Sweating It Out: A Guide for Students Seeking a Summer Job

Finding the Perfect Job
Once you decide to begin searching for a summer job, you must first determine what type of job is most appealing to you as well as where you are interested in working. This should be based on the time you have to commit to a job. How many hours a week are you willing to work? Will you only be working for the summer?

You must remember that an employer invests a large amount of time and money hiring and training a new employee. Therefore, many are not willing to hire someone who is only going to work for one summer. If you can work during holidays or weekends in addition to summer, employers may be more willing to hire you. If this is the case, applying for a job at a restaurant or any other position in the hospitality industry will likely be the best fit due to the increase in business during the summer and holidays. Many large retailers also hire seasonal workers to accommodate for back to school and other holiday sales that bring increased business. If you are looking to continue working once school starts, you should apply at chain retailers or restaurants that are willing to transfer you to a different location at the end of summer. You may also be able to use some past experience or existing skills you have to find a job just for the summer. Rick Qawami, the General Manager at Agave Downtown stated, “We don’t mind hiring someone just for the summer because we only hire servers with experience that need minimal training so having turnover is not a problem for us.” Other companies, such as Another Broken Egg, will hire some employees only for summer for positions that require little training, such as a hostess or kitchen staff, according to the regional manager, Bryan Jewell.

Another consideration when searching for positions to apply is the minimum age and other law-based restrictions. For example, to work in an environment where the sale of alcoholic beverages constitutes the main business, such as a bar, the candidate must be at least 18 years old. In addition, where the sale of alcoholic beverages does not constitute the main business, but is for premise consumption, such as a restaurant, the candidate may be under 18 years old as long as his employment does not involve the mixing, dispensing, or serving of alcoholic beverages.

After establishing these basics, you need to decide where to apply. The best starting point is determining where you want to work. Many companies may not necessarily be hiring, but if you go in and speak to a manager he might be interested enough in what you have to offer and hire you regardless. You can also begin by looking for open positions. The best way to do this is to network with family and friends who might know of a company hiring employees at the time. By simply updating your Facebook status, you can instantly inform all your friends of your job search, who can, in turn, provide you with some leads. You can also look through the Internet and newspaper classified ads. The career services department at your school will also have listings of companies who are hiring. If there is a company or a position that you know you want to work for, you can always contact them directly.

Sweating It Out: A Guide for Students Seeking a Summer Job