<p>Ha ha Carolina girl!!! You’re not alone with the puzzlement in what the heck detassling is!! If you are from the Midwest it’s common. I never did it nor my daughter but I grew up with kids who did and we know a girl that does it now.Actually there’s no way I’d go out there lol</p>
<p>Speaking of who you know… my daughter has several friends who landed research jobs at the University med center in the area. Their parents are either doctors or are affiliated with the University. They all go to school in town. The applications were due back in Feb. My daughter goes to school out of town. She’s now looking ahead to next summer, but as someone said upthread , applying for grants and hoping for a stipend may not be reliable. She had a friend that did this but he didn’t get any where near what he applied for. So many things are dependent on where you live. My daughter is young (just 17 finishing her freshman year) my husband and I were not comfortable with her staying in NYC this summer). Next summer will be different. We certainly know far more now. This thread is very informative. </p>
<p>Pool lifeguarding and open water lifeguarding are not the same thing. Mine has done both. Open water lifeguarding is serious business. On my kids first day last year someone flipped his boat and drowned causing the lifeguards to spend the next three days pattern diving for the body in freezing cold water in early June. He also drives an hour an back every day. There was month of full-time paid training. He is also a licensed EMT and a few others are, as well. But, they are pretty well paid.</p>
<p>$3,000 in one summer? I’d love that. I barely make $200 a week. Sometimes it’s less than $100.
Then again, I work a part-time job at $8.10/hour, getting around 20 hours a week. No place will give me a full time job because I’m taking a summer class (Calc- it’s necessary) and I can’t work nights. I could totally work 40 hours a week, though. And a bunch of taxes are taken out, so I’m making $7 if not less than that per hour.</p>
<p>“I understand that the going rate for most lifeguard jobs in Denver is about $10/hr”</p>
<p>My nephew makes more than that, and I think gets $20/hr for teaching a private lesson. Tell your son to check at the JCC, it’s not that far from DU.</p>
<p>Some of these jobs that pay more, like lifeguarding, have a lot of responsibility. They aren’t the right job for everyone.</p>
<p>When I was in school in the dark ages, some college kids would go to Alaska for the summer to work in the fishing industry. They’d make about $10,000 for the summer, more than enough to pay for everything for the year. It was hard, smelly, dangerous work, but the best pay there was to be found. When I was in high school, many of us worked on the potato farms in the spring and fall. Like the Detasselers, we were picked up, worked until the sun went down, it was either hot or freezing cold, we didn’t make much, but it was a job. Most of us did it because we wanted or needed the money. It didn’t seem so bad at the time because all our friends were doing it, but looking back it was awful! Other kids picked baby cucumbers for pickles, on their hands and knees for hours. Farm work is hard. Some girls also worked at the insurance company filing for 4 hours a day (year round). Boring work, but the benefit was that if they stayed with the company, they could retire at age 36 (20 years) and draw a pension while working another full time job. I know many kids who did that and are rather well off today.</p>
<p>There are not enough of these jobs for the adults who need them and haven’t been for years now. The car thing could be a problem I guess, although a lot of students do seem to have cars. Mine inherited our old car when he turned 16. It’s a 1997 but runs great. IDK. I think the biggest thing a kid needs is a plan. You can’t just show up at home in June and start job hunting. That probably won’t work anywhere.</p>
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<p>This bears repeating. I think a lot of adults who’ve been lucky enough to have steady FT employment in recent years may not realize how hard it is out there.</p>
<p>From the NY Times today:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The good news is that some lawmakers are trying to do something about it:</p>
<p>[A</a> Push To Give Steadier Shifts To Part-Timers](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/16/business/a-push-to-give-steadier-shifts-to-part-timers.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSumSmallMediaHigh&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0]A”>http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/16/business/a-push-to-give-steadier-shifts-to-part-timers.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSumSmallMediaHigh&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0)</p>
<p>The problem is an economy where low-skilled adults can’t find steady full-time jobs, let alone students who will be gone in 3 months. Steadier shifts is nice but the problem is a lack of enough shifts. It’s a distraction, imho.</p>
<p>my sons have done a lot of things to earn money, both over the summer and during the school year. For example, my sons are certified soccer referees. They checked out local soccer clubs near their campuses and got in touch with club directors. They can often ref games during the week, and almost always on weekends–and during tournaments, they can make a bundle. Depending on the level, they are paid anywhere from
$25-$75/game. Much better than minimum wage! And they can pretty much determine their own schedules.</p>
