<p>Get a summer job instead. Trust me at 15 no one really expects too much from you, and you should enjoy that luxury for a year or two more.</p>
<p>Find a fun summer job though, and don’t just grab something in retail at a mall. Try and find something you enjoy and that’s relatively interesting. During my earlier high school summers I worked on a small cruise ship, in a vodka distillery, and enjoyed myself greatly.</p>
<p>^ I would love to work at the local frozen yogurt shop…mmmm. Free frozen-yogurt every shift :D</p>
<p>Two friends of mine actually worked at Ben and Jerry’s shop for two summers and free ice cream was a major perk (for him and everyone that knew them). One is now at Tufts and the other is at Middlebury, both with awesome internships for this summer.</p>
<p>My school’s scheldule is all strange, so we have a 7-week break over summer. Long enough to hold down a job?
The reason I want an internship is so I can experience a sciency career first hand. I’ve been mostly humanities oriented in my EC’s, but now I am starting to look into science as a real possiblity.
Plus next year, I am planning on attending a summer program of some sort.</p>
<p>I think 7 weeks is long enough, a lot of college kids get winter jobs for only like 4-5 weeks, so 7 should be enough too. If you’re 15 finding a job or internship will be hard, you’re just not old enough. I agree with what others have said, either you need a connection to a place you want to work at, start calling (not emailing, it takes much less effort to email than to pick up a phone and physically call someone, and you want them to think highly of you), or find a job where the age doesn’t really matter and forget about an internship for this summer (i.e. babysitting or mowing lawns, working at a local store etc.)</p>
<p>What about finding research with a professor?
Perhaps that would be better than doing an internship with a company?</p>
<p>Yeah and I’m not sure of my ability to find a job. We have a mall, 5 shopping centers, and over 50 restuarants in my neighborhood, but the summer before my sister went off to college (when she was 17) she had to apply to like 20 places before one place accepted her. I would probably be competing against college students/ maybe even adults, especially in this kind of economy.
My dad always says that nobody ever wants to give you the first job, especially if you’re under 18.
It’s a bit disheartenning, but I agree, I’m too young. Who in their right mind would want to hire a 15-year-old high schooler versus a 20-year old college student?</p>
<p>try michael scott paper company</p>
<p>^ lol…10char</p>
<p>Does anyone know how employers consider 15-year-olds vs. 16? I always thought you had to be 16 in order to get a job, but I guess not. Is 16 and 17 yrs viewed differently than 15, or is it the same?</p>
<p>Also, anyone know of companies that have benefits for high school students? Like I know chick-fil-a gives out scholarships to their employees, but any other companies like this?</p>
<p>Ask your family, family friends, friends parents, or anyone who you meet about internships. Chances are, you will find someone who will be able to offer your something. Good internships usually come through networking.</p>
<p>Doesn’t it suck having a late birthday, chocobok? I’m in the same position as you, a sophomore who’s going to be 15 the entire summer. There are sooo many opportunities I want that I’m missing out on. All of my friends have a chance at those opportunities but I don’t JUST because I’m turning 16 a few months later. I have absolutely nothing to do, all the things I could have done this summer are all for 16 year olds. Hmph, I’m bitter.</p>
<p>
Bingo. Without exceptional established skills for a 15-year-old, and I mean <em>exceptional</em>, it’s unlikely that anyone is going to offer you anything worthwhile. </p>
<p>Look at it from an employer’s point of view: you may be only an intern but you’ll be taking up desk/lab/whatever space and someone on the regular paid staff will have to supervise you. In exchange for that, the company/organization has to see some potential reward that makes sense. </p>
<p>There are also biases, not without justification: there are enough 18-20-year-old college students that have holes in their work ethic, to put it politely, that gambling on the maturity of a 15-year-old begs the question, do you [as an employer] <em>really</em> want to do this?</p>
<p>With that as context, then look at it from your point of view: an internship consisting of getting coffee & donuts and making photocopies isn’t much of a learning experience except for what you pick by osmosis from the work environment. Getting something of substance? Go back and look from the employer’s point of view.</p>
<p>You’d be better off spending your summer taking a community college course or, better yet, setting up your own independent study course for something your interested in, getting a teacher or CC professor to mentor and guide you and maybe assign a culminating project like a presentation or major research paper by the end of the summer.</p>
<p>Thanks, TheDad, that was really helpful. I definitely see your point that employers don’t want to gamble on 15 year olds (although I have found a couple of places willing to take me for unpaid internships).</p>
<p>it does suck having a late b-day.
