<p>Volunteer work is fine on a resume, especially when unable to find work or an internship. Actually, when I graduated from college in 1983, a very difficult year for graduates, we were advised to find volunteer work. One woman volunteered with an Advertising Agency coordinating the United Way campaign for the company. She got her foot in the door and was told there would be a place for her when she graduated.</p>
<p>Volunteering should definitely be on a resume, as long as there is room for it. My paid employment record is kind of spotty. My H became unemplyed two years ago and I needed to job hunt without having worked for several years. I had no idea what to put as references or experience on a resume/application. </p>
<p>A supervisor at a place I volunteered on a regular basis told me I should put her down as a reference and my volunteer job as experience. It was less than a month before I was offered a full time job, which I still have now.</p>
<p>My son spent last summer home, unemployed. He did some useful educational things, but lol they cost us more money. This year I had to reluctantly agree that research on campus 2000 miles away from home made sense.</p>
<p>Have your son contact the career center at his university. They may be able to use him in the admissions office over the summer. Also, contact the chair of the department that his major is in. They may know of a professor that needs some help on a research project. This may not be salaried but it will carry a great deal of weight for grad schools and will teach him how to network. Best of luck!</p>
<p>“Busdriver, that YMCA job sounds like a good deal, however, we live an hour from Pittsburgh in Ohio and the beautiful Laurel Highlands are two hours away.”</p>
<p>I understand, but realize that the job is for several weeks of the summer, room and board included. They get one day off a week to go home if they want to. It really doesn’t matter if it’s a couple of hours a way, seeing as they are there for the entire time anyways, not going there daily. The dealbreaker is if it’s a job they want to do. Low pay (because it includes room and board), plenty of dealing with kids, gone most of the summer…but the kids that typically enjoy camp, enjoy this. Definitely not for most people, but some do love it.</p>
<p>It sounds to me that your son IS WORKING. Since when is doing chores (with or without pay) not work???</p>
<p>How about Cedar Point? I thought that it offered housing too.</p>
<p>My daughter has also had trouble finding summer work. She is in Pittsburgh, taking a class, and working in an unpaid internship.</p>
<p>Read article in paper today stating that teen jobless rate was at something like 70%…highest since 2000 and that many teens who count on full time summer jobs to pay for school were hurt and were other kids who really need it financially (low income, minority). Kids with parents with work connections most likely to find jobs. Most of my Ds’ friends who want to work have found something, but they probably fall into that category.</p>
<p>Same at my house with one of my daughters…she’s done the endless internet applications, followed up with calls, done the ice cream/yogurt places, etc, stores, camps,etc. Either they are full, get “friends of workers” or don’t want to train someone for 2 months. Her friends are also jobless although one is taking a job at his college in MA…a hot summer for him on campus doing lawns, etc, but he needs the money and can’t go another summer without pay.
My D did volunteer work for experience last year while doing childcare part time, but although some employers count volunteering, some only want jobs that you actually got paid on your application.
I went through that prejudice many years ago, although I worked just as hard and never missed a day. They said that you didn’t have to go to work and recs are usually kinder to volunteers. I did find some that valued the work ethic though and got glowing recs about my dedication to the job and one manager said, if I worked that well unpaid, he had not doubt, it would be the same with.
All you can do is keep trying…I know the Internet is more efficient but my son found his first summer job walking in a store while the manager was short-handed and he told him to just come in tomororow. : ) There is something about asking in person, if you can do it, helps.</p>
<p>*The drop in teen employment, steeper than for other age groups, is partly a cultural shift. More youths are spending summer months in school, at music or learning camps or in other activities geared for college
*</p>
<p>That figure is somewhat misleading. The rate should reflect only those who are looking for a job, not all teens.</p>
<p>He can offer to do for other people all the chores he is currently doing at home, such as mowing lawns, washing cars, etc.</p>
<p>He would be paid in cash, and would probably make more money than if he worked for someone else.</p>
<p>In other words, create his own job.</p>
<p>Your son is definitely not alone @Miller. I’ve applied to multiple jobs this summer and nobody is hiring. I’m currently volunteering at an animal shelter nearby which is super unorganized. I’m also trying to help my parents out around the house. I wash my clothes, clean the rooms, make dinner most nights, but still nothing. Its especially frustrating because I had a job all year at school, so its just quite annoying. I don’t think anyone can find anything right now. :(</p>
<p>I heard the same thing on the radio today, scmom12 – 7/10 teens actively looking for work are unemployed. OP…I think it’s simply the economy. I would encourage your S to continue to look and not take it personally. Good luck!</p>
<p>All of your comments are so interesting.</p>
<p>I agree that the best course of action is to go in person. My son does that. I have to wonder about some places, tho. We learned a pizza place was desperate for employees. Son went in to apply. Filled out an app. I am acquainted with a manager there. She talked to son and told him to apply online and they would get back to him by Monday for an interview. No call. Son leaves a message on the woman’s phone, she’s never got back to him. I don’t get it. I remember getting jobs by walking in to places and hey, practically got hired on the spot. Or within a week.</p>
<p>busdriver, you make a valid point. Son has a job interview tomorrow at a local retailer. We’ll see how that goes. It may just lead to another round of putting in job apps next week, and I will ask him to consider looking into the YMCA job.</p>
<p>One option is to spend a couple weeks getting certified as a lifeguard. It probably is too late to get hired this year, but it would probably provide steady full-time work in future summers.</p>
<p>“I remember getting jobs by walking in to places and hey, practically got hired on the spot. Or within a week.”</p>
<p>It’s the economy. Your son isn’t doing anything wrong; it is what it is. My son must have applied to 70 places the summer before going off to college and didn’t find a job. I, too, remember being 16 years old - my parents said, “Get a job” - I went to the local mall, put my name in about 5 places and poof, I had a job. It’s not like that today. Don’t stress over it so much.</p>
<p>@charlieschm - S2 was able to get certified over one weekend of intense classes, but he had to pass a preliminary water test beforehand, Maybe they do it differently in your area. And you’re right - as long as he keeps his certification up, he’ll always have work in the summer. Another option for next year is to take it as a college class. A friend’s son did this his freshman year in college, worked last summer and is lead lifeguard this year.</p>
<p>Any chance your son is going for a Computer Science degree? Out here in silicon valley, where I am, employers love to see actual projects completed. I’ve heard Stanford is even pretty lenient about accepting students they otherwise wouldn’t if the student has skills to show. Your son could probably learn enough Ruby on Rails or PHP to do some simple web development stuff within about a month. He could possibly even apply for work with a local web developer or designer. He’d also probably be able to do freelance work advertising in craigslist or by signing up for something like Odesk. Another alternative is learning web design using HTML or CSS, but that’s a bit harder to make money on these days. Either way he’d be making actual products for people to use.</p>
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<p>crizello, my D’s former summer job dried up this year, so she’s having to cobble together her summer activities at the last minute, and will be doing some volunteer work.</p>
<p>My concern was that she be doing something with herself this summer. She’ll have a schedule, a workplace, a boss, co-workers, and tasks to do. She’ll be interacting with people, possibly learning something new, and certainly doing something useful. Except for the lack of a paycheck, that’s pretty similar to a job, and it will make her feel like the summer wasn’t a total waste.</p>
<p>As for resumes, I don’t know whether “Volunteered at ABC” looks as good as “Paid Position at XYZ.” But I’m very sure it looks better than “Slept Till 2 and Then Watched TV.”</p>
<p>(Too late to ETA)</p>
<p>Not that your S would spend the summer on the couch. 
But my D might very well.</p>