Careers with Hart with Jay Hart

Teenage years are the years of preparation. As such, teens should spend part of their summers gaining valuable work experience, preferably in their areas of skill and interest, and definitely within industries and occupations with the highest projected growth and pay over the next five years.

For a select handful of teens, this may mean camps targeting sports and entertainment. But for most of our teens, summer should be an opportunity to gain insight into prospective careers by working or volunteering in different industries.

With most jobs for this next generation of teens projected within the health sector, volunteering at the hospital, a nursing home, clinic or vet would be a great opportunity for your teen to explore these career options. It could ignite a new passion or fuel a current interest.

Other jobs that will be in high demand include office clerks, accountants, sales representatives and elementary school teachers. Accountants and sales representatives are projected to have the higher salaries from among this group.

All areas of engineering work are and will continue to be in high demand, particularly in New Zealand and as such are generally well paid.

But traditional teen jobs in hospitality and service, like waitressing and retail, will continue to be growth industries, particularly in the Bay and abroad. So, if your teen's working at a restaurant or their favourite clothing shop and loving it, don't mess with a good thing. It's when they're not loving it – or doing anything - that it pays to help them consider their options.

Do encourage your teen to follow their interests as they seek out summer work experience, but if that doesn't get you very far, consider encouraging them to branch out into areas of projected growth.

Contact Jay at Careers With Hart for more personalised careers advice. www.facebook.com/careerswithhart