When summer is just around the corner, you know that it’s that time of the year again when you can be free for a month or two.
While this is an ideal period to just relax and forget about your school worries, this also happens to be a wonderful chance for you to fill your wallet with some extra dollars through summer jobs.
How to Look for a Summer Job
The tricky thing about summer jobs is that they can be difficult to find, particularly those for teens and students. That is why it is always better to start searching for summer jobs earlier than usual. It is important and will help you land a good job.
Summer jobs are classified into three categories:
- Jobs available only during the summer season
- Jobs with huge availability and boom during the summer season
- Jobs that hire low-salary employees until full-time employees are hired. They hire applicants for summer jobs in between.
Here are a few tips to help you in your search for summer jobs:
Most short-term jobs like summer jobs are not advertised all the time. Finding them will require you to use your network and resources.
To get started, ask your family, friends, and acquaintances. You can even use your network by asking if they are open to the idea of hiring a student or teen.
2. Take it seriously.
More than being forms of income, summer jobs let you become more familiar with the industry you’re interested in working in the future, potentially influencing your choices. Take it seriously and apply for jobs that are closely related to the industry where you hope to work fulltime.
3. Think outside the box.
If you live near a university, college, or school, you will face a large competition. Instead of following mainstream jobs others usually consider, why not search for something different?
Many young people today go all out with their social media profiles. The last thing you want is for future employers to see your embarrassing statuses, posts, and photos online. Make sure that you have a clean profile on all of your accounts to stay on the safe side.
5. Prepare a flawless cover letter.
Having the perfect cover letter instead of writing a mountain of generic ones can help you get a job. Don’t worry if it will take time. Pay close attention to what you write to ensure that it will capture the interest of potential employers.
6. Include keywords.
Companies shortlist emails by not including those without keywords. Since companies receive hundreds or even thousands of emails per day, they use computer software for the job.
Even having a good cover letter is not enough if there are no keywords coming from the job advertisement.
7. Submit an online portfolio if possible.
When you apply for summer jobs, try including your online portfolio. It can be in the form of a website or a simple blog where you have listed your previous work. This will show employers that you are well-versed in technology and have the initiative to let others know more about you.
8. Target industries that do well and boom during the summer.
Industries related to tourism and entertainment are some of the most popular industries that experience a boom during the summer months. The summer holidays mean most people go on trips and vacations and engage in entertaining activities like swimming, trekking, and others.
9. Try to return for next summer.
If you land a summer job you like, you can ask the employer if you can return the next summer. This way, you can be sure that you don’t need to search all over again the following year.
Easiest Summer Jobs
Just because the following are the easiest summer jobs, that doesn’t mean that they don’t entail any work or effort on your part. Instead, they are easy in the sense that they can increase your earnings without making your stress levels spike up.
Brand ambassador
If you are a naturally friendly person who can endure standing on your feet with enthusiasm and are willing to work flexible hours with weekends included, being a brand ambassador is the perfect choice for you.
Appointment setter
An appointment setting job is perfect for you if you have good communication skills.
Customer service
If you enjoy solving issues, troubleshooting problems, and helping people, a customer service job is worth considering.
Library or classroom monitor
Your job here is to keep order and maintain discipline either in a library, classroom, bus, or even a gym.
Delivery driver
If you like to drive and have a license and a reliable car, you can deliver food, packages, flowers, and anything that needs to be delivered on customers’ doorsteps.
Other Easy Summer Jobs
- Data entry
- Fitness instructor
- Product or food demonstrations
- Guest services representative
- Freelance work
- House caretaker or sitter
- Hotel concierge
- Merchandiser
- Survey or market research caller
- Newspaper delivery
- Parking attendant
- Online sales
- Pet sitter
- Rideshare driver
- Retail
- Spa or salon reception or front desk
- Restaurant host
- Test proctor
- Social media assistant
- Tutor
Summer Jobs for Teens
Summer jobs for teens come in a lengthy list, and some of the best ones are the following:
- Work in parks – For those who love the great outdoors, among the most popular summer jobs for teens is working in national, state, or local parks. You can work as part of the maintenance crew and be in charge of cleaning. If you are familiar with the area, you could also lead tours.
- Pool maintenance – If everyone in your area has their own pool, you can provide your services. Many pool owners don’t like the thought of cleaning and maintaining their pools themselves. Pool maintenance is a job that will keep you busy all summer long.
- Work at garden centers or home improvement shops – You can load the customers’ cars or maintain plants for the season.
- Summer camp counselor – Since you are a teen now, you can be the summer camp counselor this time instead of being an attendee. Most camps have plenty of summer jobs for teens.
- Online opportunities – The internet is filled with lots of employment opportunities in the summer for the old and young alike. There are also plenty of sites that can help you find your next job for summer. You can even give online selling a try.
