Last spring my parents were adamant about me getting a summer job. But I wanted to go to some academic summer programs that lasted the duration of break. I won. I went away, learned a lot, also had fun, and just got into my dream college.
My friends that stayed home all summer had pointless jobs where they basically just goofed around all day. Three worked at an ice cream shop that was dead. They played on their phones for 6 hour shifts and gave ice cream to bored friends that would visit. Two girls were cart girls at local country club, where they were hit on by creepy old men all day.
Why is a summer job so important? Did those experiences really teach them the value of a dollar? I’ve also heard juniors saying they want a summer job to ‘check a box’ on their college application — really?
I made my kids work the summer after senior year for multiple reasons. First, they own paying for books, spending money, and any unpaid internship expenses in college. So they needed to start college with a nest egg. And it helped them appreciate just how much time and effort it takes to earn a buck.
Two, school is not the same as a job – learning to interview, and then work for a boss who isn’t your parent when the stakes are not high is a valuable experience.
Third, it gave them incentive to work hard in school. My kid who night stocked at Walmart was very incented to do well in college.
My kids worked in the summers because they needed money to pay for gas, car insurance, future book expenses, entertainment. Also, we did not have money to send them to summer-long academic experiences.
Summer jobs earn money. Summer programs cost money. To some families that is not a big deal, ot other families it helps if a child can earn some spending money for the year.
You can learn so much from a summer job. You can learn how to talk to people you are not really interested in. How to get stuff done you don’t really like to do. How to work within an organization. How to provide good customer service. How to seal a deal. How to show up. How to have a poker face. I feel there’s something lacking in most kids who’ve never had a shitty job. A reality check, maybe.
The money my kids earned in summer jobs was what they used for spending money throughout the year. It was designed to teach them the value of a dollar - because their discretionary spending came from the dollars they earned. It was hard enough for me to pay all of their other expenses without having to pay for their fun money and their fraternity/sorority social dues.
I feel fortunate that my kids never needed to work during the school year, which left time for activities they enjoyed.
Summer jobs also are valuable to teach kids how to relate to many types of people, including many types of people they won’t meet at college or in an office.
As noted above, boring summer jobs provide incentives to do well in school.
Many people feel their mind needs a mental break during the summer. A student can then return to college refreshed and willing to learn. Or, a student could buy some of their textbooks early and read ahead before classes start.
My daughter took an online college class each summer while working full time. That worked out well for her because it avoided overly stressful semesters during the academic year, when she otherwise would have needed 17 credits.
When you go for an internship or a professional job, employers will want to see a work history. They will want to see that you were willing to do grunt work and were reliable while you did it, and that you haven’t been coasting on your parents’ money.
What is your ultimate goal after college? To get a job, right? Your future employers aren’t going to care about any summer academic program you attended in high school. What they will care about is your work history. Working summer jobs builds skills you need to apply for that first internship, which hopefully leads to a job. It shows you have a work ethic, you aren’t afraid to “get your hands dirty”, you’re a team player, you have customer service skills, good communication skills, problem solving and analytical skills. When you go on an interview for an internship and the recruiter asks you, “Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult customer” or “tell me about a time when you had to work as part of a team with someone you didn’t see eye to eye with”- how will you be able to respond if you have never worked? You need those “pointless” jobs to build a work history, it’s part of paying your dues.
In addition it’s nice to earn your own money, whether it be for responsibilities like books, car insurance, cell phone; or for discretionary spending during the school year.
Edited to add- many students start working summers in high school and then they can return to those same organizations during college and are often promoted to supervisory positions.
Our kids worked not because we “made” them but because 1) they needed money for cash and stuff 2) they wanted to build a resume 3) all their friends worked so it made it easy socially. If you need brain stimulation you can always take an on-line class during the summer.
