#adulting: The Art of Earning Money as a Teenager

We want more independence as we grow from children into teenagers. Some of us start looking for part-time work as a way to increase income. Straddling between life as a child and as an adult, we then need to learn the different ways to earn money as a teenager.  Not learning this in school, this is often an art as we trial and error to figure it out.  Here are some ideas:

1) Getting A Job

For most people, we earn most income through a job. Many of us from young have learnt to exchange effort for money by being paid to do household chores. As teenagers, we then transition into more formal employment.  Such jobs could be part-time work as a casual at the nearby supermarket or F&B outlet.

As a teenager, it is okie to struggle initially in this employment process.  Starting out, we may not know how to present ourselves, or communicate what we can do.  We can get help from adults on how to create a resume and prepare for interviews.  Since independent referrals are required on the resumes, we can also volunteer at a charity and/or help out in school.  We can then gain valuable experiences that enhance the resume while expanding our network for opportunities.

2) Create Multiple Streams

These days, we can feel anxious with how the workforce is evolving. The new global economy is constantly changing and filled with uncertainty. While the Internet has connected countries, it has also diminished physical barriers that used to protect jobs. There are now new challenges and opportunities in earning money.

We can no longer just rely on traditional employment. It’s harder to find employment as competition is intense. Putting on our growth mindset, we can take advantage of our youth to think of and try multiple ways to earn income. This is the best timing to experiment.

Perhaps we have skills and can deliver services through Airtasker or Upwork? Alternatively, are there unwanted items at home that we can sell on Facebook Marketplace?

The more quickly we can think of ways to generate income, the more resilient we will be in the uncertain economic environment.  This also builds our resourcefulness, develop creative thinking skills and increase our ability to problem solve. 

As we figure out a new income stream, we also learn new knowledge and skills that can be applied in other situations. Additionally, this expands our skill-sets in the resume, giving us an edge over their peers. Need some ideas on what income streams to try?  Check out this article here which has some fantastic suggestions!

3) Develop Passive Sources

As we build more income streams, we will quickly realise that getting personally involved will be the bottleneck towards earning money.  After all, we can only be at one place physically at any one time.  We also only have 24 hours a day! It is then time to consider scaling up.  What can we do to earn more money with our limited resources? Can we use money to make more money? 

For those of us interested to be entrepreneurs, this is a good way to get started.  Otherwise, focus on learning about interest and get acquainted with the adult world of financial institutions. Getting exposed to banks; learning how to save and invest is critical to our development for financial independence as adults.