<p>My daughter's looking into this, and I'd like to offer her some suggestions.</p>
<p>Mostly all I can think of are camp jobs, which are not her. I myself did mostly on-campus jobs during summers, but I'm not sure that her college has much activity during the summer.</p>
<p>She's not taking more classes, that's for sure.</p>
<p>Any ideas? What do other kids do?</p>
<p>Any internship opportunities for underclassmen? If so, where does one find out?</p>
<p>Better yet, are there types of stores or businesses that tend to hire college kids for the summer? (Actual $$ beats unpaid internships at the moment, though either is better than having her just hanging out here).</p>
<p>Does her college have a career placement center? Often they will have jobs and internships etc. listed there. Waitressing is good for decent money, but doesn't advance most kid's career goals...</p>
<p>If she hasn't already hit the campus office of career development "OCD" or whatever her school calls it, she should. She's already missed the deadlines for many of the best undergrad internships and summer programs. My older kid had to have a family friend do a favor to get a job after freshman year--that is, of course, the most common way to get a job. But after that summer, the next 3 years (including summer after grad, since went on to school after graduation), the jobs and other programs were found through OCD. I really don't believe the # of kids who don't even ASK !!! (When I started typing, the post above mine wasn't there!) </p>
<p>The other thing to do is to have any friend attending college in a city where your kid would be willing to work and/or hometown, check at his school's OCD for her. If employers in NYC are willing to hire college kids, they will post jobs with NYU, Fordham, Columbia, etc., but usually are quite willing to hire kids who attend out of town colleges too. So, get a friend to check summer job listings at local schools for her. </p>
<p>One thing some kids in our area--NYC--have done is take the tour guide test! Sounds weird, I know, but NYC requires tour guides to take a written test to get licensed. (You have to prove you actually know your way around the city and its most famous landmarks.) Once you are licensed, it's pretty easy to get hired during the summer because that's the height of the tourist season. Grey line (?) and other sightseeing companies always need extra guides. They will hire you on a daily basis--sort of like substitute teaching--if you are licensed. Kids who speak a foreign language are especially welcome. It's also a good gig 'cause Christmas vacation tends to be another "hot " tourist season and kids can get a few days or even weeks worth of work then too. It takes time to learn the stuff, pass the exam and get licensed, so if you are in a major city, do it over spring break. </p>
<p>I would also suggest is registering with several temp agencies over spring break. Go in person for an interview, if at all possible. Most kids I know who have done this ended up having paying work more than half the time. Again, registering in advance helps. If your daughter gets a better job between now and the summer, she can always cancel with the temp agency.</p>
<p>This year, my son, a freshman at Swarthmore, has applied to CTY as an RA and gotten an interview already. I guess that is a camp. He's also applied to PBHA and is waiting on that. PBHA is a charity run by Harvard. It is a paid position for mentoring kids in Boston. Also a camp.</p>
<p>He has also applied to Senator Corzine's office in NJ for an unpaid intern position. He is also visiting the campus job placement office he said. </p>
<p>Next year, he says he'll try with this employment agency that specializes in placing college kids in meaningful unpaid internships in Washington for a fee. I don't know if that is a con or not - according to my son this agency is well known. So we'll see where that goes.</p>
<p>This brings me back to my question: In order to get a job, you need experience. But, in order to get experience you need a job. How does that work out if someone has never worked before?</p>
<p>We live in a small town and the high school and the college kids work at sandwich shops, drugstores, putt-putt golf course, ice cream parlors, local pool - concession stand, life guards, local little league concession stands, tutors, nannies/babysitters, day care centers, nearby amusement park, clerk jobs at local hospitals, retail stores. Most of these don't ask for experience - and don't pay well. A couple that do pay well but take an effort to promote yourself are mowing lawns and pet sitting. Last year our HS offered some mini-clasess in computer use for senior citizens. It was set up by our district but run by rising HS sophmore and juniors.</p>
<p>Moneydad, while I had no choice but to make money summers, if you can swing it to allow an internship, it's a good investment. It looks great to grad schools and it will get her a better job faster if she isn't headed to grad school.</p>
<p>My son, interested in biotech, wrote practically every biotech company in the area asking about internship opportunities. He got an amazing response and locked up a great opportunity already.</p>
<p>Does your DD have any interest in anything in particular - for job or internship?? Is she an outdoors type of gal - willing to be away for the summer or wants to stick close to home?? Or is she more an inside kinda person - office, store, etc.....and what part of the country are you talking about also?</p>
