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Summer Job Guide for Students (and everyone)!

Just because I've seen so many threads about the same thing - people wanting to find a summer job (and not searching for previous topics).

It's that time when every student and everyone begins to wonder how they're going to use up their long summer holiday. So if you're not marching around in mud at festivals, jet hopping around the world on holiday or just spending your time lounging around getting a tan, here a few tips on what you should be doing to prepare yourself for those long summer months and how to get a summer job...

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Start deciding what you want to do NOW. Employers anticipate summer - bigger sales,more people,a chance to make money; so they're going to start recruiting early, as early as April. Depending on the job, you can expect to see job application deadlines as early as February or some in the middle of May so you need to know what you want.

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Start applying. It's never too early to make applications. Brush up your CV, update it and start sending it out to employers.The earlier you apply the more consideration can be given to your CV, the more organised you'll look and the more likely you're going to get a job.

Common summer jobs for students -

Summer Schools/Camps

This I feel should be the top rated activity/job for the summer. Not only is it fun - you get to work indoors and outdoors, you get to play with kids, you get to make new friends and best of all you're getting paid for having a laugh! What else could you ask for? There are both day camps and residential summer schools/camps to choose from and why should you need to go abroad to do this when nearly every school in your area is probably organising one every year. It might seem like fun but it can be hard work but really you don't think of it as such since you're having so much fun. It's great experience and it looks good on your CV. The best part is, you're almost guaranteed a spot the following year if they felt you were good and some camps occur every holiday i.e. easter, xmas etc. Applications appear from the beginning of December and can stretch to February or May depending on the company. It always helps to search university career sites or the company site to be sure. You'll need a CRB check done on you which more often than not,the company will get sorted for you. Just to make sure you can work kids etc. A few links to some well known summer school organisers in the UK...

Twin UK I got £200/week last year.

XKeys

Super Camps

Kids Klub

Acorn Adventures

Barracudas

Camp Beaumont

Active Sport

PGL From another thread I've gathered the pay is about £85/week including accommodation and food.

Festivals!

Who doesn't love their festivals?! Wouldn't it be the best job if you worked at one? Imagine free music, you get to see the celebrities, enjoy the music, have fun, get paid etc etc. If this sounds like your kind of thing, why don't you check it out? Look online on the popular student recruitment site Just Jobs 4 Students as they advertise for festival workers. Another idea would be to apply to event staff agencies that send their staff for festival jobs. A few sites to help your search...

Promostar Promotions work. I can personally vouch for them.

Stuck for Staff Promotions work for experienced promoters. You pay £15 for a 6 month subscription.

Event Staffing Promotions works especially for festivals etc.

Office Work!

It might not be your cup of tea but some people like the security and stability of an office job. If this is for you, the best bet for the summer would be a temporary office job (there's always the possibility of it being a permanent one if you like it enough, do your job well and the company want to keep you). The easiest and best way to get office work in the summer is to go through an agency. You could apply now or you can apply later, but obviously the more time and agency has to know you, send you off on different assignments and get feedback, the more likely you're going to get a better job than say if they don't know you. That doesn't mean you can't find jobs by yourself by looking online or through your local newspaper, but it just takes the stress out as the agency do it all for you and find a job that best suites your needs and wants. Instead of typing up a whole list, I'll post a link to a compilation I've already made here on TSR that's easy on the eyes. Remember pester the agencies so they know you exist!

Compilation Post of Recruitment Agencies

Jobs Abroad - Holiday Reps/Bar work etc

Why do the same boring job when you can do it abroad, have fun and get a tan at the same time :wink:

An increasingly popular job for students especially is either bar work or holiday repping work abroad. Apart from adding another stamp to your passport, you get to embrace a new country (helps if you speak the lingo, but most tourists will speak English anyways), have fun and see all the good sites. Holiday repping can be hard work but you do make friends for life and have fun at the same time, and if this is the kind of thing you enjoy, go for it! You'll normally find adverts for this kind of job on the Just Jobs 4 Students or Hot Recruit website. A simple google search or a look on your university's careers website might help as well. Just be wary of any scams e.g. asking for your money etc.

Manual Work at Home or Abroad

Some people might want to do some manual labour if they live in the countryside or just for the sake of doing it. If you know you're not built for this kind of work, don't do it. If you want to do it, ask around locally, check online, in newspapers on university career websites etc. I remember last year seeing an advert for strawberry picking in France, you get to travel, camp, earn money and pick strawberries! That would have been fun. There's no limit to what you can do.

Retail & Leisure Jobs

Most people go down this route, retail work does seem alluring and simple but it can be quite hard, and sometimes not worth the money. The best advice for retail jobs would be to apply early. You should start seeing adverts for your favourite stores from late April/early May time, some shops recruit earlier so they can train staff. As soon as you see signs (and keep your eyes open for them!),start applying! The earlier you get your CV in and pester them, the more of a chance you have. Always hand in your CV to the manager directly and look good/confident as first impressions count. Get the store telephone number and ring them every few days to see if they're having any interviews or going to offer you one or looked through your CV. Eventually they'll look at it just to get you to stop bothering them. Remember apply to as many shops as you can, 5 applications isn't enough,10 isn't good either! We live in a consumerist (does that exist?! :p:

) world, so there are loads of stores!

Leisure jobs are nice jobs to have. You can either work full time in whatever company you want or you can be flexible. These sort of jobs can pay well so basically just ask around locally and it should be easy to go from there.

Internships

This would mainly be for university students who are looking for experience in their chosen field or course. First, internships are HARD to obtain and COMPETITIVE. You have to apply as soon as you discover the opening because there are loads of students and non-students looking for that edge and an internship is the best way forward for them. Most internships tend to be unpaid but they are invaluable. So make sure you apply as soon as you can (most application deadline are around March but this is obviously dependent on the company). A good resource for finding internships are university careers websites, the company's website and course/field related websites.

Miscellanous

These include supermarkets, hospitality etc. These don't normally have deadlines and will always be looking for summer workers. It might not be the best of jobs or what you're looking for but it brings home the cash cow and at the end of the day, that's what you really want. Again this compilation list will give an idea of websites you can use to search for jobs.

Hopefully this will help people find what they're looking for a bit easier.If anyone has any more info they'd like me to add or any questions, feel free to ask.

Updated: 17/02/2008

Scroll to see replies

Thank you

Wow! Thanks...saves everybodys time thanks again!

Reply 3

username47781

Can I just mention I would advise against Barracudas unless you are desparate.

Reply 4

La Trampa

really? someone went there last year and was completely raving about the place.

Reply 5

username47781

La Trampa

really? someone went there last year and was completely raving about the place.

Not when I went, we had two poor managers at the place who seemed clueless. Even though they gave me a good apprasial they said I would not be considered for next year.