do to submit their teen’s application for an internship. College career counselors are another great resource that students can contact to find out about internships that their school is participating in during summer months.

More places to search while in the process of finding teens summer jobs are:

• Golf courses or country clubs
• Summer camps (may be a good fit for teens who are interested in entering training, leadership or coaching careers)
• Landscaping companies
• City government agencies (Local TV stations may have details on some of these jobs)
• Libraries
• Amusement parks
• Airports
• Zoos
• Charities
• Designers
• Magazines and newspapers (could be great to teens who want to enter writing, journalism and editing careers)
• Radio stations (any future DJs or talk radio hosts out there?)
• Florist shops
• Photography studies
• Flea markets
• Event planning companies
• Book publishers
• Tutoring companies
• Dance studios
• Content marketing companies
• Web designers
• Animal training organizations
• Horse stables
• Churches and other worship centers
• Construction companies
• National parks
• Movie theaters
• Insurance companies
• Recording studios
• Pet farms
• Staffing agencies
• Fishing organizations
• Local tourist organizations

Places that list summer jobs for teens include:

• Hire Teen (www.hireteen.com)
• Camp Resource (www.campresource.com)
• Summer Jobs (www.summerjobs.com)
• Snag a Job (www.snagajob.com)
• Groove Job (www.groovejob.com)
• Teens for Hire (http://www.teens4hire.org)
• Summer Camp Jobs (http://mysummers.com)
• Job Monkey (http://www.jobmonkey.com)
• Local online newspapers job listings sections
• Employment agencies

Finding teens summer jobs is only the start. At the end of summer jobs, teens can ask their employers for their contact information and if they would be agreeable to serving as a reference when teens apply for other summer jobs or full-time jobs in the future. By volunteering for projects, they could also increase the chances that they will stand out in employers’ memories, a great plus should teens want to return and work for certain employers after they finish school.