<p>The reason I ask - an example - my DD decided to stay in NC last summer and worked on the Outer Banks - had the experience of a life time - met and lived with others like herself from all over the world - actually started to network with others interested in things she likes to do - learned alot about living on her own (tho with mom and dad in the wings - just in case lol) - and alot about herself - a very maturing experience for her (OOOO and 2 hurricanes also in the mix!! - which she survived quite nicely I may say lol) - and for a great company. She has been asked to come back for this summer also and will spend part of her summer there again this year.</p>
<p>depending on what school she attend, she could even do an unpaid internship and the school will reduce her student contribution (she should check their FA policies)</p>
<p>I want to echowhat JeepMom said with a caveat - the daughter of a friend of mine (rising high school senior) worked last summer as a lifeguard at a water park on the Florida Gulf Coast (no experience necessary, just swimming). Many of the other lifeguards were from around the world - companies "import" large numbers of college age kids to work in seasonal resorts, lots of job opportunities. But the living conditions of these European kids was sometimes OK, somtimes not OK - that would concern me most.</p>
<p>(I realize it's a couple years old, but many of the links within it are updated.)</p>
<p>But many of the application dates have already passed. Freshmen year S waited too late -- ended up going through a miserable 6 weeks of rejection before finding a boring, unfilling job - But was thrilled to get even that.</p>
<p>Following year we had it on the calendar, and he got a jump on it. Had a couple offers. Took an unpaid internship in a field he was interested in. As Sybbie pointed out above, his school is one who waives the "expected summer earnings" one time over the four years to allow the student to take an unpaid internship. So that was his highest "earnings" summer, since what they waived was more than he'd made in any other summer.</p>
<p>My son had good summer jobs. Because he had been a successful high school debater he was able to work in debate camps for several weeks each summer in college. Also, I got him a very good research job through contacts at my university, doing real research and writing. None of these came through his own college's career services, but that would have been the place to go for summer internships or else doing research for a faculty member.</p>
<p>Monydad, local summer camps seem to always be looking for reliable college kids to work there. I know there are openings here right to the last minute. S1 did the elite camps as he was an "elite" athlete with an "in" but he also filled in at local venues. S2 has worked fill in and for a full summer, and is getting calls regularly. The pay is not that good but if there is something like swimming or tennis where you can give private lessons the job can be parlayed into some nice income numbers. Even my freshman son is being asked if he wants to help at some of the summer camps and clinics and he is only 14. Not the more desireable ones, but once you get a start and build your resume, you can get your pick. Also there are camps where they look for volunteers for disabled kids. My boys have worked those as well, and for S1 was a big deal on the resume though he was not paid. He has 4 solid years of experience in care with kids who are very ill, and that is the ultimate in shaping a camp experience to the individual as the kids' needs varied widely. It was a huge challenge for him, but what he learned there makes the "normal" kids camps and the variances in their needs a piece of cake. For all of S's issues, I have never seen anyone so skilled with a group of kids, particularly instructing them in an athletic skill and how to do team work. These are not easy jobs, particularly some of the more "elite" camps as you do have to deal with some parents who can be unreasonable when it comes to kids. But the tips there can be lucrative.</p>
<p>I have had paid "real" jobs (albeit low level) since I was a kid. I had a pretty decent resume prior to college.</p>
<p>In college I worked in lots of menial jobs, usually changing each year: worked at snack shop in the college library (convenient), at two clothing stores (got free & discounted stuff), and waitressed in a high end place (best money.) None of these jobs is difficult to get with little or no resume. Waitressing is the one that requires some skill but you can learn on the job. </p>
<p>If breaking in to something "interesting" is a problem, volunteer.</p>
<p>I had two internships during college that I got directly by connecting with principals of the places where I interned and asking if they needed any free help. One was a local t.v. station, the other was the State Attorney General's office.</p>
<p>The assistant State Attorney General was one of my customers from waitressing. In a casual conversation about my major & my interests, the internship just materialized.</p>
<p>like I have posted before, both my daughters began by volunteering, the oldest when she was 12. Volunteering is a great way to get experience and try out a field,and you can assume more responsiblity faster than if you needed to start at the bottom and work up.
