<p>I'm having a lot of trouble finding a job this summer. I started applying 2 months ago, and have applied for at least 40+ positions. I'm taking a class, but it's only a few hours a week and I desperately need money. </p>
<p>I've been looking for jobs both on and off campus, but no luck. I'm qualified for all the jobs I've been applying for (office assistant, receptionist, clerical work, waitress, etc) and have 6 years of experience. I also have a pretty flexible schedule so my hours of availability aren't the issue. I went to my colleges' Career Center to have a counselor review my resume and a sample cover letter I wrote to give me tips a few weeks ago, but it didn't really help (they gave me a few minor pointers and told me to keep applying). </p>
<p>I went on 3 interviews, but didn't get called back for any position. I was qualified for all of the jobs, since they were all office assistant jobs in my college, and I have 3 years experience doing that, and references and everything. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any tips? Am reallly broke right now and I've never had this much trouble getting a job before!</p>
<p>Its the same all over, the only thing I can say is keep trying! Its tough but sooner or later you might catch a break.</p>
<p>Go to the mall and apply to every place that is currently hiring/accepting applications. Also, check Craigslist for job postings.</p>
<p>Ask your parents if they know anyone that can hook you up. Connections go a long way - maybe a family friend owns a restaurant that can take you on as a waiter?</p>
<p>^All good advice.</p>
<p>I feel ya on the hard times, that was me last summer! Good luck, and perhaps next summer, start applying REALLY early, like February-March early. It worked for me this summer.</p>
<p>thanks guys</p>
<p>I’ve been checking Craigslist, local papers, the CareerNet site for my college (which lists on and off campus positions) daily. I’ve also visited retail places in person to fill out applications and give them my resume/CL. I’ve asked family members and friends but I don’t know anyone who’s hiring right now.</p>
<p>It’s so frustrating, because I’m qualified for the jobs I’m applying for, and I have experience, and I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any interview tips? I thought my last interview went pretty well, I got her to laugh a bit and she made me fill out an employment form, and I still didn’t get hired…:(</p>
<p>And yeah I’ll definitely start applying earlier next year!</p>
<p>^Depending on what you’re applying for, even February might not be early enough. The deadline for the job I got for the summer was early January. Although another company wanted to hire me, they said they ran out of spots in the fall.</p>
<p>Good luck finding something, though. A few summers ago, I was able too, after a lot of looking, find a retail position in the middle of the summer. It wasn’t the ideal job (and it’s no longer on my CV), but it was better than nothing.</p>
<p>The thing is though, the lack of jobs aren’t really the problem - I live in NYC and there are plenty of jobs here to apply for. New jobs are posted on Craigslist and my college’s CareerNet site every day. Every single day I see new jobs posted specifically asking for college students to work part time. I meet the requirements for the jobs, but I usually never hear back. I guess the problem isn’t really that I’m not qualified, but that other people are simply more qualified…</p>
<p>The only advice I can give you is to be patient. I applied for a job several weeks ago (Wal-Mart) and I didn’t hear anything for a while. Then they started actively hiring and I got called in for an interview, even though I didn’t hear anything at all before then (and had pretty much given up on having a job this summer).</p>
<p>I agree–I live in NYC too and I’m finding plenty of jobs on Craigslist. However, most of them are either too far away, have job requirements, or are trying to lure desperate college students to work for them. There are a few good ones here and there, I have an interview tomorrow for a web design internship that I found via Craigslist. If anything, there’s always the chance to pick up a volunteer project to occupy your summer.</p>
<p>What do you guys think of all the marketing jobs? There are a lot of ads for Vector marketing on craigslist. I know it’s door to door, but can you actually make money doing that?</p>
<p>I’ve heard to avoid Vector, but I don’t have personal experience with it.</p>
<p>Look up Vector scam on google. Do NOT give them your information or they will harass you constantly with phone calls and information.
Last summer I applied, not knowing what they were. My friend found out about them and told me, so I tried to withdraw the application. They harassed me continually until I told them I was not and never would be interested in them.<br>
Ugh.</p>
<p>@burgerbread - Vector is BS from what i’ve heard, and read online. I know some people who got marketing internships over the summer; some are legit and they’re learning a lot, while others are creating pages for the start-up that hired them on Facebook, Twitter, Posterous, Tumblr, Blogger, and dozens of others sites, and updating them constantly to promote products. I notice a lot of these “Social Media Marketing” internships being posted constantly.</p>
<p>Also, after applying for a job, follow up as much as possible. I visited Levi Stauss five times to talk to the general manager, just give a face and a sense of dedication to my application. I got a callback the next week.</p>
<p>How are your grades, and how’s the reputation of your school? I made a good amount of money tutoring in college (graduated recently, I’m 22). Obviously it’s a bit slower over the summer, but there’s still a lot of people in summer classes, especially in a huge city like New York. It also helps if you can tutor the ACT or SAT, there’s a lot of that business over the summer.</p>
<p>The great thing about work like this is that you can go out and do it on your own, you don’t need the permission of whoever’s hiring you. You’re also developing a lot of valuable experience for whatever field you end up going into (marketing yourself, communication skills, feeling comfortable standing up for yourself if people question your rates/don’t want to pay you, etc.).</p>
<p>Let me know if you have more questions on how you get started. I made a living tutoring for 2 1/2 years.</p>