Hi Sonya, if you're a minor seeking your first work experience this summer expect challenges as a result of the rise in unemployed adult workers seeking new and alternative immediate job opportunities as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

For future reference, the typical job search timeline for minors, (job seekers ages 14 - 17 years of age), starts in mid February and closes around mid to late May. Most of the ideal Summer job opportunities for minors are facilitated by federal, state and local city employment programs that provide skill building job options for designed specifically for minor workers.

These jobs run for about 6 - 8 weeks from mid June to mid/late August and include job options within government office support, parks & recreations, summer camp support at the YMCA/YWCA, summer lunch and food service programs, etc.

For profit companies also offer summer internship/job options within a variety of skill building capacities but these jobs also start their application and hiring process within the first quarter (Jan - Mar) each year.

So, if you find yourself interested in a summer job next year/2021 start your summer job search in February so you take advantage of all the new job options before they fill up or close.

The coronavirus negative impact on 2020 Youth Summer jobs has been significantly overwhelming. State and local city budget cuts to meet the rise in adult Unemployment Insurance claims have led to a significant reduction and/or elimination of youth summer job opportunities.

So, what does this mean to you?

There’s a high chance are that you will be competing with adult job seekers for jobs opportunities usually offered to minors. Youth/minor employers like McDonalds, Taco Bell, Subway, Dunkin and others will more than likely choose to hire adult workers for entry-level roles because they present less liability and more production/scheduling opportunities.

This late in the summer you should consider alternate skill building and career exploration options. The Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop website has a page designed specifically for minors seeking jobs, in-demand skills building, and career learning/exploration opportunities.

Before you start your job search visit https://www.careeronestop.org and look into other, more productive, earning strategies and career exploration methods to prepare you for a better future career potential.

Still looking for a paid summer job?

We recently published an article with an updated list of solid local and national hiring opportunities for minors and teens this summer, see Jobs for teens - who is hiring now?. The list has a few immediate job options to help you get started with your job search but you're also welcome to reach back out to us at any time if you have any questions.

Best of Luck to you this Summer & Please Stay Safe :-)