Best Jobs For 18 Year Olds | Complete Guide To Your Options

When you hit the age of 18, chances are that you might be curious about ways to make some extra money. After all, you can never go wrong with having some extra cash on you. However, when this thought hits you, it’s important to ask, “what are the best jobs for 18-year-olds.” 

There are many jobs available in the market, whether you’re looking to work during the summer, part-time, or fully online. You only need to understand where to look and what you need. In this guide, we will show you the best jobs you can apply for as an 18-year-old. We will also provide details on the relevant labor laws concerning jobs for 18-year-olds and the best ways to save your earnings.

 

Part-Time Jobs For 18-Year-Olds

18 is considered the minimum age for many jobs in the market today. You’re done with high school and already looking to take up jobs to make extra money, whether full-time or part-time.

So, as an 18-year-old job seeker, you have so many options from which you can choose. Some of the options include being a babysitter, dog walker, working in the food service sector, or taking up an entry-level position in a small business.

Ultimately, whether or not you get the job will depend on your application and experience perhaps. In this section of our guide, we shall consider some part-time jobs for 18-year-olds.

 

— Customer Service Representative 

Customer service representatives interact with customers to ensure smooth operations. If you’re working in this role, then expect to speak with many customers and address their complaints on a daily basis. You’ll need to be patient and also understand how to answer questions. 

You might not need much experience to get started with this role. The company will take you through a training process, and you can gradually learn the basics. The expected pay scale for the job is somewhere around $19.64 per hour. 

Depending on the company you work for and your contract offer, the role often comes with added benefits, including dental, medical, and accident, among others. 

— In-Store Shopper

In-store shopping is a job that requires some level of diligence. You’re essentially trying to help customers get their orders just the way they want. You’ll have to fulfill customer orders and prepare their products for delivery accordingly.

Whole Foods is one of the companies with this role. Working in this capacity with the company will require you to come in during the weekends occasionally. As an in-store shopper, expect to shop across stores heavily and also have a flexible schedule. 

The pay scale for the job is somewhere between $16.50 and $23 per hour. The role also comes with benefits including retirement plan benefits, health insurance, and paid time off, among others. 

— Warehouse Worker

As a warehouse worker, you should expect to prepare and complete warehouse orders based on a schedule. Working in this role will also require you to process stock products and be in charge of warehouse inventory.

If you want to work as a warehouse worker, you should also have a knack for keeping and improving standards. This is important for audits and goes a long way in being considered for the role. The pay scale for the job is about $19.25 per hour.

— Shift Manager 

To work as a shift manager, you need to be at least 18 years of age. As a shift manager, you will be in charge of moderating employees’ shifts and also allotting shifts to new employees. 

Working in this role also requires interacting with employees. It’s important to note that the position requires experience. Most companies want to hire managers who have already dealt with people and managed shifts in the past, given the importance of the role.

The expected pay for the job is about $18 per hour.

 

Summer Jobs For 18-Year-Old

Certain jobs come up during the summer, and you might want to consider applying for them if you’re looking to get a job that pays well. In preparation for summer, many teens often contemplate applying for jobs they find worthy. Here are some of the jobs hiring at 18.

 

— Referee/Umpire

If you have numerous youth creation and travel leagues in your neighborhood, then you might want to consider taking a job as a referee. You’ll find this befitting if you already have experience with games. Picking up a job as a local referee can be a great way to make some extra money. 

For this job, however, you need to understand how to deal with people. Referees need to be patient and yet firm. Given that people will always have different views on your calls, you have to be prepared to deal with overzealous people. 

The average pay scale per hour for the job is $17.

— Grocery Stocker/Bagger

With numerous stores around, the role of grocery stocker and bagger is one of the most popular around. The job description of the role involves stocking food items for the store, checking items to remove expired products, and assisting customers with bagging their products. 

Getting a job as a stocker is pretty convenient. You can simply walk up to the next store near you or check their website to see if the role is being advertised. 

The expected pay scale for the job is $10.39 per hour. 

Other summer jobs you can consider include being a camp counselor, working in a call center, a data entry specialist, landscaping, lifeguard, pet sitter, sales associate, working for Cheesecake Factory, and being a delivery driver, among others. Notably, to work as a delivery driver, you’ll need a driver’s license.

— Tutor

There are jobs to apply for during the summer if you’re good with kids. Many parents bring in private tutors for their kids, mostly to keep the children preoccupied among other things. It’s important to keep in mind that this job requires a great deal of patience. Besides understanding what curriculum you will follow, you must possess excellent communication skills and the ability to assist them by hand.

