This summer of 2010 has been a hard one for teenagers of all ages looking for jobs. There aren’t enough companies that are hiring and there are too many people looking for jobs. Employers want some sort of work history and for 16 year olds that are looking for their very first jobs, they obviously don’t have any. It’s a catch 22: how do you ever get work history if you can’t get a job in the first place, right?

If you don’t find a job this summer make sure you at least learn this valuable lesson: nothing is given to you in life and there will be many obstacles and challenges ahead for you as you get older. Remember, you are only 16 years old and you don’t have rent to pay, food to buy, or a family to feed. Chances are good that you have a roof over your head and parents who are providing for you. Yes, a job would have been real nice and it would have given you the opportunity to earn money for yourself or your family that you probably want very badly. However, you are just a kid and you will make it through.

Imagine what you would feel like if you were an adult with a family and you couldn’t get a job. Perhaps some of you are experiencing this as well if your parents are out of work and can’t find a job. Adults who can’t find work have REAL problems because they have bills to pay and people relying on them.

At age 16 this is probably your first job hunt and it is a good lesson early on in life. If you keep looking you will eventually find a job but it is important to learn that nothing in life is given to you. That is why it is important to go to school and continue on to college if at all possible. Your education will help you get jobs later on in life and as you have learned this summer, you need all the tools you can get so that employers will give you an interview and consider you for a job.

One thing 16 year olds don’t think about is what kinds of things they put on the Internet. I am specifically talking about Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and any other place like that where you might have information about yourself. Those types of social websites are fun, but if an employer can find information about you there, you need to be very careful about what you put online.

You might have read or heard stories in the news about people getting fired for something they put on their Facebook page. You see, employers do poke around to see what they can find online about their employees. They also might look to see what they can find out about you BEFORE they even hire you!

If you have a MySpace or Facebook page that you would not want an employer or an adult to see, you should consider taking it down or improving it so that it will not be embarrassing. Store managers that are in charge of hiring teenagers in 2010 have a lot of candidates to choose from and you don’t want to take yourself out of the running for a job just because you have things on the Internet that will discredit you.

You need to also think about where else you might have left a trail online that will lead back to you in some way. Over time, it is amazing how much content some people put online. They have blogs, contribute to forums, and do all the social media things that can lead back to them. All a crafty employer has to do is become good at nosing around and he or she may find out all sorts of things about you that you don’t want them to know. So, be careful what you put online and start to clean up what you can so that you will have a better chance of getting that job you want.

Online job applications are becoming more and more common, so using them should be something you become accustomed to on your job search. Large companies such as Walmart are always searching for employees and do a lot of their hiring, or at least application review online. No matter how young or inexperienced you are, you should put together a resume.

If you don’t have any employment history all you need to do is list your skills, accomplishments and areas of expertise. Teenagers are at the forefront of social skills, which makes them ideal for many jobs that involve working with management or as part of a team to get the job done.

In most states teenagers are required to be at least 16 to be employed and many states require a workers permit. Legal working hours for a teen are based upon age and the school calendar.

Once you know that you have the legal part down, now you need to decide what you want to do in order to find a job that will interest you. A retail job for example may involve communicating with and helping customers and folding clothing. If this sounds like something you’d enjoy then applying for a retail job would be a good idea. For a teen who doesn’t want to spend hours cooped up indoors and serving people directly, there are summer jobs for 16 year olds and older such as delivering pizza at Domino’s and many others.

While the economy is leading people to have a gloomy outlook, the fact remains that stores will always need employees and people will always need stores. A teen job is usually a rite of passage, a first step toward independence and self-realization. As a teenager your job search may take a while, but you can’t give up. Using technology and networking to increase your contacts in the working world is one way to help you locate a job, even if it takes several months. If you follow these basic principles you will more than likely have a successful job search, even as a teenager.

Of all the job websites online, only one of them specializes in part time and hourly jobs. These are exactly the types of jobs most sixteen year olds are hoping to get this summer.

SnagAJob.com is the online job site and it is free to check out, sign up, and look for a job in your area. (Please only sign up if you are serious about finding a job!)

A lot of the retail names you are familiar with have job listings at SnagAJob. Companies like Kohls, Toys -R-Us, Dominoes Pizza, Bed Bath and Beyond, AMC movie theaters, Chick-fil-A, and many others are places where you might be able to find something this summer.

SnagAJob is your best bet online to find a job this summer but you need to start looking right now. Even though it is only March, it is NOT to early to start trying to line up that summer job. In a month or two it will already be too late as jobs fill up fast and there are lots of older teenagers looking this year.

Summer may seem like it is a long time away but if you really hope to find a job, you should start looking right now. I know, the snow is still coming down in some places and it may continue for a while but you need to get a good jump on the competition to give yourself the best chance you can.

Summer jobs for 16 year olds were real hard to find last year and this summer is shaping up to be no different. If you start your job search now, you may be able to make some contacts that will lead to a job later on. You might start at your local mall and go in the different stores you might be interested in working at. Ask for the manager and inquire as to whether they anticipate hiring this summer.

Showing interest now will let them know that you are serious about finding a job and it may allow you to stick in their memory. If you have a resume to give them it would be a great way of  showing interest as well as leaving a phone number to be contacted. Most 16 year olds don’t have a resume though and probably don’t have much work experience to put on one anyway.

Short of making a resume, it would be a good idea to order some free or cheap business cards that you can find on the Internet. for instance, you can get 250 premium quality, color business cards FREE if you click here. Have your name, address, and phone number printed on each card along with a short message about wanting a summer job. You can hand out one of these cards to each manager or potential employer you meet so they can remember you and have a way of contacting you.

If you truly want to find a summer job, you might have to be prepared to take one sooner. By freeing up your schedule, you will have the ability to take a job after school or on the weekends before summer starts if you find an employer that needs someone sooner. By doing this, you will have secured that summer job well before all your friends do.

The summer of 2010 is probably going to be another tough ones for jobs for 16 year olds. Get out now during the winter and keep looking. Never giving up is the key as well as maintaining a positive attitude. If you do those things, you will stand a better chance of landing a job than most of your friends who don’t start looking until the last minute.

You can search through thousands of jobs on Job.com and some of them are part time and hourly positions that 16 year olds might be able to get. You should look through all the jobs that you could qualify for such as retail jobs, movie theater jobs, and restaurant jobs. It is a great place to start online looking for a job.

You should also make as many connections as you can around town and in your neighborhood so that people know you are looking for work. If this will be your first job, it might be hard to get because you don’t have any work experience. But remember, everyone has to get their first job sometime and you have to maintain a positive outlook and keep trying. That is why you should be looking everywhere you can for that job including all online and offline places you can think of.

You should start now if you are looking for Christmas jobs for teens or winter jobs. It is never too soon to start lining things up and those that get jobs now will have them when Christmas comes along. Jobs for 16 year olds are going to continue to be difficult to get so it is smart to start looking online at Job.com and other online job portals.

Teenagers looking for jobs usually enjoy working for companies like Dunkin Donuts, AMC Movie Theaters, Boston Market, Dominoes, WalMart, Toys “R” Us, Kohls, AMF Bowling and other places like that. Those kinds of businesses all have jobs for teenagers and those are the types of hourly and part time jobs that SnagAJob specializes in.

You can use SnagAJob to find out what jobs are available in your area and then apply to them right there online. That is what makes your job search easier is the ability to both find jobs and apply for them all in the same place at SnagAJob. Please note though, that although SnagAJob is 100% free, you should NOT SIGN UP UNLESS YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT FINDING A JOB!