JOBS FOR 18 YEAR OLDS

High school graduates who will be out looking for jobs this summer may wish they started looking sooner. It is wonderful to be finally finishing high school but the real world might not be as exciting as they had hoped.

With unemployment holding steady at about 9%, jobs for 18 year old high school graduates are NOT easy to find. If you are not going to be going to college, you need to start thinking about getting a job right now, before you graduate.

Being in high school means you are sheltered and in your own world. That is what high school is: it’s own world where you interact with a finite group of friends and you all are there for the one goal of graduating. It’s a fun time and one you will remember for the rest of your life. But when it is over, you will be thrust out into the real world and on your own. IT ISN’T PRETTY OUT THERE AS YOU WILL SOON FIND OUT!

Many high school graduates looking for work underestimate just how difficult it is to get a job in this terrible economy. If they are willing to work they ASSUME there is someone out there willing to hire them. But that is just not the case and in 2011, finding a job might be the most difficult thing you will ever have had to do.

Before you graduate make sure you go to your high school’s career counselor. You should be going there now and not next month. You should be asking questions about what you need to do to to give yourself the best chance of landing some sort of job once you graduate.

You need to start planning and networking with as many people you can who might be able to help you find work. Most importantly, you need to understand that this is NOT the time to hold out for that better job that you really want. Your first priority should be to get a decent job and from there you can look into getting a better one.