My CollegeRecruiter.com | Employers & Advertisers
My CollegeRecruiter.com | Employers & Advertisers
Theme Parks. A roommate of mine in college who enjoyed photography spent three summers in a row working at Kings Island, photographing visitors as they entered the park. That's all he did, and he loved it. While theme parks have plenty of food-service, janitorial and housekeeping positions to fill, they also offer opportunities in administration, marketing, and coordinating events. Some parks may have educational and arts positions open, depending upon their actual “themes.”
Volunteer Opportunities. Student-based organizations such as Campus Outreach Opportunity League are offering more and more summer and spring break volunteer activities. As service learning continues to grow along with campus-based service learning organizations, be on the lookout for new and exciting volunteer opportunities popping up. These include working in rural areas to rebuild homes for poor people, or serving inner-city youths in educational or community-based restoration projects.
Overall, the process of landing summer positions in areas that may yield future employment benefits is really no different from applying for a longer, more permanent job. Here are some points to follow if this is something you are considering:
1) Hit the books (or the internet).
Review a summer job directory, such as Peterson's Summer Jobs for Students, or the many excellent internet sources out there (including CollegeRecruiter.com!). Get want ads from newspapers in areas you live in or want to live in this summer. Also, scrutinize your campus newspaper and bulletin boards around the college. Late winter/early spring is when the requests for summer help start to come in.
2) If you want to be working by June, don't wait until May to send in your application!
By that time, the most interesting and beneficial positions are usually filled. It is probably advisable to start sending in your resumes and application letters by the end of January.
Of course, this can be tricky. We could say, “the sooner the better.” However, if you send in your packet too soon and the organization is not yet preparing its summer employment roster, then your application can get thrown to the bottom of the pile!
My advice: when you find some organizations or positions to which you would like to apply, but it is still pretty early in the year, call the company
