School Doesn’t Pay the Bills: Summer Jobs That Can Help

By Jobs & Hire Staff Reporter

Jul 08, 2013 01:11 PM EDT

Whether you are a high school, college, or graduate student, you more than likely aren’t being paid to go to school (but wouldn’t that be nice?). Since most of your money and your parents’ money fund your education and extracurricular activities, there’s hardly any spare money when school is out. Unless you plan to mooch off of your friends for the whole summer, it’s a great idea for you to find a job during the summertime.

Job searching could be a bit daunting for first-time job seekers. If this is your first time looking for a job, remember that there are plenty of places that are willing to hire in the summer because people either want to go on vacation or spend time at an amusement or water park. Where there’s much demand for service, there’s also much demand for help.

Also remember that no job is too little for you. Famous people such as Gwen Stefani and Tom Cruise spent their summer mopping floors at Dairy Queen or delivering papers respectively. When short on cash while travelling around Australia, Matthew McConaughey had to take a job on a farm moving chicken manure. Not the best job, but someone had to do it.

If you would rather further develop your special skills through experience, then it is also great to find an internship that is related to your passion or degree. While most internships are unpaid, there are some that offer what James Marshall Crotty calls “trifling compensation.” Nevertheless, you earn priceless experience and hone in on your skills so that you could become better suited for your future career. You also gain connections with professionals in the field via networking.

Without further delay, here are a few positions for your consideration:

· Tutoring: Still have school fresh in your mind? Try tutoring someone that you know or others to whom you are referred. The best part is you set your own wages and you are your own boss!

· Campus jobs: If you are a college student, be sure to check around campus for possible jobs. Most of the students have gone away for the summer. Great chance to get a job!

· Post office worker: Working at a place as important as the post office is bound to have great pay! You could work as a cashier or help prepare mailing packages.

· Freelance writer: Are you an excellent writer and wish to get paid to write? Then take up an assignment with magazines like Good Magazine or Variety. You are more than likely a fantastic blogger and you know how to get people to view your writings. Good and Variety are willing to pay people like you $250 or about $350 per piece respectively. Being freelance, you can take as many assignments as you can handle.

· Landscaping: Do you want a job that doesn’t consume your entire summer? If you have experience with mowing your own lawn and doing everything else to make your front yard look beautiful, then why not make money for it? Ask your neighbors if they need someone to fix up their yard.

· Restaurant employee: It’s a job that receives a lot of flak, but that doesn’t mean the pay isn’t good! Check local restaurants to see if they’re hiring.

For more options, be sure to visit 5 Best Summer Jobs For College Students ... Deconstructed and Top 20 Best Summer Jobs.