Not every kid who works in high school sits around an ice cream parlor with their phone in their hands. My kids worked harder (physically) than they probably will for the rest of their lives. Waitressing 6-8 hour days starting at 6 am, dealing with grumpy tourists and their children on rainy days, pouring endless cups of coffee was just the beginning. D also learned how to hostess a 150 seat restaurant, tallied bills and ran the register (math skills are key here), helping keep kitchen inventory (finance), and customer service (hospitality). There is little down time at a hopping breakfast place in a beach area during July and August. My son worked horticulture, roofing, building, coaching, and prep cook work. Neither of them would have learned any of those life skills sitting in an academic program over the summer weeks. But, I"ll give you this…I do believe colleges look more closely at those who can AFFORD summer academic programs and that’s a damn shame. And, my kids could make $5000 in the summer months (and elbow seasons) which provided them even more math skills (purchasing/budgeting).
I don’t agree that it is necessary to work ‘pointless’ jobs in order to get internships. I had one kid who played club sports in the summer and was not able to find a job that fit around it. She did do some volunteer work. Her only other jobs were research jobs during college summers, and she managed to land a great internship for this coming summer.
I did make my S get a job one summer at a fast food place because he was a video game player and I wanted him out of the house. He also spent another summer at a 6 week college program though.
My oldest D was always very motivated to work because she had a taste for things I wouldn’t buy her, like one of the first generation of Ipods and a Coach purse!
I have one daughter who is a good student and an athlete. She is a good worker, but has had jobs babysitting, working for my brother, house sitting. When she created a resume this year hoping for an internship, it was pretty thin. She’s going to get a job this summer by word of mouth, asking around. It’s fine, but it would be so much easier to list an established employer, the hours and pay rate.
Other daughter is not a strong a student but has great work experience. A fast food place, a counselor at a girl scout camp, Disney, teaching swimming for the local school district. She has nice references. She really became a different person after having her first job at 17, and had a new respect for a $5 Starbucks=30 minutes of work.
I have a theory that many people like to ‘hire themselves’ so if the business owner or HR person worked as a teen, worked while in college, worked in the summer (maybe even the same type of job as the interviewer), you may have a leg up if you’ve done those jobs too. I worked with a guy who did his job, but expected the secretaries to do all the ‘office chores’ and he refused to learn. One night at 6 pm, he needed to sent a fax and had to ask me to teach him (he knew better than to ask me to do it for him). Um, dial the phone number and push send? He felt like an idiot (and he was one).
Everyone would like to go to camp, to take a class, to hang out with friends all summer, but people need to work.
I won’t insist. But if my kid wants things like cell phones and to stop and Dunkin Donuts with friends, she will have to get a job so she can afford it. I don’t want my kid to be spoiled or entitled and I do want her to learn not only the value of a dollar but also a taste of some financial independence and self reliance.
My 15 year old already pays for her own cell phone and service using gift money from holidays.
I started working very early. My parents were low income so I worked to pay for most of my own stuff. When I eventually got to undergrad, my previous work experience helped me get much better jobs at school.
I got into a great school for undergrad and now I’m in a wonderful, top PhD program.
“Why is a summer job so important? Did those experiences really teach them the value of a dollar?” The fact that you are even asking us why kids would work instead of simply having their parents pay thousands of dollars so they can go to a summer program makes me think that yes, there is something important teens can learn by working.
my D who worked in an ice cream shop taught me a lesson… when I was a bit short with a cashier at a fast food chain-- my D politely let me know that the cashier’s job was an important one and I should be more respectful. She was right, and she learned that from her job in the ice cream shop.
To earn money for college, current spending, whatever.
To learn how to work: responsibility, patience, supervising, team dynamics, etc etc.
To begin to build a resume.
To have fun. Both of my kids really enjoyed their various jobs, met cool people, made friends, got accolades.
That sense of independence that only comes from earning your own money. They'd have the money to buy me something nice for my birthday, take a friend out to lunch, go to a concert....that kind of thing can feel really good and grown up.
My parents didn’t pay for the summer programs. I had to fundraise.
I also want to note that most friends who had the pointless summer jobs are upper middle class and don’t have the best academics. Now they’re bummed they didn’t get into the colleges they wanted to go to. And they blew the money throwing parties or on other pointless stuff. I really don’t think they learned the value of anything. It was free money to be bored at a location that wasn’t their back yard. And none of it warrants putting on their resume.