Therefore, if you don’t have experience in this regard, it might be challenging to get the job. Nevertheless, if you can prove to the employers that you’re the right candidate, then this role may be a good fit for you. The pay scale for tutors is about $18 per hour.

 

Online Jobs For 18-Year-Olds

You’ll come across numerous ways to make money online as an 18-year-old. The world is highly digital, and people are in need of various services. You can tap into any of these to make some extra money. In this section, we shall discuss some jobs to consider.

 

— Complete Online Surveys For A Fee

When companies launch products or new features, they try to get reviews on these products to make them more appealing. This doesn’t mean you have to provide a false review. Instead, you can visit any of the online survey sites that allow you to use the feature and provide an honest review.

As you can imagine, this is not exactly a skill that will offer so much money. Nevertheless, it provides you with some extra money that you can use to cover some of your expenses. To put this into context, you can earn enough money to purchase a new PlayStation by filling out numerous paid surveys.

Some of the survey sites you can consider include Swagbucks and InboxDollars.

— Review Calls and Get Paid

We’re in an age where it’s important to assess the calls of customer representatives for quality assurance purposes. Expect to listen to calls and provide honest reviews about the conversation. You’re expected to assess the friendliness of the representative and how helpful the call is to the customer. 

This is a job you can consider if you’re not looking to engage in something that requires a technical skill or consumes too much of your time.

— Freelancing

The freelancing space is currently one of the biggest in the world. With many companies and small businesses working with freelancers in different capacities, there is a wide range of opportunities available to 18-year-olds. 

The first step you need to take is to identify the skill you want to build and improve. This can be informed by your habits, whether you like to write or design. For instance, if you possess great writing skills, you can build them up to become an expert article writer or content strategist. Similarly, you can work on your design skills and become a graphic designer.

Once you learn these skills, the next step is to find jobs. Platforms such as Freelancer and Upwork are filled with tons of gigs you can tap into. All you need to do is to build your profile and improve your visibility by applying for jobs. Freelancers make thousands of dollars on a monthly basis, and the space equally comes with flexible schedules, meaning you can structure your work to afford you a decent amount of time to do other things.

If you’re contemplating jobs hiring 18-year-olds or good jobs for 18-year-olds, freelancing is one of the best ways you can bring that thought to reality. It can take some time before it takes off, but with consistency, you’ll make good money while at it.

More importantly, freelancing skills are transferable. Once you become an expert writer or designer, you can leverage these skills to improve your personal life as well. This means you continue to improve yourself even while making money with these skills.

— Starting A Youtube Channel

You might be curious about jobs that hire at 18 or jobs for teens, but don’t want to work for anyone. If you find yourself in this situation, an option you can consider is to become a video blogger on YouTube.

An important thing to note here is that it takes time to make money from YouTube. You must first build your audience before you start making real money. Therefore, if you intend to make money from YouTube, you must invest in doing something you love and must be ready to play the long-term game. 

Once you understand that, identify the subject you want your channel to cover and get started. Create a structure for your content and make a plan for posting and engagements. As your audience grows, you’ll start earning from your channel. You might also need to hire some team members as your channel grows in size.

Asides from direct earnings from YouTube, most people make money from being ambassadors of companies in your space or advertising their services. When getting started, you should also take a look at successful YouTubers and study their strategies to inform how you’ll go about yours.

— Create An Online Course

You can also tap into the knowledge economy to make some extra money. This is a bit synonymous with starting a YouTube channel. The difference, however, is that tutoring people is centered around creating value on specific subjects and offering people educational content that can help them either in classes or grow generally.

As such, if you’re good with mathematics, programming, or any subject, you can create classes on different platforms, such as Podia, and invite people to learn from you for a fee.

 

How The Labor Laws Affect Jobs For Teens

When looking for good jobs for 18-year-olds that pay well, it’s important to pay attention to the relevant labor laws. Often, the desperation to sign up for a job makes people disregard their rights under the law. However, knowing how the law affects the number of hours you’re expected to work for minimum wage, among others, will help you understand whether or not your employer is treating you right.

There are numerous definitions concerning employment that you might want to familiarize yourself with. This will help you make sense of different materials you’ll come across concerning work standards. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. You should note that states also have their own laws on minimum wage, and where an employee is subject to both, the higher number becomes operative.

Employees are also expected to work for no more than 40 hours in a week without receiving compensation for overtime hours. Therefore, if your employer needs you to work more hours, you should understand the obligations expected of your employer.

