What are the best jobs for 14-year-olds? Many 14-year-olds reach the point in their lives where they want a job and financial freedom from their parents with money of their own to spend as they please. Finding a job when you are under eighteen has some drawbacks but don’t let that stop you. The jobs open to teenagers are entry-level, meaning they do not require any previous work experience.
Many small employers shy away from hiring 14-years-olds due to the child labour laws Australia has in place to prevent the mistreatment, exploitation, and abuse of young people in the workforce.
While you might not be able to get that ideal job in a legal firm as their junior assistant until you reach eighteen years of age, there are several job options and large retailers willing to work within the legal guidelines set in Australia. The good news is they have had plenty of years in business to fine-tune the positions, especially for teenagers.
Each state may vary slightly, and a quick web search for your specific state will reveal your particular laws. For the majority of states, the rules are pretty simple, but there are variations between industries that you need to be aware of in advance.
The Victorian Government website gives you an overview of the relevant industry and the hours teenagers can work. Please take the time to read it and save it as a source of reference.
What Jobs Are There For 14-Year-Olds
There are various job opportunities for 14-year-olds who want to enter the workforce and earn money out of school hours. The type of job depends on several factors, and the jobs available in 2022 differ greatly from twenty years ago.
Now there are opportunities to work from their bedroom on a range of computer coding tasks such as programming and data organisation or content creation in the form of making their own online games and even starting their own website empires selling goods from drop shipping vendors.
In 2022, anything is possible. It just takes some thinking outside of the box to line up your future dream job and prepare for it in your teen years if you have an entrepreneur’s spirit. For those not in the AI and technology sector, there are always the traditional means of self-employment that don’t require large overheads and often can be supported by the family within a small initial budget setup.
- Lawn mowing and garden maintenance can be started in your local street and then expand to the neighbourhood and quickly grow into a full-time business.
- Catalogue delivery: Agents who can deliver advertising materials into letterboxes are always looking for will people to take on delivery routes, and the wage can be surprisingly lucrative.
Fast-food retailers are always looking for new employees as the nature of the beast tends to see a high turnover as teens enter the workforce and discover what it means to earn a living and work for your money.
- Any of the fast-food chains take applications in-store and online.
- Check out chicks and trolley boys have always been a good first stop, and now thanks to Covid, there is a huge and growing market for in-store pickers and packers along with shelf stackers.
- You can work in people’s homes as a babysitter, pet sitter, tutor, home organiser, or domestic cleaner. Surprisingly, a domestic cleaner can earn more than someone with a university degree per hour, so don’t be so quick to dismiss cleaning as beneath you.
Job A 14-Year-Old Qualifies For Include:
- Barista: Your job is to prepare beverages such as coffee, tea, milkshakes, and iced drinks
- Busser: Clearing and wiping tables after meals
- Cashier: Work the register in food service or a retail shop
- Gardening: Weeding, mowing, pruning, leaf blowing and raking, repotting flower
- Pool cleaner: Remove debris from pools and add chemical cleaners to pool water
- Dish cleaner: Clean dishes in a restaurant
- Blogging: Write articles and blogs for businesses and websites online
- Programming: Become a freelance programmer and coder online
- Babysitting: Watch young kids when their parents are away in their homes.
- Pet walking and sitting: Care for pets, feed them and take them out for walks.
Take A Different Route and Consider A Short Training Course
It would be fair to say that any 14-year-old willing to start working has their head on straight and is ambitious in nature. Not everyone desires to work for someone else, or they may need to learn some skills in advance to do the job they desire.
Look into taking a short course with an accredited Organised Training Organisation and provider that will qualify you with national certification once you complete the course.
One of the fastest growing industries is coffee and all things revolving around being an amazing barista. If you can master the art of making the perfect cup of coffee, your tips can out weight your daily wage, even in Australia, a country slowly adopting the tipping concept for exceptional service and products.
Barista skills transfer to a range of occupations in the food services and hospitality industry post turning 18.
Responsible service of alcohol and responsible gaming ticket can be obtained by someone under the age of 18 and allows them to serve alcohol and provide gaming services despite not being old enough to legally drink the alcohol. Setting yourself up with the certifications and certificates an employer requires can all be undertaken in the teen years.
First Aid Course
Most employers are required by law to have their staff trained in First Aid. If you look to the future and are in the financial position to take a First Aid course, you will again place yourself above the competition as you come with skills already acquired and that you have gained practical experience from possessing. Current First Aid certification on your Resume will only benefit any future employer.
How Much Is A Barista Course?
STC offers an intensive 5-hour face-to-face training and assessment with small class sizes so that you can practice and experiment with all aspects of coffee making. You emerge with highly marketable skills that are in demand for only $149.
While that might be a prohibitive cost for some, where the funds can be found, the skills acquired on a barista course pair perfectly with working in cafes and coffee houses and come with safe food handling certification that will transfer into the hospitality industry for those looking to pick up some table waiting, table clearing and waitress or waiter jobs.
Being able to make a variety of coffees will give you a foot up on any potential competition for the job as you have already gained experience and certification, and they don’t have to train you to do the job.
Summary
Regardless of your chosen path, thinking outside the box and obtaining skills in advance where the funds are available can only place your application at the top of the candidate list. Don’t let rejection deter you. Keep applying until you get a job and join the workforce. You will be framing your first Pay Slip in no time! Don’t forget to hit the online job seeker websites like:
