Youth Employment (Resumes & Cover Letters)

Youth Employment

Workplace laws are in place to protect teens because they lack experience and this can lead to accidents.  In addition, employers lack experience employing youth and may inadvertently ask you to do things that could be illegal for your age.  

Through the YouthRules! initiative the U.S. Department of Labor and its partners promote positive and safe work experiences that help prepare young workers in the 21st-century workforce by providing teens, parents, employers, and educators information (YouthRules!).

Before starting your new job, learn what your employer can and cannot require of you. As a young worker, you are limited in the types of jobs and number of hours that you can work. The rules vary by age, and the requirements may be different if you work in agriculture (YouthRules!).  See what jobs youth can hold at different ages.  

In addition, the Young Worker Toolkit has detailed information and videos to help you navigate employment.

Finding a job
Google's search engine has a nice tool for finding jobs.  If you type in "jobs near me", expand the results where it says 100+ more jobs you will open a webpage where you can filter results by date, part-time/full-time, industry, employer, and more.  You can even set up job alerts based on criteria that you indicate. The most common jobs teens tend to hold are fast food, retail, and agriculture.  These industries will typically require you to apply electronically on their website or have you fill out a paper application.

Evaluate future jobs

Explore Careers with NextSteps Idaho

Interest & Values Quizzes through NextSteps Idaho

Resume writing
Keep track of everything you do in high school.  For example, if you volunteer for concessions, serve on a committee, lead a club, join a sport, or perform in a play.  All of these things will create your resume.  LinkedIn provides a great way to do this and offers free accounts to anyone over age 13.  The profile section offers all of your resume categories such as education, experience, licenses, and more.  Once complete, you can send an employer a link to your resume, or download a paper version that is nicely formatted.

Below are a few resources that have great samples and general information about the how-tos of resumes and cover letters.

Cover Letters & Resume Writing through NextSteps Idaho

Cover Letters & Resume Writing at University of Idaho Career Services