June is right around the corner and for many underclassmen and upperclassmen alike, they’ve got one question on their mind: Should I get a summer job?
I believe that answer is yes. While there are pros and cons to every situation, I feel the summer job predicament has positives that by far outweigh the negatives.
It’s safe to say that most students want more money, especially in the summer. You’ve got all that free time to spend with friends and family, and many fun activities will cost money: trips to Kennywood, visits to the zoo, heading over to Sky Zone and maybe going out to get food.
We’re in high school; we’re on the brink of being adults, and adults need to learn how to support themselves and budget their money. Assuming your parents aren’t going to enjoy giving you money all summer long, you need a way to fund your summer adventures. What better way to fund your activities than through getting a job for the summer?
Some may be skeptical about getting a summer job because they’re worried they’ll end up working their whole summer away and not have any time for fun. That’s not the case, though, especially if you’re under 18; chances are very slim, if not impossible, that you’ll be working every day of the week. At most, you might work five days a week. After all, it’s only legal for minors to work up to 48 hours a week, and most places won’t even come close to that. Plus, most businesses are lenient with their teenage part-time employees. As long as you request the day you need off at least two or three weeks in advance or have your availability set, most likely you will get the day off.
Another problem some may have is that they don’t want to quit their job when school starts back up again in August, but won’t be able to maintain that job with school, homework and extracurricular activities. There are jobs out there that are only open seasonally. Some places like ice cream shops and swimming pools are only open in the summer months and will close at the end of summer.
Maybe you really want a job this summer, but you have yet to turn 16. You can always offer to do chores or odd jobs for others; popular tasks include mowing grass for elderly folk or babysitting for your neighbors’ screaming children. Any type of job like that can get you references for when you will eventually fill out an application to apply for a “real” job.
It’s not too late to get your foot in the door to the professional working world, but for those procrastinators out there, here’s some advice. Apply for jobs around late July or early August; businesses will be looking to hire a lot of high school students to take night shifts to replace the college students that will shortly be leaving home and returning to school.