How I Helped My Son with His First Job Interview

A key component to money management for young adults is knowing how to ace a job interview. I taught my son early about the process of finding a job, getting interviewed, making a good impression and getting the job.

As a manager myself, I knew about hiring people and how to make a good impression in a job interview. The first real job my son had was working for a local newspaper, The Ambler Gazette, in suburban Philadelphia. While he had been a newspaper delivery boy as a kid, now he had the opportunity as a teenager, to work in the paper's distribution center. The job would be two nights a week, for three hours a night. He would be part of the night crew that would take the raw newspapers, bundle them into stacks of a certain number, then group them for distribution to the delivery drivers.

It was boring, physical work, but I knew the experience of interviewing and working would be good to help him learn money management. I found he was a lot more careful with his spending when he had to earn that money bundling newspapers. Here are some basic tips I used to help teach my son about interviewing for a job:

Prepare for the interview

I went over the job with my son and what it would entail. I helped him understand the responsibilities and also what the function of the job was. I educated him a bit about the newspaper business and how the distribution system worked so he would have some knowledge before his interview.

Arrive on time

I taught my young adult about arriving promptly for meetings and appointments. I made sure he was early for the job interview and led by example, making sure I was always prepared and on-time for meetings and his activities.

Dress for success

Even though my son was just applying to fold and stack newspapers, I had him wear a dress shirt and tie for the interview. I explained about making a first impression, and just like he would respect meeting a new kid at school wearing the latest fashion and sneakers, it's similar in the work world.

I was successful in teaching my young adult about interviewing and getting a job, and he got the job at the newspaper. I later met the supervisor who hired him, who confirmed my son had made quite an impression. With all the teenagers who had applied for the job, my son stood out, he was early, the only one wearing a tie, and the only one who knew about the newspaper and how the job was a key part of the paper's business.

The whole process of interview and getting his first job helped my son learn about money management, introducing him to other issues like taxes, saving and bank accounts as well.

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