# What kind of job could a 14 year old get..? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2003, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636 "2003-01-15T00:17:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636/21 "2003-01-15T16:29:39Z")
You’re in Manhattan and you’re 14… Drive a cab! No wait, you seem to speak English, so never mind. Real answer: Any family or family friends in the trades? I’ve “hired” some teenagers before for certain jobs (check local regulations for age limits and liabilities), and have helped some of them to choose a field in which to train (like VoTech). Sometimes the work may be hard, but the rewards can be large. And, you never know what you might like or have a gift for until you try. ---
**Author:** ![Keweenaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Keweenaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keweenaw)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636/22 "2003-01-15T18:39:36Z")
When I was in High School there was this guy who was a DJ at a local rock radio station. Q107 in Ishpeming, Michigan. He was 14, and somehow got a driver’s permit that allowed him to goto work. He was a bit of a cocky asshole, and I guess that came across over the radio well. So my answer is DJ ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636/23 "2003-01-15T20:05:40Z")
Assuming this hasn’t changed since I was 15, in New York state, you can’t get legal employment until age 15 except as a farmworker. I’m guessing that farmwork positions are hard to come by in the middle of Manhattan. So, your choices are limited to under-the-table casual-type employment. When I was 14, I worked a little as a babysitter, though I hated it and gave it up as soon as I could get other employment, and as a reader for a blind retired English lit professor. She mainly had me read Time, Newsweek, the New York Times and non-fiction books. Did wonders for my vocabulary and world knowledge, and she paid the (at the time) great rate of $3 an hour - better than I could get babysitting my mom’s friends’ kids, since my mom’s friends were all kinda cheap. She had to move to a nursing home around the same time I turned 15 and could get working papers, so we went our separate ways. I’d suggest putting up fliers at the library to read to the blind, or to tutor younger kids in whatever are your best subjects. I also second what **NoClueBoy** suggested about family businesses - in New York there are exceptions to the age-15 limit for working if you are working for family. Look into this because I believe you are restricted from certain types of jobs, and you are definitely restricted in how many hours you can work. You may also be limited to working for your parents. Try to find a state of new york labor department web site. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636/24 "2003-01-15T22:08:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Keweenaw \* > \*\*When I was in High School there was this guy who was a DJ at a local rock radio station. Q107 in Ishpeming, Michigan. He was 14, and somehow got a driver’s permit that allowed him to goto work. He was a bit of a cocky asshole, and I guess that came across over the radio well. > > So my answer is DJ \*\* rofl… I used to listen to Q107. What time period was this? ---
**Author:** ![booka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@booka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booka)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636/25 "2003-01-15T22:14:15Z")
> [@](#): > > When I was in High School there was this guy who was a DJ at a local rock radio station. Q107 in Ishpeming, Michigan. He was 14, and somehow got a driver’s permit that allowed him to goto work. He was a bit of a cocky asshole, and I guess that came across over the radio well. **Keweenaw** , that kind of thinking is so peninsular. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lorenzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4da419/32.png) [@Lorenzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorenzo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636/26 "2003-01-15T23:58:44Z")
You might need a work permit from your school principal along with your parents consent in order to work. Burger King stopped hiring 14-15 year olds for some years because 14-15 year olds must follow the child labor laws and it was too difficult for the managers to keep track of all the children’s ages and their work hours. The penalties ($1,000 per infraction) were too severe to trust the managers to comply with the child labor laws, so all the 14-15 year olds were fired. The child labor laws limit the types of occupations a child can work, the number of hours worked in a day, the number of days per week and the number of hours in a week, all depending whether the dates worked are between Memorial Day and Labor Day or the reverse. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636/27 "2003-01-16T00:05:32Z")
Can you deliver papers? Being a paper carrrier, that’s always my first suggestion… (I should change my username to Papergirl, shouldn’t I?) ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636/28 "2003-01-16T00:10:03Z")
Forget pet sitting… try dog walking! I hear in NYC that could be fairly lucrative. Put up a flyer in a couple apartment buildings. In many cases, you could probably walk several dogs at once. Be sure to invest in a good long handled pooper scooper though… (I’d hire you to clean my house if you lived in my town.) ---
**Author:** ![ASD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@ASD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASD)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636/29 "2003-01-16T00:22:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Motorgirl \* > \*\*Assuming this hasn’t changed since I was 15, in New York state, you can’t get legal employment until age 15 except as a farmworker. > \*\* I worked (legally) at 14 when I lived in NY state. I needed permission from my parents and the school, and the hours were limited, but it was no problem to do. That was in 1989. ---
**Author:** ![Cillasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Cillasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cillasi)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636/30 "2003-01-16T03:44:16Z")
[http://www.labor.state.ny.us/business\_ny/employer\_responsibilities/workprot/wphmpg.htm](http://www.labor.state.ny.us/business_ny/employer_responsibilities/workprot/wphmpg.htm) This site has all the information you need to know in order to start looking. Good luck! > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sympatha \* > \*\*Well, realistically, I mean. This probably isn’t in the right forum, so feel free to move it if you like… > > Given, I could only work a few hours a day… I get out of school at 4, which is in the middle of downtown Manhattan, so I reckon I could get near anywhere… > > Of course, most jobs wouldn’t want to hire a 14-year old, so… my options are limited… > > Any advice out there? \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Keweenaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Keweenaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keweenaw)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636/31 "2003-01-16T03:54:31Z")
Athena said > [@](#): > > rofl… I used to listen to Q107. What time period was this? This was 1984-85 Apologies to Sympatha for the minor hijack ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636/32 "2003-01-16T12:51:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ASD \* > \*\*I worked (legally) at 14 when I lived in NY state. I needed permission from my parents and the school, and the hours were limited, but it was no problem to do. That was in 1989. \*\* Then it looks like things _have_ changed. I was 14 in 1984. Or I suppose it may vary by county or township. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636/33 "2003-01-16T13:37:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lissa \* > \*\*You can also work on a farm as a seasonal harvestrer or general laborer. I’m almost certain that this is legal. I will warn you however, that the work is very hard, and can have permanent health repercussions: you could ruin your back, etc. \*\* Been there! I detassled for a few summers when I Was 13 and 14. That was BY FAR the hardest work I have ever done in my life. Go to work at 4:30am, get off at 2pm or so. You walk up and down miles of corn rows pulling the tops off of every single stalk so they can’t pollenate them selves. My hands hurt SO bad and my back hurt SO SO bad the first few days. Once you are out in the field there is no turning back either so you see alot of kids crying or sitting on the bus all day waiting to go home. Tough. Tough work. Get a paper route. That will get you a little cash. Or mow lawns. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636/34 "2003-01-16T13:44:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stinkpalm \* > \*\* Once you are out in the field there is no turning back either so you see alot of kids crying or sitting on the bus all day waiting to go home. > . \*\* BTW, when I say crying I don’t meean whining. I mean broke down in tears crying for mommy. It was that bad out there. I remember one field we had to do after a huge rain storm. It was over a mile and a half long and had about 500-600 rows I think and there were only 50 of us or so. After the rain there was mud 7-9" deep all the way thru the fields, the stalks were wet and slipped from your hands easily, and mosquitoes like no other. Worst day of work I ever experienced. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-job-could-a-14-year-old-get/148636.md?page=1)