I hate agism. First I wasn’t old enough because I wasn’t 14, so I couldn’t volunteer where I wanted. Now I’m not old enough to get a job/internship because I’m not 16. I really don’t get it. So what if I’m a few months younger. I’m 15 1/2, yet they would rather hire someone who is 16? What’s half a year? I refuse to believe that they gained more maturity than me in a matter of months. And it sucks too because all my friends are 16, and they’re getting they’re driver’s liscense/ jobs, and I won’t be able to for months.
sorry, just ranting 
However, I’ll only be 21 when I graduate from college, so that’s cool.</p>
<p>I totally know what you mean. The same thing happened to me when I was looking for volunteer opportunities when I was 12/13. I agree, I refuse to think half a year makes any difference. I feel like I’m at the same maturity level or even above the maturity level of other people in my grade who happened to be born a few months earlier. I could have improved an entire 6 months of my life through an awesome opportunity if I were born just 2 months earlier. I also need a driver’s permit and license really badly, because there are so many places I need to drive for volunteering and extracurricular activities when everyone else my age is just driving around to get to parties. I’ll be only 17 when I graduate from high school! And I guess only 21 when I graduate from college, like you. But I don’t see anything else good about being born a few months later than everyone else…wah. ):</p>
<p>lol I’m sorry, but not hiring someone young really isn’t ageism. It’s not a question of a maturity gap between a 15 1/2-year-old and a 16-year-old, it’s an issue of the law.</p>
<p>In most states, you’re protected by child labor laws until you’re 16. That means that employers have to jump through lots of hoops if they hire a 15 1/2-year-old vs. a 16-year-old. You can’t do overtime, your hours are limited, you can’t handle money, you can’t serve drinks, etc. In an economy like this employers have 22-year-olds knocking on their door who would also work unpaid, have way more experience, and aren’t subject to child labor laws.</p>
<p>When I was a frosh/soph in high school, my friends got jobs as assistant counselors at day camps, and hosts/hostesses at restaurants. Certain positions aren’t as affected by age restrictions, so look for those (not sure what the laws are in your state, look them up).</p>
<p>This is a really, really terrible summer to be looking for a job, even as a college student. I’m a 20-year-old at an Ivy league school, and a lot of my friends are taking unpaid research positions, out of desperation, that otherwise would have gone to high school students like you. It’s not your fault, it’s the economy. Luckily for you, you’re young enough that it doesn’t matter whether or not you have a job this summer, because you don’t have to pay expenses, so count your blessings :-)</p>
<p>What I’d suggest is volunteering locally. Nursing homes, disability centers, and soup kitchens are ALWAYS in need of energetic volunteers, and would love to take on a smart 15-year-old. You can work several hours a day helping out, and supplement that with babysitting/mowing lawns/petsitting to earn some spending money.</p>
<p>So, really, don’t worry about finding out what kind of career you want to pursue. I’m 5 years older than you and still don’t know what I want to do with my life, and that’s actually ok. You have MANY summers ahead of you to do career preparation and terrible soul-sucking internships (photocopying/making coffee is NOT fun), so enjoy relatively pressure-free summers while you still have them, and don’t worry about your future before you need to.</p>
<p>This is my recent story. I want to let you know that there are always opportunities there. Just keep trying</p>
<p>So the past month I have been freaking out, as I have been getting dinged at big/mid/small banks and started going bezerk and thinking about transferring, started looking for reasons for my lack of success in the recruiting process except for a quant gig at a very respected place that I dont want to go to. Sending resumes out like a mad crazy man. you probably saw some of my desperate threads here.</p>
<p>I want to let everyone know that the market is bad, but there are opportunities out there. Dont give up. Persistance pay off. I was going to close my recruiting chapter for this year and just give up and go work at a tiny PE (since I dont want to work as a quant).</p>
<p>I had an interview with a BB recently and I was gonna give up and just not do it because I have been very sleep deprived lately as it is exam time. I made myself stick through that interview. To add to that, it’s my last interview of the year so mentally I have given up already.</p>
<p>Guess what happened. I got an offer at a freaking BB, as a sophomore too!! I know I am very lucky, and obviously i accepted it right away.</p>
<p>To those of you still looking. Dont give up. Sometimes you think you do so much and nothing happens…maybe the next time you do it, it happens for you. Had i given up and not gone through that interview, I would have just lost myself my dream internship. so my point is, dont give up. Hard work will be rewarded.</p>
<p>Can’t go to work, study vector calculus, lol.</p>
<p>My kids also have late summer birthdays and faced the same challenges as you when they were in high school. Each spent his 14th summer working for the one employer in town who hires 14 year-olds. The next summer they were day camp counselors. By age 16, the one who had an interest in science was able to get a research assistantship through a program that is coordinated by a nearby science museum. The museum has connections with universities and corporations in the area and makes the introduction for high school students to get an interview to do summer research. Once my kids started college, age was no longer an issue. So do not give up; just be realistic about the options that are available to you. Wish you the best.</p>
<p>Basically not making any progress for the internship, or job. The only thing I have schelduled for this summer as of now is community college classes.</p>
<p>I’m not really sure what to do from here on out. The summer is drawing closer. Should I axe my attempts at getting a job/internship and settle for taking CC classes and volunteering(which is what I did last year)? Try to find research oppurtunities with a professor, or start some sort of project on my own? I want to do something meaningful over the summer, other then lay on the couch and watch TV. What would be my best bet for the summer?</p>