Working while you’re still in school is a great way to boost your savings, while you also gain invaluable work experience, which is crucial for the development of your professional skills.
Having a job as a teen doesn’t necessarily mean working long hours on minimum wage. In fact, there are plenty of opportunities out there that offer significantly higher wages than your local fast-food chain. From summer jobs to regular part-time work, there’s a ton of great options for teens who want to earn some cash on the side.
Without further ado, here’s our list of 15 high-paying jobs for teenagers.
15. Camp counsellor
Average hourly rate: $9.54 (£7.30)
For the outdoorsy types, camp counselling is the ultimate summer job. What is there not to love? You get to live in a cabin, eat from a buffet and enjoy fun activities while also earning a fair wage!
Admittedly, you’ll usually need to be over 16 to get the gig, as you will be supervising young children. However, if you do qualify for the role, your responsibilities will revolve around monitoring activities and ensuring campers’ safety, providing counsel and advice, and coordinating the daily schedule. This is an excellent way to hone your leadership skills as well as your interpersonal skills, something that is invaluable to your professional development.
14. Food server
Average hourly rate: $9.72 (£7.44)
Food servers have a diverse range of duties, including taking orders, serving food to tables, preparing bills and cleaning dining areas. Your main job, however, is to deliver excellent customer service to restaurant patrons. So, if you enjoy fast-paced environments and you’re an outgoing person with good multitasking skills, this could be a pretty great opportunity for you.
While this is probably more fun than sitting at a cashier all day, it can also be quite tiring, as you will be lugging trays around, cleaning up tables and catering to several customer requests at once. On the bright side, you’ll get to end your shift with a good sum of tips on top of your wage!
13. Cashier
Average hourly rate: $9.74 (£7.46)
Although not the most luxurious job out there, working as a cashier usually includes a good hourly rate. There’s also plenty of opportunities too, as you could work at a green grocer’s, a supermarket, a retail store or even a restaurant.
The job mostly involves scanning products, handling money and counting the contents of the cash register. Having a good grasp of maths and being an excellent communicator, as well as having excellent customer service skills, are the most important requirements for this job.
12. Lifeguard
Average hourly rate: $9.79 (£7.50)
Working as a lifeguard during the summer is a pretty great way to earn some extra cash (while also working on your tan). However, before you can go on duty, you need to receive your lifeguard certificate and undergo important training, namely CPR, first aid and AED (automated external defibrillator). On top of that, you need to be physically fit and an excellent swimmer.
While training and qualifying can be an intensive process, you will gain essential skills that will come in handy later. Indeed, to work as a lifeguard, you need to be responsible, attentive and ready to deal with a crisis at a moment’s notice.
11. Babysitter
Average hourly rate: $10.37 (£7.94)
Babysitting might be the ultimate cliché teen job, but for a good reason! Not only does it pay well, but it also offers you the necessary flexibility to balance work and study.
As a babysitter, you’re responsible for the child’s safety in your care, so this job will require your undivided attention while you’re on duty. It’s important that not only the parents can trust you, but the children you’re sitting too! So, if you’re a natural with young children and you have experience with keeping them entertained while their parents are away, then this should be child’s play (excuse the pun)!
To land your first gig, you need to advertise your skills and experience to the parents. Taking first aid classes could also be a shiny addition to your CV, while getting referrals can be a great way to secure your first job as a sitter!
10. Sales associate
Average hourly rate: $10.39 (£7.96)
Sales associates are responsible for restocking products, helping customers and processing transactions. This is a job that requires excellent communication and customer service skills, as it largely involves interacting with people.
While it can be a demanding job, especially during sales season, working in retail has its perks too, namely the employee discount. But it’s also an excellent opportunity to hone your professional skills and attain invaluable work experience, especially if retail and hospitality are industries you’re interested in.
9. House sitter
Average hourly rate: $11.35 (£8.69)
If you think this role entails lying around someone’s house while getting paid, you’re kind of right. But there are a couple of more responsibilities attached to this job.
Usually, house sitters are tasked with upkeeping a residence while its owners are away. This includes watering plants, caring for pets, keeping all areas tidy and clean, and sorting the mail.
It’s important that you can assure potential employers that you can be trusted with their house and that you’re a responsible individual. Again, it might be wise to build your clientele through your friends and family.