<p>Also–and obviously not for everyone–my sons have tutored Hebrew at synagogues and have done bar mitzvah tutoring, for anywhere from $25-$60/hour.</p>
<p>My sons also worked a good number of internships, some paid and some unpaid, to get the experience in the fields in which they were interested. Generally, the entry level internships were unpaid, but as my sons’ had more experience adding on their resume, they moved into some plum internships.</p>
<p>Over time, my sons segued from refereeing and tutoring more toward the internships, but always kept their hand in for some extra cash if they needed it.</p>
<p>The internships are what made the difference in each of them having the job they wanted when they graduated from college. Don’t be pennywise and pound foolish. A good friend never let her son take an unpaid internship–even though they could afford to subsidize him. Instead, he babysat for the neighbors every summer, and worked the ID desk at the gym on campus during the school year. A year out of school, and he is still looking for a job. It’s hard to get that crucial first interview with an empty resume. It used to be enough just to have good grades and a degree–but that empty resume pales in comparison to those who worked internships or had real leadership positions on campus, etc., and those are the students who are getting the interviews, and the jobs.</p>
<p>nottelling,</p>
<p>It sounds like lifeguarding may not be all its cracked up to be. But if your nephew saves even one person from drowning then he gains that satisfaction for the rest of his life. </p>
<p>A lifeguard friend once told me non-swimmers were constantly jumping into the deep end of the pool and expecting him to save them. He ended up in the hospital one time…he fell asleep in the sun while he was off-duty and ended up with 2nd and 3rd degree burns all over his body.</p>
<p>My son was a delivery person making tips one summer and worked into the wee hours. The store owner gave him an excellent recommendation that helped him get his full-time job after college.</p>
<p>Lifeguarding is the perfect summer job for the kids for whom it is the perfect summer job. One of mine is a lake lifeguard. The other could never in a million years consider this kind of work and wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance of being hired anyway. It’s extremely physical and demanding, although he loves it and is making 16-per hour this summer plus overtime, holiday pay, and a full-time schedule. His twin sister works in a newly opened restaurant. One of her co-workers also just hired is a 53 year old woman. It’s definitely tough out there. </p>
<p>@nottelling , absolutely any job where the main purpose of being there is to save lives is going to have risks. Even indoor pools, rec pools, club pools, very dangerous. I’ve known a half dozen tragedies including two of my son’s friends who have a death on their watch on their conscience. My son was one of the swimmers who jumped in to try to save an open water swim casualty, a fellow swimmer. He and the other competitors got to the problem first, but it was too late. These were national and some Olympic swimmers that were being “lifeguarded” and there was a casualty. The lifeguards on duty were nowhere as skilled as the young man who died and the others in the meet. So even swim skill, strength and experience is not enough at times.</p>
<p>You have acne or pits you apply for the dishwashing, bussing and clean up positions and apply for the job in the evening wearing heavy make up. My sons did the clean up and bussing for a local restaurant who is always short on workers and made a lot of money that way on top of their life guarding, swim lessons. </p>
<p>But we live in an area where these opportunities exist and for us, within a short distance. I’ve known parents who have had to drive their kids ridiculous distances for minimum wage jobs with short shifts, and then have to pick them back up again. The money netted hardly pays for the gas. </p>
<p>What I’ve noticed among some peers is that in some families, and that includes those whose kids are not going to be going to college or going locally, giving the kid a car is a rite of passage. My son just came from a friend’s house, and the young man has a car that his uncle gave him, and he has a part time job that barely pays for the gas in the car to get him there and back this summer, but is a toe in the door for further employment there. This young man will go to a local college; he has no plans of going away for school, and will work his way through there. My son won’t get a car till he can pay for one himself. But, yes, I’ve seen families who are low income manage to scrape up cars for their teens. </p>
<p>All of this frightens me terribly. I had hoped things would have gotten better by now. I really don’t have a good feeling about any of this. There is a divide in income/opportunities that seems to be sharper than ever.</p>
<p>My kid could not find FT summer work. He tried to work multiple part time jobs but the employers will not provide a steady schedule in advance. He usually gets 24 hours notice from 1 of the employers. Meanwhile, HS students in our area are able to get better jobs because they will work into the fall.</p>
<p>A very unfair thing about summer employment is that many places ask if you have other commitments and want them listed. Those with no commitments listed get first hired. Then if commitments “come up”, they are often worked out just fine. So those being honest and forthright are so penalized. </p>
<p>I have to say that I do not find a need for vacation to be a legitimate excuse for not working if you need money.
