Hot on the Job Trail

It is definitely that time of year, so I hope you will bear with me as I yet again blogtificate on summer job opportunities.

Here are a few ideas for the entrepreneur… and for kids under the age of 16. There are some very viable, gainful employment, opportunities for 14-15 year olds, but they are few and far between.

Kathy Peele, a good friend of MOAT Ironing Board Advisor, Peggy Zadina, has a terrific list of summer job opportunities. She has a neat web site called, Family Management. Here is a link to her 37 business ideas for kids: Kathy’s Business Ideas I’m not sure why “37”, but several are ones we’ve discussed (and many, I’m sure you’ve thought about). They run the gambit from baby-sitting, summer day camps, dog-walking to washing cars (aahhh “Walter Will Wash” TTO’s makeshift job 3 summers ago :).

So, Step 1: Figure out what to do. Speed Police wants to baby-sit

Step 2: Make a flier/business cards.

She found a cute clip-art graphic to compliment her summer theme.

Next, she added the clip-art to her “advertisement”. In her flier, she tells a little about herself, why she would be a good sitter, how to contact her, plus references. She wanted her clip art to watermark the page, I wanted the clip art to be a cute eye-catcher at the top of the page.

Her choice…

My choice.

She chose the top one. Okay … so I gave her my opinion. Then I forced myself to keep my mouth shut. This is her effort. I need to support what she’s done instead of forcing my opinion on her. My actions should mirror my words … the ones that keep telling her how talented and great she is. Maybe if I sit on my hands, they’ll stay out of her stuff.
She plans on emailing it to a few family friends who know her and whose kids she knows, then following up with a phone call and specific “ask”. She also has a couple of friends (plus a sister) who are eager to help when/if she gets regular times. One thing she didn’t include was amount she wants to charge. Maybe she’ll change her mind on that one.

Other MOAT moms have told me their kids have started:

For the Brawney … a business hauling things (These guys canvassed their neighborhood with 250 fliers, again telling about their service, expertise & references … plus they have a truck & driver!);

For the Braniac – a computer service to “clean up” hard drives and be an outsourced IT department;

For the Picasso – a business painting address numbers on curbs ($5/pop)

For the Type A’s – data entry tasks like entering Christmas card lists into a client’s address book.

The list goes on and on. For business cards we used Avery Clean Edge

We got a box at Sam’s Club. They are super easy to use and look totally professional. Last summer I made cards for all my kids (and their cousins) to take to camp (so they didn’t have to write their name/address/email over & over) to give their friends.

These her business cards. She just loves those sunshiney kids.

(Safety Sam made me put a bogus address for the blog – we’re geeks)

Step 3: Follow through. Do a job that exceeds your “client’s” expectations. I’ve told my daughters that when they babysit, be sure to clean up everything … even to the point of loading the dishwasher if there happens to be dishes in the sink. Small things like that cement yourself in someone’s memory…. in a favorable manner :)

Do you have a certified couch potato … that’s making you certifiable?!

(ok, so this kid’s posed. My real CP refused to let me take his picture.

“IS THIS FOR YOUR BLOG, MOM??!!! ABSOLUTELY NO!!! ”

This little guy asks me to take his picture. Isn’t he cute?!)

The key… they just need to do something.
I told my sister-in-law this morning, as I moaned the eminent push-back coming my way on the summer job front, “It really is a teen-tantrum.” I think that in the same way you deal with a 2-yr-old, you have to ride out a teen-tantrum out. Let them writhe on the floor, kicking & screaming, until they’re done. Then they, just like the toddler, snap out of it and actually follow through on the task without saying much more.

A quick catch up (speaking of tantrums :) … Teen Take-Out fought hard on last week’s meal. I stood my ground, but in the spirit of my MOAT friend’s approach with her daughter, he only cooked a portion and I helped with the rest

So dinner was great. Despite the heal-dig at the mention of his cooking, he very agreeably stepped up and made some mean tacos. He feigned agony at the dinner table, but I could tell he was proud. He will be cooking again this week. Maybe I’ll sneak a pic and we can all enjoy the fruit of his labor. Okay, maybe not so much fruit – this kid shuns any item in the healthy category.

Thanks for walking the road with me.
-Kay

Tune in Wednesday for Jody Capehart’s 2nd installment on Technology & Teens. Jody ALWAYS has a good word!!

You may also be interested in these posts:

A No-Rescue Pledge

Heard on the Street - Holiday Jobs

Music to My Ears

All in a Day's Work