<p>Would anyone mind offering ideas for what a rising senior interested in business / finance / accounting could do to help him see what different jobs are out there and boost his resume?</p>
<p>Are 'internships' available for high school students? Not necessarily looking for a paid opportunity. Its the chance to see the real world. We are likely looking to ask our accountant if our son can work in his office during the summer.</p>
<p>I wonder what other things you can think of that would be open to a high schooler? I envision most everything being taken up by college students.</p>
<p>I would ask this in the Summer Programs forum. Asking your accountant sounds like a good idea, but he should do it (unless you are really close with the accountant or something). Ideally, he should make a resume, email it to the accountant mentioning that his parents are clients and asking if there is work for a high school student looking for a summer job, and follow up with a phone call a few days later.</p>
<p>thanks. Didn’t know about the summer forum. our accountant is a 2 man shop, so I feel he’ll be limited on what he can see. and that’s just one part of ‘business’.</p>
<p>What does your son want to do? It becomes very transparent if these are done to boost a college resume. There is nothing wrong with him asking friends and family if he can observe their work for a day or two but I wouldn’t put something like that on a resume/application for college. There are a lot of camps out there that students can attend, but with 1000’s of kids attending these camps, it really isn’t an application booster. If the real intent is to explore a possible career, look at local colleges to see if they offer a business camp. Central College in Pella, IA has a very nice one if you don’t have one locally.</p>
<p>My older son was able to job shadow at his uncle’s office one summer and they liked him so much they ended up hiring to work for them the following summer which was the summer before his senior year. He also spent part of that summer helping out at the senior center helping in the computer lab, but also helping them with some scheduling issues which he sorts out using his computer skills.</p>
<p>I manage an internship program at local public HS. Other resources that may offer assistance:
HS School Counselor
Accounting Teacher, or Director of your child’s school’s business class/club
HS Principal
Often, members of the community will contact them to let them know of an internship.
ALL of these should be contacted by your child rather than you/parent. Have your child bring a prepared resume when they go in to ask.
~APOL</p>
<p>Contact a nonprofit organization in your area with a mission that interests you and ask if you can help out in their financial area over the summer (and, if you really want to be attractive to them, into your senior year.) Mention your strong computer skills (assuming you have them) and many will be excited to have you. There is great need out there and a smart, hard-working and creative high school student can make a real impact.</p>
<p>If you are engaged in other ECs, by the way, they too might value someone who can help out on the business side: your church/mosque/synagogue, your orchestra, your sports team association/league, etc…</p>
<p>Business skills are critically important to any organization - not just for profit businesses.</p>