It is summer and you’re probably thinking how to best enjoy this amazing time of the year (super short for us in Canada) with your friends and family. Do yourself a favor and simultaneously make a small move that will potentially change someone’s life and definitively make both lives better. Hire a student entrepreneur!

I remember that most teenage kids had a summer job in my youth (I’m not that old!). While I started younger than most, it was the norm not too long ago. I will always remember Mrs. Bedros who encouraged me when she hired me when I was 10-12 years old. I became my own boss and started landscaping jobs. It stuck with me and I think it always gave me the confidence to be entrepreneurial. I find that graduating university students that I seek to hire tend to have limited work experience these days. I thought it was perhaps only my perception. Alas, it turns out that kids with jobs are now the exception! I believe this situation needs to / should change! Give a boost to teenagers and encourage the expansion of their entrepreneurial mindset. It is a small gesture that makes a huge difference.

1. Teenagers have stopped getting summer jobs. In the last few decades, summer jobs have been disappearing. In 1978, 60% of teens were working or looking for work. Last summer, just 35% were.
2. Why aren’t American teenagers working anymore? Experts attribute the decline to a variety of forces: the disappearance of many entry-level jobs, the rising share of young people spending their summers in school or other educational activities and, at least recently, a rising minimum wage.
3. Poor kids need summer jobs. Rich kids get them. A recent rebound, however, has barely made a dent in the decades-long decline in teen employment. The drop has been especially steep for boys, who are now less likely than girls to work during the summer. Summer jobs can help to reduce criminality.
4. Five reasons to hire summer interns. Not everyone can or may seek to be the boss right away. Learn from the best.
5. Making the most of your summer student hire. How?
6. 5 reasons you should hire an intern – and 3 reasons you shouldn’t. You have to do it for the right reasons!
7. 100 fun and lucrative summer opportunities for teens. There is something for everyone. Good ideas here.