Generally, labor laws are operative to ensure fair and decent standards of work whether you’re a 15-year-old, 17-year-old, 18-year-old, or an adult. Without these laws, employees will be easily exploited without recourse.

 

How To Select The Best Job

Many things come into the picture when it comes to selecting the best job. However, because you might need money quickly, you might fail to consider some of these factors. Nevertheless, it’s important to know about them.

The first thing to note is your interest. When you choose a job that aligns with your interest, you’ll likely find ease while performing your obligations. Additionally, selecting a job based on interest means you get to develop as a person even while making money on the side.

Furthermore, you should consider the pay scale of the job. It’s always advisable to choose jobs with high market value. This is why freelancing remains one of the best ways to earn meaningful money as an 18-year-old. When you develop high-demand skills such as animation, writing, and designing, among others, you can attract valuable clients that will pay you meaningfully. 

Another factor to consider is whether the job has flexible hours. As a young person, you might want to go for a job that still affords you enough time to cater to other things, which might be school or family. Therefore, a great job is likely one that pays well and comes with a flexible schedule.

Essentially, choose a job that makes you feel fulfilled while doing it. Even if you’re ultimately doing the job to earn extra money, you can select one that’s fun at the very least. Turning on your job alerts notification and reading beyond job titles will also help you in finding the right job.

 

Tips For Saving Your Earnings

Saving is a great way to position yourself for financial freedom. Data show that nearly 70% of Americans have money stashed away in their bank accounts. People understand the importance of saving and how you can leverage money to build your future. As a young person, you shouldn’t disregard healthy money-saving habits.

To save money as an 18-year-old, you’ll need a high level of commitment and discipline. Numerous things exist for you to spend your money on, especially if you don’t have many financial demands. However, learning to save starts by cutting down on unnecessary expenses. You’ll need to work based on a budget and only purchase things you need. Nevertheless, you should set aside a little money to cater to some of your wants.

Furthermore, set a goal for your savings. When you have a number in mind and a structure to work with, chances are that you’ll achieve your goal. It also helps to open a savings account with a bank or a fintech company. Saving through these apps will help you stay committed and also prevent you from accessing the money conveniently.

Incorporating these tips will help you save notable money over a period of time. Then you can use your savings to meet tangible financial expenses.

 

The Bottom Line

When searching for jobs for teens, it’s important to filter jobs based on certain key factors such as interest and pay scale. This will help you arrive at jobs you find suitable and financially great. 

You can choose to work with stores and supermarkets in different capacities. Some of the popular positions include cashier, retail associate, and bagger, among others. On the other hand, you can choose to leverage the internet to get online jobs. Popular options here include filling out surveys and getting paid, freelancing, or starting a YouTube channel. 

Ultimately, you’ll go for the job that’s most suitable for you based on your circumstances. Nevertheless, understand the relevant labor laws to protect yourself from unfair treatment.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best paying job at 18?

There are many jobs that pay well at 18. From working physically to working online, you can find jobs where you’ll earn tens of thousands of dollars yearly. However, you need to research diligently to find the best-paying jobs. For instance, if you’re looking to freelance, then the first thing to do is to identify a valuable skill. Once you do, develop the skill thoroughly and then start positioning for jobs. 

The digital world is fast-paced, and numerous companies, small businesses, and individuals require the services of freelancers. Therefore, all you have to do is to tap into that market. Also, it’s important to note that, beyond a job’s pay, there are a few other things to consider. You’d want to look at the schedule and how much time the job affords you to attend to other things. 

The best jobs to look out for are those that pay well for an 18-year-old while also affording you some freedom to execute other things.

 

What are the best ways to find a job for 18-year-olds? 

When searching for a job as an 18-year-old, where you look depends on the nature of the job. If you’re looking to work in a store or a warehouse, you might want to walk up to any of their branches near you. Possibly, you only need to pick up a form with the hiring manager and apply accordingly. 

However, given the nature of the world, most companies now operate online. Therefore, the best way to find jobs is to research online. There are numerous platforms that post job openings, such as Indeed.com. These platforms provide the details of each position and also link you to the website of the company.

If you want to freelance, then you need to find jobs on platforms dedicated to this area. These include Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer, among others. On these platforms, you’ll find jobs based on the skills you possess.

 

What is the minimum wage for 18-year-olds?

An employer must pay an 18-year-old at least $7.25 per hour. In most cases, most employers pay higher than the threshold. This is another thing you want to consider when you’re searching for jobs. The best jobs have a pay scale notably higher than the minimum wage.

Asides from that, you should consider other benefits the job provides. The best jobs offer you multiple benefits aside from your pay. This might include medical and dental benefits.