8. Swimming instructor
Average hourly rate: $12 (£9.19)
The most important prerequisites to work as a swimming instructor is, first and foremost, to be a good swimmer and to have basic first aid knowledge. Plus, you will need to join a reputable swimming association to certify as a coach. This is to ensure that you are fit to instruct and teach swimming and that you’ll be able to respond adequately in the face of an emergency.
7. Automotive service technician
Average hourly rate: $12.24 (£9.37)
If you spend your free time fixing up rusty cars, then why not make a good buck while you’re at it?
Car service shops often hire teens to work as junior auto mechanics, and if this is a field you’re interested in, it can be a great way to get hands-on experience to develop your professional skills.
Plus, you can earn a fair wage by performing routine maintenance work on vehicles and learning about automobile processes and composition.
6. Pet sitter
Average hourly rate: $13.38 (£10.25)
Pet sitters are responsible for caring for animals while their owners are away. This is a great way for you to earn some money, especially during the summer when school is out and everyone is going away on holiday.
However, pet sitting might require a little more background and experience with animals, as owners will need to know they’re leaving their beloved pooch in good hands. So, if you have minimal experience with animals or have never cared for one before, this might not be the right avenue for you. On the other hand, if you fancy yourself as the Ace Ventura type, then go ahead!
5. Delivery worker
Average hourly rate: $14.39 (£11.02)
Working as a delivery worker is a flexible job option for high schoolers. Plus, the pay is usually up to the mark. From newspapers to takeaways and groceries, there are many companies on the hunt for someone who can deliver goods either by car or bicycle or even on foot. So, even if you don’t have a driver’s licence just yet, you could still land a gig as a delivery worker and save up quite a bit.
4. Dog walker
Average hourly rate: $14.58 (£11.17)
Dog walking is a great way to make money on the side, especially if you’re an animal lover! There’s a booming demand for dog walkers nowadays, and if you live in a big urban area, chances are there will be plenty of job opportunities available to you.
Before you start, you’ll need to draw up your rates and determine the distances and routes you’ll be taking. It would also be wise to start by walking dogs for friends and acquaintances. After all, people don’t just trust their pets with anyone (I hope). This will help you get referrals and eventually allow you to build up a steady customer base.
3. High school tutor
Average hourly rate: $17.49 (£13.40)
If you have an aptitude for academia, then you could earn a neat income as a tutor. By running one-on-one sessions with your peers, you could use your expertise and knowledge in different subjects to help them improve their academic performance. Plus, this can be a great way for you to revise too!
Tutoring does require lots of patience, and it’s crucial that you have excellent communication skills and a solid grasp of the subject you’re tutoring. If you’re confident in your skills, then all you’ve got to do is advertise your services and find your tutees!
2. Actor
Average hourly rate: $19.90 (£15.24)
Working as a teen actor can be highly rewarding in every sense. If you’re a natural on stage or in front of the camera, you could earn a handsome salary for your craft by taking part in theatre productions, TV commercials or even films!
However, this can be a highly competitive industry to tap into, with a lot of young talent competing for the same spots. This is a job that requires lots of persistence in order to succeed, so if you want to increase your chances, you’ll need to attend plenty of auditions and open calls for castings. Expanding your professional network is also wise, as this could lead to many more opportunities in the future!
1. Golf caddie
Average hourly rate: $25 (£19.15)
From carrying golf bags to cleaning golf clubs and measuring yardages, the duties of a caddie are manifold. Their main objective, however, is to help golf players have an enjoyable and successful game.
On average, a golf game, or a ‘loop’, takes four hours from start to finish, and caddies can earn between $20 and $30 (£15.32 and £22.98) per hour. And don’t forget about the tips! Indeed, while this can be a physically demanding job, it can also be quite lucrative, too!
Check out the top 10 jobs in the video below:
Finding part-time work as a teen can be tricky. Indeed, balancing a job with your studies can be quite a challenge and, on top of that, you also want to make sure that what you’re earning is worth your time.
However, it’s equally important that you seek work opportunities that will help you grow as an individual and that will allow you to hone professional skills and will make you more employable in the future.
So, while you’re on the hunt for a high-paying job, make sure that you also consider the key takeaways and experience you could gain from it.
What other high-paying jobs can you think of? Have you ever worked in one of the roles in our list? Let us know in the comments section below!
Salary information is based on data compiled and published by PayScale. Currency conversions are based on rates supplied by XE.com on 5 February 2020.