Volunteering is also a segueway into a paying job. Follow your interests.
Example, oldest at 12 loved horses , she began by volunteering at the local zoo, caring for the ponies during the winter and giving pony rides to tots during the summer. This also gave her an opportunity to practice riding skills as well as people skills. A local residential camp has a WIT/CIT program. ( wrangler in training/counselor in training), she also participated in that while she was still in high school, to get more background in teaching riding and inworking with kids. When she was old enough, they hired her for riding staff and she worked there summers , still does for a few weekends here and there when their riding director goes on break.
She much prefers teaching riding to being a "counselor" although she has also worked at local camps run by the parks dept with science themes.
Camp is really a great summer job, they don't expect you to be there year round, and there is one for every interest. While you may not think you want to work with kids all day, don't forget they are people too, and after working with "mature" adults, children may be a breath of fresh air!</p>
<p>If she is finishing her junior year she may want to try to get a "real job" for the summer ... the career center on campus ... or the local Sunday job ads will provide leads. One suggestion, whenever possible you want to aoid ghe human resources people and contact hiring managers ... they may be able to be creative to arrange for an intern for the summer.</p>
<p>On campus possibilities include giving campus tours, working in libraries, and working in admission offices (monitoring CC perhaps).</p>
<p>If she needs bucks then working off-hour shifts at companies like UPS or FedEx can lead to some pretty serious bucks for a college kid.</p>
<p>My first choice would be follow her passion ... does she play a sport? contact local camps, coaches, schools, sporting goods stores to see what might be available. Does she play an instrument? Follow a similar pattern with local bands, etc. Does she know what she wants to do after she graduates? Try to set up an internships with a local architecture firm, vet, or whatever is her interest. BTW - to start these type serches I would not mail out a million resumes ... I would try to find people with whom she could schedule "informational interviews"; interviews where the topic is a general discussion of how she might find a summer job in "X" ... does this person have contacts, know what companies might be hiring, etc.</p>
<p>Seasonal jobs - Amusement parks, parks and recreation, tourist industry including retail shops in tourist areas. Office temps, while the secretarial pool is rotating out on vacation, people with word processing skills can sometimes find big bucks developing carpal tunnel. </p>
<p>Some colleges offer money to students to work on projects with Professors. My favorite college job was working for the Department of Environmental Conservation in NY. I inspected camp sites and fire towers, flew in small puddle jumper planes to observe wildlife and did an insect study. Depending on your school district, I have known schools that employed college students during summer school.</p>
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like I have posted before, both my daughters began by volunteering, the oldest when she was 12. Volunteering is a great way to get experience and try out a field,and you can assume more responsiblity faster than if you needed to start at the bottom and work up.
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<p>If only I could go back to being 12 and start all over again....</p>
<p>I only posted that - because that is what she did. She had an opportunity to do something she liked ( ponies) the location was close enough to walk to & the price was right ( free -except for riding boots...and chaps....and some equipment.. like a helmet)
Her sister is also interested in animals, but the program has changed a lot ( can't ride the ponies anymore- so younger sis just works twice a month right now, instead of the 2 x week that her older sister did).
Volunteering is great, and I know schools often require hours now, but I wouldn't want to make anyone feel guilty about what they didn't do a few years ago.
If we all knew then , what we knew know maybe our lives would be different maybe not , but it doesn't matter. We start from where we are, and if we make progress that is all we can hope for.</p>