I missed graduations and weddings back in the day because of my summer work commitment. Those relatives wouldn’t have given me the money I needed because I skipped work! If I took on a summer employee, I would expect the commitment for the summer. Someone who had vacation, visiting relatives etc., as a priority would be a waste of my time as an employer. </p>
<p>What I did not see mentioned here, and to be honest, I did not read every page, is Federal Summer Work study. For those on financial aid, many places allow students to get funding to work in not for profit organizations. I did this for two summers when I was a student. I was able to negotiate a fairly good rate of pay way back then, because the not for profit got a good percentage of the money paid to it by the work study funds. This is a separate application from financial aid for the school year, and your kids need to look into it if they have an idea to work for a nonprofit. This usually is for students who are financial aid recipients, and may have other limitations, but for those who already work fws jobs during the school year, it may be a way to get paid for some interesting opportunities.</p>
<p>“For those on financial aid, many places allow students to get funding to work in not for profit organizations. I did this for two summers when I was a student. I was able to negotiate a fairly good rate of pay way back then, because the not for profit got a good percentage of the money paid to it by the work study funds.”</p>
<p>I was not aware that a student could use federal work-study during the summer months. Would this not affect the amount of federal work-study funds given to the student the following school year?</p>
<p>I checked it out but my daughter’s college does not have the fws during summer. Seems like Boston U and several other colleges do, though.</p>
<p>
You’re really talking about two different things there - the perspective of the employee and the perspective of the employer. As the employer you may not want your summer people taking time off, but the employee may have other ideas. </p>
<p>Certainly, we would not stand for S saying he had to work instead of going with us on this summer’s vacation, but then we don’t NEED money in the sense that what he would make is of any real significance. And last summer, when the in-laws took a 22-person entourage to Europe, we would not have said he should stay home and earn his $250 instead. </p>
<p>If fact, if he had said that he would sink without that $250, his grandparents would have handed it to him, so he would not have had that “excuse”. In general our philosophy regarding money is that we work hard so that we can enjoy some of the things that money buys. If we could never do anything enjoyable with our money, we would just lay on the porch and collect welfare.</p>
<p>And fortunately, not employers have a “work or die” philosophy…</p>
<p>Well, most employers do prefer employees to put work first. If a kid doesn’t need the money then this thread really doesn’t apply to them since they don’t have this problem and probably shouldn’t be complaining about not getting work since they don’t really need it or take it all that seriously, anyway. Applying for a 12 week job and needing to miss a week or two for vacation doesn’t make much sense, either. “If you need money” makes all the difference. </p>
<p>I work in a tourist town. Summer population is 3000. Winter is 1000. Businesses higher big in the summer and offer higher starting wages than most places you’ll find back in my home. On top of that, most jobs will either offer overtime pay or you can easily get a second (or third) job. This year I only took one job so my income will be lower than last, but last year working two full time jobs I made around $7200. It was a lot of work, but worth it. </p>