Best Summer Jobs for 15-Year-Olds
If you are only 15-years-old searching for summer jobs, you might have limited work options, but it doesn’t mean that you cannot find employment. There are plenty of summer job ideas you can try.
Here are some summer jobs that you can try:
- Be a lifeguard
- Mow lawns
- Become a dog walker
- Start babysitting
- Work at a golf course
- Work at a restaurant
Best Summer Jobs for 16-Year-Olds
If you are 16-years-old and want to look for summer jobs to keep you busy during school break, you also have many options to choose from. It doesn’t matter if you are an extrovert, a homebody, or an athletic person because it is likely that you will find the right job that suits you.
Here are some summer jobs you can consider:
- Grocery store stocker/bagger/cashier
- Restaurant waiter/cook/cashier
- Retail store cashier
- Hotel worker
- Farm work
- Food delivery person
- Car washer
- Baker
- Gift wrapper
- Animal care assistant
Best Summer Jobs for 17-Year-Olds
When you are 17-years-old, there are many fun summer jobs that are guaranteed to boost your experience and put some cash in your pockets.
Some of these jobs include the following:
- Summer camp leader
- Zip line instructor
- Kayak guide
- Camp counselor
- Youth paddling instructor
- Park production assistant
- Waiter or waitress
- Trade assistant
- Amusement park cleaning crew
- Swimming instructor
- Wardrobe assistant
- Human resources clerk
- Park service assistant
- Fun park admissions associate
- Food service associate
Summer Jobs for College Students
When summer break approaches, most college students also start looking for short-term and seasonal jobs for some extra money, to improve their résumé, or to just stay busy.
For those searching for summer jobs for college students, below are the jobs that most young adults love to choose and try:
Nanny
Qualified students can enjoy a lot of exciting opportunities being a nanny for the summer season.
Those who want some adventure can look for positions out of the country, and students who prefer to go back to their hometown or stay in the area of their college can find many positions with parents struggling to arrange activities and childcare for their kids during the school break.
College students who love being around children, being outdoors, and staying active can make money without feeling that they are working at all.
Lifeguard
Since beaches and pools are the busiest during the summer, there are plenty of summer jobs open for skilled swimmers. You can find these jobs at neighborhood and community pools.
Those living near coasts can also look for jobs at the public beaches. This job is a great chance to be fit, be outdoors while having fun under the sun, and keep others safe.
Food server
Even though it doesn’t seem like the most glamorous job to spend your precious summer months, working as a food server can help you hone your social skills, be on your feet, get free meals at work, and make yourself familiar with different cuisines.
Sales associate
It doesn’t matter if you work at an outdoors shop, pop-up boutique, clothing store, or a furniture gallery, college students with a knack for helpfulness and persuasion can enjoy and thrive in jobs as sales associates, especially if there are commissions as incentives for interacting with the customers.
Some other out of the box summer jobs for college students include the following:
- Freelance web designer
- Travel blogger
- Touring musician
- Online tutor
- Small business owner
How to Apply for a Summer Job as a Teenager
If you are a teenager applying for a summer job, there are several things you should keep in mind during your application:
1. Get connected.
Now is the perfect time for you to reach out to employed friends or classmates, former bosses, and your parent’s best friend who owns a café in town.
Gone are the days when networking was only for people in suits. Even a teen like you should start building your own network as early as now.
2. Know the “release dates” in your area.
Make sure you know when the colleges and high schools in your area will close up for the summer season. This is easier if you happen to be a student.
A lot of teens wait until the last minute before they start applying for summer jobs, but you wouldn’t want to make your choice based on what others have left behind and discarded.
3. Practice honesty.
Before anything else, it is yourself that you should be honest with. If you are a proud advocate of vegan and unsure of whether you can look at prime cut fillets and meat patties all day long, you better forget about those restaurant summer jobs.
Being honest will also include your initial meetings with potential employers. Avoid over-committing to a number of working hours only to back down later. Make sure that you don’t claim to have this or that experience and skill when you know that you don’t.
While it can be exciting to land a job, a lie is the fastest way for that new gig to slip out of your hand.
4. Don’t stand out in the wrong way.
When almost all of your peers hope to get that coveted position, make sure that potential employers don’t rule you out early on in the race.
Submitting your résumé in a tux, arriving in your sweats minutes after the scheduled interview, or having a vulgar ring tone on your phone are just some of the big no-nos. If unsure, it wouldn’t hurt to exercise common sense.
Summer jobs are a great way to kick-start your career early on in your life, and there are many summer job opportunities out there for students and teens. Don’t let your age or lack of experience stop you from giving it a go.
Who knows? Your summer job might just point you toward the best job for you later on.