What is a good job for a 16-year-old?

What's a good way for a job-hunter to decide between studying, creating samples, selling online, doing part-time work, begging, and other activities?

• Many job-hunters face this situation. For creative renaissance-soul types who could work in any of several fields, it's worse. Let me illustrate the question with this abstract scenario: Generic Abstract Scenario I have several hot job prospects.  Job #1 involves skills/tools/techniques 'X', 'Y' and 'Z'.  To be ready for an interview, it makes sense to study 'Y' and 'Z'.  (I'm already pretty good with 'X'.)  Job #2 involves 'R', 'S', and 'T' and some 'X', and will pay more and looks like more fun.  So I want to study 'R' and 'S'.  ('T' is best picked up on the job.)  All these one-letter names stand for deep technical topics, typically needing weeks to learn, years to truly master, but a smart person with related experience can get started in a few days, reading and experimenting. Then two days later the recruiter working on getting me job 'A' says the managers are interested and want to set up an interview.  So I drop studying 'R' and go read up on 'Y' and even go out to buy a Yarrrduino, the favorite microcontroller among pirate-tinkerers.   Maybe I'll build a gadget and blog about it - that'll impress all the 'Y'-seeking employers (and pirates) out there! Then suddenly job #3, equally lucrative, and closer to home, springs out of nowhere, involving skills 'W', 'X', and 'Y'.  Well, this 'W' skill is something I've done before, but long ago (vacuum tube days!) so I should brush up on it.  Cool, that I'm already studying 'Y' and know 'X'.  But then all three job prospects poop out, having cancelled the positions due to management changes, budget cutting, or they found a better candidate.   Luckily there's prospect #4, oh and prospect #-6 from last year's job hunt -- I heard the company is expanding again!  Now I need to bone up on skills 'W', 'S', 'Z', and 'Q'.  Then a recruiter from MTV Associates calls, saying they have a perfect fit for me. The job, just as lucrative as the others,  is to just sit all day, and they'll give me baby chickens to take home.  Hmm, money for nothing and my chicks for free.   I actually know nothing about raising chickens, and this is nothing like any career area I'd ever consider, but I sure could use the money.  Naw, it would drive me crazy, isn't a skill fit at all, but maybe reading up on chickens would be wise.  I end up wasting half a day watching silly chicken videos on YouTube. And all along, while waiting for phone calls, hoping to get on the short list for interviews, sending out resumes, needing to eat and pay the rent, I think that it would be real good to have a second source of income.  Maybe selling dark blurry photos of my cats on iStockPhoto and Dreamstime.  In theory, given time, I'd learn to make good proper stock photos, figure out how to play that game, and have some average amount of money rolling in.  Or create iPhone/iPad apps to sell.  Worth doing, if it succeeds. Succeeding means spending plenty of time on the work, paying attention to the market, putting on the final polish, and such.  So there's a new dimension of choice - to spend good chunks of time on the job-prospect topic studies, or to spend good chunks of time on the risky but possibly rewarding online sales projects?  Some of each means not quite enough time to study adequately, and not quite enough time to make an excellent product to sell. Half-hearted dabbling either way will not accomplish anything. Time Management Question Now, if one is torn between all of the above, and having to drop some activities and start others due to the ever-shifting job hunt prospect horse race, with the switching happening faster than any one activity would take for reasonable progress, how to know what is the most effective way to spend one's time?

• Answer:

  To actually and really take some totally free time out of their life and start thinking, turn some engines on, thinking (a little) out loud, all the possibilities, what can be done then jotting things down, connecting them, seeing the possible connections, making some mind and road maps, giving you inner self some time and then making the decision ... What to do!? Being on Auto-Pilot mode can be one of the most dangerous things we can do to ourselves. So please don't ruin some time that has been given to us by The Creator.