Summer Student Jobs
The search for summer student jobs should start before school gets out in the summer. In some cases, they need to start long before that!
If you’re interested in a job in your chosen field, check with your school’s career services department in the fall semester about internships.
An internship is a job that lasts during the summer months. Sometimes it is paid, sometimes unpaid, but it usually provides great experience.
Many internship positions even provide some opportunities for work here and there during the school year, if you forge a good relationship over the summer. They can even lead to post-graduated jobs.
If you’d rather work at something more temporary and flexible during the summer, plan for a restaurant or retail job. If you’re going home for the summer, start making calls at least a month before hand.
Depending on the town and the economy, jobs may fill up quickly. If you wait until you get home on summer break, they could be all gone. It might be worth planning a trip home one weekend, or for spring break, to find the right job.
Most retail stores and restaurants are used to dealing with college students, so they will be prepared for your inquiry. You need to be prepared, too, when you start applying for summer student jobs.
Take information with you – prior jobs, including managers’ names and phone numbers, reference information, etc.
Let’s talk for a moment about references. Be sure to ask people ahead of time if they’re willing to be a reference for you. Family members do not make good references.
Instead, use teachers and people for whom you have worked before. Tell them from who they should expect calls and how many. Afterwards, write them a thank you note. Treating your references respectfully will result in better references in the future.
Put applications in at several places, but before you do, spend some time in the location and make sure it’s somewhere you wouldn’t mind working.
Fill out your applications neatly, to make a good impression. Summer student jobs may be temporary, but treating them seriously will make for a better experience all around.
