Summer will be here before you know it and the desire to land a summer job will be a priority. Waiting until the last minute to start searching for a job can prove costly in more ways than just a paycheck.
Summer jobs add to your experience and skills even though it’s easy to trivialize the significance of a temp job, it strengthens the basics of learning how to work with people and prepares you for the future.
The best time to start searching for a summer job is right now and it begins by having a plan before summer arrives. One of the benefits of starting early is getting ahead of the crowd by having more time to explore options, meet new people and gather research.
The same networking principle for finding a summer job will hold true throughout your entire work life, the principal of meeting people before you “need” to meet people. When you feel forced into broadening your networking circles, there is a tendency to show desperation and believe it or not people can pick up the vibes of “being needy”.
Being needy takes away from your confidence level and can cause a lot of discomfort when searching at the last minute. Here’s how to get started finding your summer job:
• Develop a list of people that work in your field of interest. Your list might have a total of three people or 30, but don’t get hung up on the number of contacts. Rather, focus on the quality of your conversations and who they may know.
• Research the companies that are growing, look for small employers as well as large ones.
• Think like an employer. Work on your resume by listing your achievements in school and projects by giving examples of what you accomplished. Start by listing all the classroom projects and assignments you worked individually and with a team.
• Identify your strengths. Filling out an application is a good start however during the interview verbalizing your strengths will help you stand out from the crowd. If this is a challenge for you use a feedback exercise to help you start identifying your strengths beginning with 3 or 4 people whom you trust to describe and list your strengths.
• Apply for jobs that interest you first however keep an open mind that a summer job might not be your ideal one, it still serves a purpose and you can learn from it.
• Practice interview questions ahead of time by focusing on what employers value; time management, responsibility, problem solving and communication skills.
Summer jobs lay a good foundation for your career by giving you necessary hands-on education, networking skills and gaining references that will pay off for you in the future.
What was your greatest career lesson learned from a summer job?
