Last month I shared 10 tips for smart purchasing. This month, let’s talk about making money! Jobs vs. Careers: with today’s state of unemployment, it’s more important than ever for our teens to hone their job search and interview skills.

Beyond skills, even with a tough job market, I’ve always instilled in my teenagers the importance of being on the right career path for their interests and talents. Today, this equates to part-time work during their high school years. Tomorrow their jobs will serve as the foundation for their future career.

By high school, your teens may not know their exact career path but they know if they are business-minded, socially-conscious, a master debater or the creative type.

Tips to Share With Your Teens:

5 Useful Exercises To Carve Your Career Path:

1. Make a list to identify your strengths, interests and passions. They will serve as the gateway to establishing your career path. Do you like to lead or follow? Is public speaking a strength or weakness? How much does money or notoriety motivate you? Are you an inventor? Do you aspire to change the world?

2. Make a second list that outlines your weaknesses and dislikes. This is equally important, to avoid steering off your unique path and ending up with a job you can’t stand.

3. Identify the many careers (and industries) in which your strengths and interests will apply.

4. Explore: Search job listings and create job alerts with the major career sites.

5. Be proactive: seek companies that fit your career profile and contact them to inquire about job opportunities. Not all job openings are announced publicly so be proactive and find companies where you want to work.

5 Secrets To Effective Interviews:

1. Create a resumé – in a world of texting, resumé’s may seem outdated to teens. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s important at any stage of your part-time career to create a powerful resumé and the best way to show off your skills is through strong writing. There are a multitude of online resources to assist you.

2. Put your best face(book) & twitter forward. Prospective employers are researching job candidates online. Be sure your photos and content are protected. Better yet, just clean it up.

3. Dress and live the part. Interviewing goes beyond dressing well. It’s being the total package. Now that your social media is sparkly clean, be sure to have a professional email address, (ragedude@hotmail.com won’t speak well of you to employers). Always exercise your great communication skills via telephone, email and in person.

4. Interview and follow through. For example, if you’re seeking a job in sales, how you communicate before, during and after is important. Just as a sales position requires confidence, charisma and follow through – so should your efforts in getting the job. Don’t wait for their call — make the call to inquire if you’ve gotten the position. This shows you are interested, organized and a real professional.

5. Keep your eye on the prize. Never waiver or settle. Your properly planned part-time and full time jobs will provide important experiences to lead you further along your career path.

That’s 5 and 5 (which equals a 10 in anyone’s book!) Be sure to remind your teens to always think of the bigger picture, (the marathon over the sprint.) Their efforts today will result in a more pleasant job experience and most importantly, pay big rewards in their future career.

For now and as they head towards college, keep GTE FCU’s U22 account in mind. I’ve found it to be much more than a savings & checking account. The U22 account provides important information, education, alerts, access and support specifically for 12-22 year olds giving all the tools & technology they need for successful money management.

More than blogging about the 10 Teen Money Myths, I’ve also been speaking to many parents while out at football games and school events. The response is the same, stirring great concern about their misguided beliefs especially in regards to credit’s affect on getting a job.
Over the years some important changes have been made to how financial institutions issue credit and loans, establish interest rates and report to credit bureaus. Some changes are good, some not. This is where knowledge is key!

Myth 2: Bad Credit Can’t Keep Me from Getting a Job
Do you see that security camera up there in the corner? Have you read the news? At work crime has risen each year, therefore more employers are expanding all security measures including background and credit checks.

If your teen seeks a career in accounting, finance, fundraising, politics… basically any position in which they will manage money, their credit will certainly play a role in whether or not they are considered for a job. The state laws vary; however in general employers can legally deny a position based upon your credit but are required to show their source of information to the rejected job applicants.

Myth 3: All Loan Companies Have the Same Rates
Just as individual as you and I are, so are loan rates especially when comparing credit unions to banks. First, we all know your credit score is their first consideration. Gone are the days when you could obtain a loan regardless of your credit, (much of the reason behind today’s economic strife but that’s another day, another blog).

I reminded my teens that great credit earns the better interest rates whether you seek a loan at a bank or a credit union. Following that I share with you a basic comparison of banks to credit unions. Simply put, banks are “for profit, often publicly traded companies” vs. credit unions which are member-owned, not-for-profit organizations. Just the mere words “not-for-profit” and as banks are “for profit” clearly states how revenue flows within an organization and how much the customer pays for their operations.
Being member-owned, they have a stated goal of providing services to their membership resulting in fewer hassles and more competitive loan rates. I read an interesting survey that appeared in Consumer Reports lauding the top credit unions for their customer service, rates and fees.

Myth 4: It’s OK To Make Minimum Payments on Credit Cards
There is a credit card balance calculator that I discovered at www.bankrate.com that gave a frightening example that really hits home with why minimum payments are a bad idea.
First, if you are in debt, any financial planner will tell you to pay off your high interest rate debt first. That would be the balance on your credit cards!

So I broke it down with this example:
With a credit card balance $2,000 (by the way this is below the national average)
Interest rate 12%
The minimum payment would be $39.80

It will take you 169 months (16 years) to be rid of your debt. In that time, you will have paid $1,557.62 in interest! See for yourself at: http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/managing-debt/minimum-payment-calculator.aspx

To top that most people rotate their debt by making new purchases which add to the balance and therefore never pay off their debt. Imagine, since half of each payment goes to interest it’s much like paying double for every purchase you make on a credit card (if you pay only the minimum).
For once, my kids saw my point. That in itself was a golden moment.

Visit www.U224U.com to learn more about GTE Federal Credit Union’s U22 checking account for 12 to 22 year olds. Because learning about money is important, no matter what your age!”