Finding a job as a teen can be difficult. Lots of places don’t like hiring teens due to child protection and labor laws.
Perfect Teen Job: Grocery Stores
Grocery stores like Shoprite, Stop & Shop and The Fresh Grocer also are known to hire teens. But they do tend to hire you based on if you know someone who also works in the company.
Junior Daniella Albuquerque says, “It was surprisingly easy to get the job [Fresh Grocer], I did not expect to start working so quickly. Maybe it had something to do with my sister already working there that sped up the process.”
Now of course you don’t have to know someone to get a job at a grocery store. As long as you fit all of their requirements and are a hard-working, determined individual, you have an easy shot at getting the job.
Junior Daisy Amaya says, “I started working at Shoprite about a month ago. When I turned seventeen I knew I should start working and the process was a little difficult. Being a working teen is also a difficult task but I found a balance between working and school.”
Perfect Teen Job: Fast Food Restaurants
Chick-fil-a has been known to hire young teens as a first job. Lots of their staff tend to be 16-24, consisting of high school and college students. Like many fast food jobs, they know teens don’t plan on pursuing a career for the company. But it is nice to work your way up to management so you could get better pay.
Senior Kady Stava says, “I would say getting the job at Burger King was honestly very easy and straightforward. I had to follow the simple steps of putting my application online and the position that I wanted and I scheduled my own interview with a date and time that was suitable for them as well as me. After the interview (which was about 5-7 minutes) I went home and a couple days later, I got an email about my acceptance of the job. Now 2 years later I still work at the same job getting paid to do the easiest tasks.”
Working at a fast food restaurant as a teen can also be challenging at times. There are lots of rules and restrictions regarding cooking food and being a minor. Most likely, teens become cashiers or clean at these establishments.
New Jersey Child Labor Law
“34:2-21.2. Minors under 16 not to be employed; exceptions; nonresidents: No minor under 16 years of age shall be employed, permitted, or suffered to work in, about, or in connection with any gainful occupation at any time; provided, that minors between 14 and 16 years of age may be employed, permitted or suffered to work outside school hours and during school vacations but not in or for a factory or in any occupation otherwise prohibited by law or by order or regulation made in pursuance of law; and provided, further, that minors under 16 years of age may engage in professional employment in theatrical productions upon the obtaining of a permit therefor and may engage outside school hours and during school vacations in agricultural pursuits or in street trades and as newspaperboys as defined in this act, in accordance with the provisions of section 15 of this act.” nj.gov.
Jobs in New Jersey must hire their employees based around this law.
