In the U. S. only 16% of high schoolers have a job, and it’s rare to see somebody from Rio working in a nearby venue. The list of companies that hire 16 year-olds is limited.

There are a few students with jobs in Rio, who take time out of their day and adjust their schedules to earn some extra cash. A job is a great resource for high schoolers in the us.

“I need fat stacks” said junior, Eliza Azen.

Eliza works for Jamba Juice, out of her love for Jamba Juice smoothies. She got the job to accomplish her new year’s resolution of earning “fat stacks” (a lot of money).

Eliza said she earns minimum wage, which is common for a student. In California around 4% of people live off the same amount she earns with her current job.

Most companies will hire a student for minimum wage, which is $10.50 per hour, but in the food industry a student can earn over four extra dollars per hour.  That means with a total 24 hours of work you can earn enough money to buy a new playstation, or around 2 years of netflix.

A 2006 study by the University of Boston also stated that if a student has a job, their GPA will raise on average as long as the student does not work over 20 hours a week.

It’s harder for a student to get a high school job than in the 90s, where one out of four students had a job. Now students have to compete with a large unemployment rate, and increasing work standards.

Companies now will prefer the full time unemployed adult than a part-time student. Many companies also don’t want the unprofessional image of a teen working at the front desk.

Besides this, some companies like Target will occasionally give scholarships to student employees. Many scholarships these companies offer are never taken due to the small amount of students in the workforce.

Although many companies won’t hire high schoolers, tech companies like Apple and Facebook, are looking for young minds in their workforce. One of the developers of IOS ten is a 17 year old boy who is now working for Facebook.

These tech companies are looking for a creative new generation that have grown up in a digital world. These companies like the appeal of students having known these devices their whole lives.

All of these jobs are great way to get cash, but what about college credit? For years major companies and industries have hired unpaid interns, in return of job experience and college credit.

With increasingly hard labor laws and a competitive job market, it’s hard for a student to find and unpaid intern position. Many jobs that interns traditionally had have now been replaced by technology as well.