10 Wrong Assumptions Young People Make When Looking For A Summer Job

Finding a summer job can be tough, especially with summer rapidly approaching.

But we have some advice to help you out, courtesy of career coach Suzanne Kleinberg, founder of Potential to Soar, a coaching service for new graduates. Kleinberg is also the author of the new book From Playstation to Workstation: A Career Guide for Generation Text Surviving in a Baby Boomer World.

Kleinberg recommends young people start looking early on for a summer job, meaning it's probably a bad idea to try to get one the weekend before the 4th of July. Also, don't assume that flipping burgers is necessarily a bad thing or that volunteer work doesn't count -- it's all real world experience that'll help you further down the road and keep you from occupying mom and dad's couch.

For more tips, check out Kleinberg's 10 Wrong Assumptions Young People Make When Looking For A Summer Job:

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Comments

[Charles-12881]

08:22 AM on 05/23/2012

All people want to do is sit around and complain about how bad the job market is and not get out there and do something about it. Just ask Mitt what he would do, and he would tell you that opportunity for white collar crime has never been better, get out there and be an entrepreneur, think outside the box, you can’t walk one block without running into a scam, that’s what America is all about, the best scam to the top, don’t be lazy get out there and rip somebody off, just do it legally like Mitt.

[Jim Sloan]

06:50 PM on 05/27/2012

Why did you take the time to write that paragraph? Get a Job!

[Charles-12881]

09:39 AM on 05/28/2012

I have a job, I do seminars on how to rip people off legally and mostly presented to Republicans!

[Quis Custodiet]

04:11 PM on 05/21/2012

"Making money" does not make one happy, this could not be any more true. Learning how to manage the money you make while providing yourself enough time to do things which make you happy works rather well on the other hand.

[ersatzian]

04:53 AM on 05/22/2012

Thank you for speaking on behalf of every single one of us. I'm sure not a single soul could possible ever disagree.

[Quis Custodiet]

06:33 AM on 05/22/2012

Hey, take me at face value or don't. Just don't bother crying about the psychologist, life-coach, and pharma bills.
I'm taking this from my own experience, having made slightly over 100k for two years of my life and killing myself doing so. Not that I hated my job mind you. It simply did not intellectually stimulate me anymore. 
Rather than droning at it while hoping it miraculously changes I decided to drop the gig and go back to college to pursue something that legitimately interests me. 
What you do with your life and what seems to be an early over abundance of cynicism is up to you.

[Jim Sloan]

06:56 PM on 05/27/2012

There are respected studies that refute this. There are lots of unhappy rich folks but there tons and tons of poor with no idea of what happiness is. I have only heard people with no money at all say that money cannot buy happiness. If you cannot offer your child healthcare because you can't afford a trip to the Doctor, you start to understand that lack of money is automatic unhappiness,

[Quis Custodiet]

09:21 PM on 05/27/2012

It all comes down to bench-marking. There are tons of unhappy poor people in this country. However, that is because they expect more than their income can provide. 
I have friends in Europe whose lifestyles are far more challenging in terms of disposable income availability, but who are rather happy with their lives. 

[jmichaelmunger]

04:10 PM on 05/21/2012

Step 5 is dumb. "If I don't get a response from my job application, then I should just move on."
Given the dearth of ANY jobs and the number of applications most people have to send off just to get a nibble, job applying and follow ups would take up all 24 hours in a day.

[Jim Sloan]

07:00 PM on 05/27/2012

20% of sincere follow ups land a job. Follow ups show enthusiasm and dedication. Bad follow ups are useless.

[vallejoarmy]

04:10 PM on 05/21/2012

Here is another one, a serious one:
When you are applying for jobs, answer your phone regardless if you recognize the number or not. I have known several people who are looking for employment whom which apply for several jobs and claim they never get a call back and turn around and state that they do not answer phone calls from numbers they don't recognize. It might be an employer calling for a position.

[grod805]

03:34 PM on 05/21/2012

"A summer or part-time job must be within your career path."

I don't think this is right. Getting a job that's not related to your might help you gain skills but employers won't care. They don't want to train people anymore because they supposedly waste so much on training people.

[comodijo]

03:10 PM on 05/21/2012

here's a tip to finding a job. GO OUT AND APPLY!

[elsquibbs]

02:57 PM on 05/21/2012

I guess I should consider myself lucky: At one point I knew from my own experience that money can't buy happiness. Does money make things easier? Sure. It's nice not to worry about bills. Does it buy happiness? Nope.

[InsideTraitor]

03:29 PM on 05/21/2012

"Those who think money doesn't buy happiness, don't know where to shop."
----a famous line. I couldn't resist.

[darquelourd]

02:40 PM on 05/21/2012

I think the Human Race has failed if today's kids are too dumb to handle getting a Summer Job without advice.

[InsideTraitor]

03:25 PM on 05/21/2012

Well yes, but we are looking back in hindsight. I remember trying to find a summer job in 1973-74; they were not to be had. All my efforts as an honor student, every contact turned up nothing. Today we have more self-employed people than ever. Their children get listed as "employees" just to get a tax deduction for the support they would usually get with after tax money.

[darquelourd]

03:40 PM on 05/21/2012

I'm going to stick with the "Kids Nowadays are Spoilt" line until they prove me wrong by doing something ExtraSpecial Wonderful.

[grod805]

03:31 PM on 05/21/2012

Its not about today's kids being too dumb to get a summer job. Its about jobs being very difficult to get. Maybe kids who read these can have a better chance at getting a job. I don't think teenagers or recent college grads got so dumb in the last four years that now half of them don't have jobs.

[darquelourd]

05:26 PM on 05/21/2012

I'm not going to waste any tears over Today's Overprivileged Youth.

[huffposer]

02:22 PM on 05/21/2012

Here's one to add:

That Obama cares more about you getting a job than illegal immigrants.

Illegals now get the jobs that young people did 10 or 20 years ago.

[Ami Munro]

03:52 PM on 05/21/2012

Illegals have always picked the tomatoes. Even 20 yrs. ago.

[huffposer]

08:38 PM on 05/21/2012

Legal guest workers used to pick tomatoes. They still can, if farmers are willing to follow the law.

I said nothing about picking tomatoes, though. I'm talking about factory jobs and restaurant jobs.