Tech Work Experience

Get industry work experience from home

Logos of tech companies inside a speech bubble above the words "The Tech Work Experience," with silhouettes of two people talking.

About The Program

What is the Tech Work Experience?

The Family Co-op is a program where your teenager works from home on small projects created by real companies across various industries. These work assignments are created to provide your teenager with work opportunities across 30+ industries.

They don’t need any prior experience or coding skills—just a laptop and internet access. Companies provide simulated work assignments tailored for teens, and a program manager guides them along the way. This setup lets your child gain valuable work experience, learn modern tech tools, and explore fields like real estate, finance, product design, A.I., sales, energy, game development, fashion, and more, all without interfering with their school or extracurricular activities.

Industry Work Experience

Why is work experience for my teen important?

The Tech Work program helps your teen explore different career paths, industries, discover their interests, and build valuable skills that schools does not teach. Traditional teen jobs in fast-food, grocery stores, and retail often don’t provide meaningful experience, and even those opportunities are limited as adults fill those roles. By gaining real work experience now, your teen can make informed decisions about their future, avoid costly indecision in college, and enter adulthood with confidence and a strong portfolio that sets them apart.

A grid of various 10-day courses, each costing $20, covering topics like Home Improvement, Content Creation, AI, and more.
Diagram showing a connection between "Your Teenager" and a "Company" through "Starter School.com."

Family Co-ops

How do Co-ops Work?

Co-ops work by partnering with executives and companies across various industries to create simulated work assignments tailored for teens. These companies provide real-world projects that mirror actual tasks in their fields, but designed for a teenager’s skill level. Starter School facilitates these partnerships, making it easy for your teen to access opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable unless you had personal connections. Since most companies don’t have the resources to train unskilled teens, the co-op bridges that gap, providing structured work experience without the need for family connections or traditional internships.

Benefits of the program

Benefits of the Industry
Co-ops

The Family Co-op offers numerous benefits for your family. Your teen gains valuable work experience without leaving home, so there’s no need to arrange transportation. They can choose flexible work hours that fit around school and activities, ensuring they don’t miss out on important events. A dedicated program manager guides them, keeping them accountable and on track, so you don’t have to. Plus, they earn money for the work they complete, teaching them the value of effort and responsibility.

Most importantly, your teen gets to participate in work assignments across over 30 different industries. This broad exposure helps them discover their interests and passions early on. While working on these projects, they gain experience with 57 modern tech tools used by professionals today. This hands-on learning not only builds valuable skills but also gives them a competitive edge for future college applications and careers.

Tech Work Experience for ages 12-17, featuring building a tech portfolio, learning tools, gaining work experience, and learning by doing.
Get Started with The tech work experience

Three Main Components of Family Co-op

The Family Co-op revolves around three main components: flexible time, a virtual office, and industry work. Your teen selects their own work hours, logs into a virtual office during those times, and works on real projects provided by companies. This structure gives them the freedom to fit work into their schedule, the support of a guided online environment, and the experience of tackling actual industry tasks.

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Flexible
Time

Choose flexible hours (9 a.m. to 10 p.m. CT) any day to fit school and activities.

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Virtual
Office

Log into a virtual office to access assignments, communicate, and collaborate safely.

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Industry
Work

Work on real projects in 30+ industries, gaining hands-on tech experience.

Available Industry Co-op Assignment

These Industry Co-op were created by partnering with real companies across 30+ industries to give your teenager valuable working experience and things to brag about on their resume.

Real Estate

Students learn the differences between location, sq. ft, and other factors to calculate home rental income & costs.

Diamond Business Analysis

Students learn how to combine 3 inventory spreadsheets and gain new insights and build charts using a sales history document.

Advanced Artificial Intelligence

Students learn the newest A.I. tools and how to use it like a working professional for troubleshooting, marketing, research, and more.

Sales Presentation & Strategy

Students learn how to create a sales presentation combining 2 separate products into 1 combined presentation.

App Design (No Code)

Students learn how to use Figma to re-create a mobile app called "The Money App" - a working prototype to master the basics of app design without any coding.

Fashion Design

Learn how brands like Prada & Louis Vuitton plan their new releases. Students conduct market research, create catalogs, and reverse image search to build skill.

Solar Sales

Students learn how to use a basic CRM and read a product spec sheet in order to respond to customer requests & other sales related activities.

Stock Analysis

Students conduct market research, build stock portfolios, analyze historical performance, and track politicians’ stock purchases to gain creative stock market experience.

Education & E-Learning

Students choose a topic, research it, and create mini-courses along with educational videos. This helps them gain teaching and research experience.

Aerospace & Defense

Students learn how engineering, procurement, finance, and manufacturing plays a role in modern day defense equipment manufacturing.

Transportation & Shipping

Students learn how calculate shipping times from warehouse to customer destination across the USA and globally based on a reference document.

Software, Bugs, Features, & Announcements

Students learn how to use A.I. to create a simple app and create bug tickets, new features, & announcements on JIRA.

Social Media & Advertising

Students learn how to use social media for Public announcements for companies and the basics of launching an ad on Facebook & Instagram.

Electronic Components & Procurement

Students get a list of electronic components and use a vendor catalog to find & select the right ones based on specific needs.

Oil & Gas

Students learn the basics of the oil & gas industry by understanding the differences in upstream, downstream, and midstream operations in the industry.

Wedding Album Design

Students learn how to take wedding photos from a professional photographer and turn it into a wedding album design mockup.

Password Management & Cybersecurity

Students learn how to use the basics of password management tools, encryption, and the basics of organizational document mgmt.

SaaS Tools

Students learn a list of 10 different SaaS tools and how to automate and send data back and forth using a powerful automation tool called Pabbly.

Luxury Goods & Services

Students learn how to plan a full luxury event to simulate how to provide high-end service sales events & offerings to high-value clients.

Digital & Affiliate Marketing

Students learn the basics of affiliate marketing by using modern day link tracking tools, promo codes, & sales performance data.

Home Improvement and Renovation

Students get access to homes that need complete redesigns and plan out all the necessary details & costs associated with renovation.

and 15+ more valuable industry co-ops...

yes, i want my teen to learn all this