This piece was produced by Acces Sacramento.

By Che Vang

Hiram Johnson Student, age 18

“No complaining, no whining, and no excuses,” is a motto Hiram w. Johnson High School’s JROTC instructor, Sergeant Rost, always tells his students to follow. Many high school students think that school is hard enough for them, but that is not the case when they are employed and have to go to school at the same time. According to a school wide survey, roughly 30% of high school students are employed and are still determined to go to school and graduate on time. Most of these students also plan to go on and further education.

High school students who are employed should be acknowledged for the extra work they do, whether it’s just being at work or just at school. Many can tell that the students who find a job while attending high school are the most likely to succeed in life.

Consider this; if you’re working and are completing your school assignments on time, you are already prepared for the real world and the next phase in your life, college. Just knowing that you have a job to go to and after coming back from work, you have to do your homework, you are already holding your priorities to a high standard.

It looks like moving home to your parent’s house after college may not be a dead-end. It may even jump-start your career. You just have to put up with your dad... being your boss.

Youth unemployment is dismal around the world (except in Germany) and predicted to flat-line before it goes down. It’s highest for young people in Spain and Greece, where over 50 percent of young people are unemployed.

In America, college grads, frustrated with the labor market, are starting franchises in partnership with their parents. Rick Bisio told the New York Times that 10 to 20 percent of the franchisees he works with as a franchise consultant, are parent-child pairs. And the number is rising. 

Whether parents have been laid-off, are looking for a late-career change or want to grow their existing companies, parents are fronting the money to go into business with their kids.

The division of labor usually breaks down like it did for the Leonard family, that started a cell-phone repair franchise:

His wife, Paula, will run the front desk, Mr. Leonard said, while his older son, Russell, 29, will be responsible for marketing; his younger son, Philip, 27, for technology; and his daughter, Carolyn, 24, for social media.

Sure, returning home may not the pinnacle of a 22-year-old’s ambitious future, but it’s one way to get around the youth job market standstill. That is, if your parents are loaded.

By Chaz Hubbard, Denise Tejada and Jenny Bolario

What's the path to that dream job? How does one job lead to another? Youth Radio finds out in our series Jobstacles.

Being on camera talking about video games was never something Adam Sessler imagined for himself. In fact, Sessler graduated from college as an English major and then worked as a banker before becoming the host of GameSpot TV and later as a co-host of the G4TV show X-Play. Sessler says, “When you’re young you kind of get the sense that what you’re doing now is what you’ll be doing for the rest of your life. But things can change.”

Find out how things changed for Sessler, and how he got out of a banking job that he didn't enjoy and into a career he loved in television. 

By Chaz Hubbard, Denise Tejada and Jenny Bolario

When Heather Collins graduated from high school, she tried out a couple of different jobs, but she always kind of dreampt of working as a hair stylist. Then, when the economy slumped, Collins pursued that dream. "Even when the economy is doing bad," said Collins, "people still want to look and feel good about themselves.” Find out how what she loves about cutting hair, and how she broke into the field.

The Following aired on KQED-FM.

By. Christina So

“I’m going to pick on you a lot.” That was the first thing my supervisor Kurt said to me when I joined the App Lab. It’s a department at Youth Radio that teaches young people how to write computer code.

Kurt explained that as a female who was interested in programming, I would be treated as a unique specimen in the male-dominated world of tech. He said he not only wanted me to be able to handle the pressure, but to be better than the competition.

I joined the App Lab mostly because of the word App - short for application. My favorite apps were games, and I played them a lot. Back then, my 4th generation iPod touch was a major part of my life. I spent at least 3 hours a day staring at that little miracle producing screen. But over time my interest changed from playing games, to learning how to create them.

I started with the most fundamental computer language: HTML. It was simple, easy, and straightforward, but the end product was bland and bare. That’s where CSS came in. It makes up for HTML’s lack of finesse. Then I moved on to Python. It’s an even more complicated language that constricted me like an actual python.

By Lauren Benichou

More than 200 young people from all over the country converged online this week to talk about youth access to jobs, or the lack thereof.

In the US, teen employment is near historic lows, yet companies report jobs going unfilled because they can’t find qualified workers.

Thursday’s live chat was hosted by the New Options Project Youth Advisers and joined by career counselors and administrators from youth programs, responding to many thoughtful questions and comments from concerned youths on a range of topics from the college-career pathway to dream jobs to the challenges faced by young people in trying to enter the professional world. Here’s a sampling of some of the topics they explored:

By Chaz Hubbard, Denise Tejada and Jenny Bolario

What's the path to that dream job? How does one job lead to another? Youth Radio finds out in our series Jobstacles.

Joel Melero has always been into automobiles, from detailing to fixing engines, but even he was surprised that his passion for cars led him to a career on the assembly line at one of the nation's leading electric car manufacturers, Tesla Motors. Melero says that it took him 10 years to figure out what he wanted to do. “If you want a house, you want a car, you gotta go somewhere," says Melero, "You've got to push yourself.” For Melero, that meant enrolling in trade school and studying to be an electrician. Watch the video to find out how he found his way to Tesla.

First days on the job are the worst. NPR published a blog post today about a news anchor whose first (and last) day was marred by his potty mouth. I won’t repeat exactly what he said, you can watch the video for that below. 

One of the best things about NPR’s blog post is the comment stream. People wrote in about all sorts of terrible mishaps on day one of a new job. I’ve grabbed some of the best stories and pasted them below. Have you had any bad first days that top these?

Join Live Chat - Connecting Youth To Job Pathways
It's happening right here, on Thursday, April 25th at 7-8pm Eastern/6pm Central/4pm Pacific

Teen employment in the U.S. is near historic lows, yet companies report jobs going unfilled because they can’t find qualified workers. So how do we solve the problem?

Policymakers, employers and academics all say this issue is key to addressing America’s economic future. The New Options Project Youth Advisers are hosting a series of live chats, inviting young people to join conversations about how best to prepare youth for the jobs of tomorrow.

Have ideas? Join us as we talk about the problem, and possible solutions.

What's the path to that dream job? How does one job lead to another? Youth Radio finds out in our series Jobstacles.

Sal Algaba is a plumber, but he didn't always know that was what he wanted to do. In fact, it took Algaba years before he found his way into the trade. He says, "You have to get experience from working. You have to start at fast food places or retail. Yes it's hard work and yes it's demanding work, physically and mentally at times, but that's how you learn responsibility." Watch the video to find out how Algaba's career unfolded.