Apprenticeship for a teenager.

Many parents never think about an apprenticeship for their teenager, but it is an excellent way for the youngsters to get a taste of real world work and at the same time give them a chance to explore a subject that they are interested in. Apprenticeships are used a lot in Europe, although sad to say they seem to be dying out now. For hundreds of years, young people have attached themselves to a craftsperson or artisan as an apprentice. They are shown the trade and learn, first hand, the skills needed from someone skilled in the craft. Many teens actually learn better when they are shown something rather than trying to learn from a book.

My daughter did a very unusual apprenticeship when she was 14. She was always very interested in some kind of work in the medical field but was not sure exactly what. During the summer vacation, she had her yearly check-up at our dentist. He mentioned that he was looking for someone to do some work in his office for a few hours a day. Nicky offered and was hired on the spot. She went every afternoon from 2:00pm until 5:00pm. She was supposed to be helping clean up, do odd jobs for the office manager and things like that. However, after a few weeks, she told us that she was learning to clean and sterilize the rooms, showing patients in and seating them, putting a movie on for them and also learning to run the autoclave. She also did many office jobs and learned their filing and billing system. Gradually she spent more time working with the dentist and as she was very interested in all the procedures, he explained a lot of what he was doing.

In the fall he mentioned to me that he would be sorry to lose her when she went back to school, but as she was homeschooled, I told him it was not a problem. She did her school work in the mornings and still went to the dental office in the afternoon.

As part of her homeschooling she read a lot of medical books and she also discovered that there was a correspondence course for a dental assistant. We sent for it and she devoured it eagerly. Being able to go to the dental office and see some of the things that the course was teaching her was a big help. She finished the year’s course by Christmas and we sent for another course from a different University.

Gradually she did more and more in the dental office. As she was not licensed by the Dental Assisting Board, she could only do certain things and had to be directly supervised by the dentist. We looked into sending her to dental assistant school, so that she could get her license, and she went for an interview. We were told that she was way ahead of their students when they graduated, so it would be pointless for us to spend thousand of dollars to send her there. We asked if there was another way for her to get her DANB diploma. Yes, she could work 3500 hours and challenge the exam, and so that is what she did. When she turned 16, the legal age to leave school, she worked full time at the dental office. By then she could run the front desk, do billing, file charts, clean and sterilize all the equipment, and knew all the dental procedures off by heart including those for endodontics and orthodontics. Just after her 17^th birthday the office manager left and she took over until a new office manager was hired. She then trained the new manager. Finally in the summer of that year she had completed her 3500 hours and she took the five hour DANB exam and passed with flying colors. She was still seventeen years old.

I know that in being able to do what she did she was very lucky. She found a professional person willing to give her a chance to prove what she could do. We were very proud of her and what she achieved.

If you have a young teen who is anxious to get out into the real world, there are a number of ways to help them find what they want. You will notice that I said, what THEY want. It is no use parents finding a job and pushing the youngster into it if they are unwilling. The interest must come from them in the first place. Once you have identified some area of interest, start by talking to as many people as possible in that field. Most professional people and business owners will be willing to make suggestions or even let your teen spend time watching them or helping out at their business, known now as job-shadowing. Almost any kind of business could be useful to a young person who wants a taste of the real world of work and there is no need for them to be committed to any particular field before they try this. However, if they have some kind of leanings towards a career or careers, think up some creative ways for them to get some first hand experience.

We found one of the best things to do was to ‘talk it up’ everywhere we went. An opening will occur somewhere that will give them some good experience. For example, if the theater is their main interest then even a volunteer position cleaning up at the local theater would be preferable to slinging hamburger. They will be happier and will almost certainly not stay cleaning for long, particularly if they show enthusiasm for everything they are asked to do.

One of the main complaints I hear from local business owners is that the teens he employs act dead from the neck up, and have to be prodded into action. In our current climate of a scarce job supply, a good enthusiastic attitude will go as far as all the degrees possible.

If after exhaustive searching, your teen does not find an opening anywhere, do not exclude the possibility of them starting their own business. My other daughter came out of college at 17 with a diploma in commercial photography, but could not find a job. She said that ultimately she wanted her own studio, so with a very small amount of financial backing from us, and a lot of encouragement, she opened a small studio. This year she has just been given the Photographer of the Year award in our home state of Oregon.

Obviously if your teen wants to be a surgeon, then starting their own business is not an option! However, even working for a veterinarian would give them a good basic understanding of medicine.

Even if they end up at the local hamburger joint, encourage them to think in terms of management. The daughter of a friend of mine was the assistant manager of the local Dairy Queen when she was 15.

Attitude is everything and will stand them in good stead as they move into the full time workforce. As I told both my girls, the sky is the limit!

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Copyright Vivienne Edwards 2009