Teenagers have a pretty easy life these days compared to a few decades ago, but it’s also a more complicated time for them.

Last week, we focused on the difficulties of finding that first job as a teenager and the persistency it takes.

I’m sure many of you have stories about your first jobs as a teenager.

Besides raising cattle and lambs to sell at local fairs through 4-H and FFA, the first money I really earned as a teenager was being what I like to refer to as a “llama caretaker.” Really, I started at a neighboring farm as a pooper-scooper.

The minimum wage was $4.25 an hour, but the llama farm’s owners, the Engles, kept a refrigerator in their barn stocked with soda. It was a great gig for a 14-year-old farm girl who needed a few extra bucks each week. It was also close enough to my family’s farm that I could walk or ride my bike if my mom wasn’t able to give me a ride.

Since I’d grown up on a farm, it seemed like the easiest job in the world to clean the barn stalls out each evening after sports practices. Contrary to many myths, llamas are pretty friendly creatures once they get used to a person.

I made friends with quite a few llamas over the next several years — and every time I go home, I stop by and visit with the Engles. They’ve sold their llamas since then, but we always reminisce over our favorites.

Mine was a young male llama named Escapade. He was this beautiful chocolate brown color and came to learn my voice. Every time I’d go into the barn and he was in there, I’d talk to him.

The owners noticed this and asked me if I’d be interested in helping prepare Escapade for a llama show. Since I had already shown other animals for several years, my answer was a quick, “sure, why not?”

Showing a llama was unlike any other creature I’d ever escorted around the ring. With lambs, you can pretty much make them go any direction by using your hand under their jaws. With cattle, as long as you’d taken the time to train them, they were happy to stand in the show ring and chew their cud as long as they got their bellies scratched with the show pole.

Llamas, I soon learned, were not that cooperative — and the show ring wasn’t really a ring as much as it was an obstacle course built to put the pack animals through a series of real-life scenarios found when hiking and packing.

Preparing for the shows was time consuming because we’d have to un-mat the llamma’s fiber or wool. This would take about four hours or more per animal if they’d been in a pasture for a while.

Escapade lived up to his name on several occasions, but overall we got along. He trusted me enough to follow me through most of the obstacles.

Even though I eventually got a “real job” at McDonald’s, I continued to work at the llama farm through high school. It was hard work, but the owners made it fun to be a pooper-scooper.

Most teenagers I’ve met locally are eager to find their first real job. Although many of them can’t imagine having my first job, many of them have realized they need to have some way to show their reliability.

Worksource officials recommend teenagers take their school attendance records with them when applying or interviewing to show they are reliable.

There are many other ways these teens can get a foot up on the competition as well. Mowing lawns or baby sitting in their neighborhoods will provide “past experience” often lacking in those seeking their first jobs.

Volunteering in school clubs or activities is also something that shows potential employers that students have the social skills needed for both good customer service and getting along with coworkers.

When looking for a summer job, teenagers also need to start preparing before school ends by asking teachers who are potential references for their home contact information.

Probably the most important things for teens to remember is to be respectful, courteous and dress for success. I’ve seen many of my former managers tear up an application after a young person turned it in because the person came in with an attitude of entitlement, wearing a midriff shirt and flip-flops.

While a few decades ago it was easy to land that first job, teenagers have a more difficult road ahead of them with higher minimum wages and state regulations for underage employees. By being persistent and listening to those who’ve gone through the process before, most will be able to find success in the job market.



Richardson is the editor of the Courier-Times. She can be reached at 360-855-1641 or via e-mail at .