Teen techies an affordable way
for firms to keep computers running
By Jennie L. Phipps • Bankrate.com

At the national 4-H headquarters in Chevy Chase, Md., when one of the 150 regular employees has the inevitable computer glitch, the person who comes running to help is likely to be a high school student.

Wayne Hulehan, information systems director, employs about 20 budding techies to do routine things that baffle the older generation, including installing software, fixing the printer, rebooting stalled computers, building PowerPoint presentations and even giving training.

Hulehan says, "We're switching from WordPerfect to Microsoft Word and the youth shall lead the way. They're going to train us all in how to use the new program."

Born to compute
Computers are second nature to a generation that grew up thinking a mouse is always connected to a keyboard or CPU. Taking advantage of this built-in knowledge makes sense to Hulehan, and it may make sense for other business people who need to hire computer skills at a price that is affordable.

Hulehan pays $7 to $8 an hour for his computer helpers, who each work a few hours a week. He says it's hard to estimate what he would pay if he had to hire full-time, adult workers. The youth brigade members don't have the computer skill certifications that he requires of regular workers, but many of them do have skills that make them valuable. A worker who has a certification -- but doesn't have a college degree -- starts at about $30,000 a year in Hulehan's organization.

Entrepreneurial teens who are able to market their skills can make a surprising amount of money for their efforts. Robert Baldi of Concord, N.H., is 18 and operates a business called Web Designs Plus. Most of his customers are small business owners who need Web sites built and maintained. Baldi not only does the work himself, he farms out the overflow to a half-dozen subcontractors who are also in high school. He spreads the word about their availability through advertising.

Watching the market
Baldi, who made about $30,000 last year for his efforts, set his prices carefully. He surveyed the competition and discovered that the going rate for Web design was at minimum $35 an hour. He charges $20 and the average site costs his customer between $600 and $1,000.

Baldi plans to join the Air Force because he thinks military service will give him the best opportunity to learn about computers. He expects to be able to carry on his personal business no matter where he's stationed. He's arranged for some of his subcontractors to fill in while he completes basic training, but after that he expects to be back in business.

"As long as there's a phone line, I can do the job," he says.

Age not a barrier
Computer savvy teens can be useful when they are still pretty young. For instance, Adam Varn first went to work for YourVillage.com when he was 13. YourVillage is an Internet Service Provider and online community based in Tallahassee, Fla. Adam began his working life writing video game reviews that brought other teens to the site. As he got older and gained more computer experience, he added programming and Cold Fusion database management to his chores. Varn, now 17, makes $10 an hour.

Next year, he's planning to go to Tallahassee Community College for two years and work at YourVillage.com to earn his tuition. After that, he hopes to enroll in journalism school and expects to use his computer skills to do investigative reporting.

How do you find teens that will be both knowledgeable and responsible? Christine Benavente, account and project coordinator at the Bakersfield Californian, did it by making working for a paper competitive.

In cooperation with a local high school, she asked interested students to write essays about themselves telling why they ought to be hired. From there, she interviewed the likeliest candidates, then picked the best half dozen. The students, who work a few hours a week for 12 weeks, earn $5.75 an hour. The paper gives the school district a lump sum, and it takes care of managing the payroll. The students' responsibilities include data entry and helping to create the paper's youth page.

Bonita Blazer, an educational consultant and learning attention specialist in Moorestown, N.J., has another recruitment suggestion. She hires teens to maintain nonconfidential databases and manage her Web site, paying them $6.50 an hour.

Recently, she used Craig Morton, a high school junior, to format and illustrate her new book, "A Child's First Guide to Concentration." She says getting the right teen to begin with is crucial. Then, "One brilliant kid leads to another -- they all have friends."

Jennie L. Phipps is a freelance writer based in Michigan

-- Posted: June 18, 1999