Once teens reach sixteen or seventeen, they begin the search for jobs. They create a resume, apply to numerous places, and hope for the best. But recently, it’s been difficult to find jobs that are hiring.

Some apply to tons of places but don’t hear anything back, mainly because they don’t have work experience. What’s annoying is that places have “We’re hiring” signs, but don’t call those who’ve submitted applications. Teens are looking for jobs so they can get experience, but jobs only hire people if they have experience, making it a never-ending circle.

“A lot of places say they are willing to hire teens but then don’t because they don’t have any experience, that’s how it was for me,” says Jazlynn Oyler, a senior at Enochs who works at a Subway.

Maria Torres, a senior at Enochs, who currently works at Jamba, says, “I think [teens] have some of a disadvantage, especially if all the jobs who specifically hire first time people, aren’t hiring.”

“Those who aren’t being hired have a disadvantage because I think experience is really important when you’re being hired at a job. But at the same time when you’re applying, you also need to know where to apply in order to have your best chances of getting hired,” comments Enochs senior, Natalie Galia, who works at Tea Daze and Okawa Sushi.

Though searching for a job may seem easy, it’s very difficult, especially waiting to hear back from the place you applied to. Each place of business is different, they may either respond right away or take about a month to respond.

For Maria’s first job, “it didn’t take long at all, but for my current job, it took about a month and a half, almost two months,” to hear back from employers. When applying to her second job, “I applied to almost 20 places before I got hired at my job and my application was probably in for two weeks or longer.”

“My application was in for probably about 2 to 3 days before I got a call from my first employer. The same thing with my other jobs, right now [at] my second and third job, it took them about two to three days to reach out to tell me that I was hired,” Natalie states.

Since this is her first job, Jazlynn had to wait “about a month and then I ended up reapplying at the current location I’m at and others then I got a call back a few weeks later.”

When hearing back from a place you applied to, don’t jump the gun, keep your options open. “My biggest piece of advice is if a job responds right away, for example within the first 24 hours, be cautious and think about why they might be that desperate for workers and keep that in mind when you go to an interview,” warns Maria.

Many teens don’t want a job because they are either busy with school, don’t have the transportation, or they don’t want to work a lot of hours.

“I typically work around 20 hours a week. The most that I’ve worked in a week is like 30-40 hours. I think it just depends whether or not it’s a break, but on an average school week, I’ll usually work on average 25 hours a week,” says Natalie.

At Subway, Jazlynn works around 30 hours a week, which is typical for the average worker.

Maria says that at her first job, “I worked anywhere between 10-15 hours a week. For my second job I work anywhere from 3-6 hours a week.”

Though some may not think having a job is crucial, others want a job to help them learn how to save money the right way, become financially dependent on themselves and not on their parents, and be able to use their money to buy a car or save up for college.

When searching for jobs, don’t get discouraged. If you are really wanting a job, ask people you know if they’ve heard about a place that’s hiring or call around and ask if they’re accepting applications.

Good luck, and happy job hunting!