If you’re a teenager, you’re probably eager to get your first paid job. It’s a great way to earn spending money and a chance to start saving for a big-ticket item, like travelling or school. But if this is your first time applying for a job, it’s probably overwhelming, and you might not know where to begin. Where can you work? How old do you have to be? What will you earn? How do you figure out what you want to do? How do you apply and how do you ace that interview? This article will help answer some of your questions.

1. The first step is to decide what you want to do and when you want to work. Are you looking for a part-time job during the year or a full-time summer job? Do you like working with children or are you great at sales? What are your skills and interests? If you love books, a job at a bookstore may be up your alley? If you are a great hockey player, maybe you want to teach skating lessons or work at a hockey camp. Talk it over with your friends and parents and make a list of what you do and don’t want to do. This will help narrow down your search and enable you to write your resume.

2. To apply for nearly any job, you’ll need a resume. A resume is basically a one-page document that lists your education, previous job experience, your interests, any awards you’ve won or groups you’ve joined and your objective. There are many templates online, so choose the format that is the easiest to read, and keep it as short and succinct as possible.

This is your chance to put your best foot forward and highlight all the reasons someone should hire you for a job. Make sure to have someone edit it and proofread it because you won’t want to have any careless errors or spelling mistakes.

3. Once you’ve decided what you want to do and you have a polished resume in hand, you can begin searching for jobs. If you want to work at a camp or for a particular restaurant, bookstore, company or organization, go onto their website under the Careers section to see what opportunities exist and the deadline by which you need to apply. Perhaps they have specific application criteria, such as questionnaire or a cover letter in addition to your resume.

Many organizations hire students and might have internship opportunities or volunteer positions that offer bursaries or a stipend; click on the tabs titled Internships or Volunteers for jobs that might be most applicable to your interests. Then, follow the directions and submit whatever information is required. There are lots of online internship and job search sites you can explore, including Facebook. You might even want to try the federal government website at http://canada.pch.gc.ca for a great listing of job and internship opportunities.

4. Networking is another way to search for a job. Start with your parents or your friends’ parents. If they are in a particular line of work in which you are interested, they might be able to help by referring you to a colleague or even hiring you themselves. You don’t know unless you ask.

5. Once you apply for a job, you might not hear back for a few weeks. This is why you’ll want to apply for several opportunities at once. Not only is it a good way to practice going through the application process, but it will also help to ensure you don’t put all your eggs in one basket, so to speak.

Feel free to follow up with a phone call after enough time has passed to let your potential employer know that you applied for a position and would welcome the opportunity to meet for an interview. Don’t call too soon or too often, but if done politely and respectfully, it could jog an employer’s memory and indicate your level of interest and professionalism, and advance you to the next stage in the process.

6. Every province has labour laws pertaining to student employees. These laws define how old you can be to work, how many hours you are allowed to work, and the minimum you can be paid. For instance, in Ontario, a person under 16 is not permitted to work during school hours.

If you’re under 18, you can’t sell or serve alcohol or work in certain jobs deemed unsafe for young workers. The student minimum wage in Ontario is $10.70 per hour. You’ll want to check your provincial government website for more information. https://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/atwork/youngworkers.php

7. When an employer calls you, you may be asked to come in for an interview. You’ll want to prepare yourself in advance. Think about why you want to work at that particular place and what skills you can offer. Practice your responses with a friend or adult until you feel confident. Then, dress for success, looking clean and polished so you can put your best foot forward.

Good luck!

It seems every teen has a phone these days. Though it might have began as a way for parents to check in on their kids and a way for teens to call their parents in an emergency, by now it’s morphed into an obsession. With texting, apps, social media, music and a camera, teens are connected to their phones 24/7. This can especially be a problem when teens are allowed to have phones in their bedroom. If you’re unsure as to whether and why this can be problematic, here are a few reasons you might not want to allow your teen to keep their cell phone in their bedroom.

1. Teens might not be using their phones responsibly. When parents allow their teen to have a phone in the privacy of their bedroom, parents might not know whether their teen is using their phone appropriately. Teens who aren’t properly monitored or don’t understand the dangers of certain online behaviours might be engaging in potentially harmful activities. This might include posting inappropriate photos online or chatting with strangers. They might even be bullying classmates through social media or be the victim of bullying on social media. Hidden away in their bedroom, parents might be none the wiser. All of this can have serious, even dangerous consequences, including to their personal safety. While it’s a good idea to talk to your teen about appropriate cell phone behaviour, keeping cell phones out of the bedroom might be a good way to mitigate these dangers as well.

2. Cell phones are a big distraction. The teenage years are very important academically, especially when grades count toward university admissions and scholarships. It’s important that teens focus on their academics, learn to develop good study habits and complete their homework and assignments on time. When there are distractions, like cell phones, it can be very difficult to get anything done, even for adults. Academics might fall to the wayside while teens get carried away using their phones to talk to friends and participate on social media. Ensuring that cell phones are left out of the bedroom and used only after school work is complete can help your teen maintain their grades.

3. Cell phones in the bedroom can prevent your teen from getting enough sleep. Research shows that teenagers need about 9.5 hours of sleep a night. If there’s a cell phone in the room, they could end up getting much less. A lack of sleep can have a negative impact on their health. In the long run, lack of sleep might be linked to high cholesterol, obesity and depression. Short-term impacts can include irritability, an inability to focus, exhaustion and even increased incidences of colds and flu. Keeping phones out of their bedroom can keep them healthy.

4. Cell phones in the bedroom can impact their quality of sleep. Even if your teen does get to sleep, gadgets with LED screens, including cell phones, emit rays that can impact the quality of sleep. That’s because they give off blue light, which studies show can inhibit the production of melatonin, which is needed for a proper sleep. Experts recommend shutting off all electronics two hours before bedtime.

5. Cell phones in the bedroom can detract from family time. Family dinners, game night and even watching a movie together as a family could end up being a thing of the past if a teen is allowed to isolate themselves in their bedroom with their phone. It’s important that families have time to interact, spend time together and bond. Keeping the channels of communication open is especially important during the teenage years when teens tend to want to spend less time with their parents. Remember, even teens still need boundaries, and enforcing a no-phone-in-the-bedroom rule can be a good way to set limits while also increasing quality family time.