What Did You Do Last Summer? Jobs. vs. Internships

[marite]

Summer jobs regain some luster
As tradition fades, colleges notice teenagers who work

By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff | July 15, 2007

MEDFORD -- High school senior Stacy Jones thought about studying Chinese or Arabic this summer, but settled on something likely to look far more exotic on her application to Tufts University and other elite colleges.
Article Tools


She is scrubbing desks and mopping floors. Forty hours a week. For $7.25 an hour.

The tradition of the summer job is fading away. Only 49 percent of American teenagers ages 16 to 19 were working -- or even seeking a job -- last month, down from 60 percent in June 2000, according to the US Labor Department.

Instead, many college-bound young people are in summer school, doing volunteer work, or on a trip to the Third World -- sometimes more to spice up their college applications than out of genuine interest, admissions officers say.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/mas...n_some_luster/

[cheers]

This is an absurd conclusion.

I didn't want my children to work in the summers. My hours at DQ and the movie theatre were a GIANT waste of precious time. My brothers' time at bars and restaurants led to terrible habits--more wasted life.

I send my children travelling for the education of it--not to boost their CVs. Pshaw. Admissions officers need to pull their heads out of their armpits. Not every 18 year old is living life to meet their expectations.

FWIW My grandparents didn't work in the summers in 1905. They played tennis. The whole menial job thing is another rank leftover from the 50s.

[weenie]

I never felt like working was a waste of time. I learned the joy of (relative) independence and money management. I learned to live within my means. Talents a lot of kids sorely lack today.

Although son #1 is doing a paid research stint this summer, if he wasn't, he'd be slaving away at some warehouse job. Son #2 slaves away selling bagels. lol

There is no shame in honest work.

[jmmom]

I, too, never felt that working was a waste of time. Humility can be a learned skill, and summer jobs can often contribute to that learning. Further, working with all kinds of people, with lesser talents and fewer advantages, is something that many of us and our kids - highly educated, quick brains - may never do once we are past the summer job phase of life.

I had some boring summer jobs, including some of the ones with the niftiest titles for a young person (eg, Research Assistant at MIT). Learning how to handle and work around boredom is another important skill.

You can learn from travel, you can learn from exciting internships, you can learn from "menial" jobs. A lot of people in this world spend their whole lives at menial jobs. Walking in their shoes for a time is a definite learning experience.

*steps off soapbox*

BTW, some people can't afford to send their children to travel and learn in summers. Some need the additional $$ that come from summer jobs to put themselves/their kids through school.

[A.S.A.P.]

Personally, I think a start on learning Chinese or Arabic would have been far more beneficial in the long run.These are tough languages - a summer of immersion would have been a great boost if she has an interest in Asia.

Kids will learn to mop floors along the way. Mine honed that skill the first year in college when she had to clean the common bathroom regularly.

I do think "grunt" work is valuable - but why must it be one or the other?
I like to see kids take advantage of opportunites offered them. If they have the chance to travel to a third world country, or even an unfamiliar modern one while they are young, they should jump on it. It may be a long time before they have that freedom again, and the lessons learned will give them a perspective that young people in our country need. I'm not sure there is anything more important for our children's generation to learn than how to appreciate cultures other than our own.

[simba]

could it be that the kids who receive need based aid don't want to work? The work will affect their EFC and they think the school will take away the money anyway.

[wjb]

What about a combination of sexy and non-sexy summer pursuits? My daughter has a stimulating but unpaid internship 15 hours a week and a paid job another 15-20 hours a week. I think that for every generation, and maybe especialy for kids from affluent families, it's important to learn first-hand what it takes to earn a buck.

[soozievt]

I have feelings on both "sides" and do not think it has to be either/or.

I think it is great for young people to hold jobs and the jobs need not be ones that further their "career" or "education." It is a valuable experience in itself. As well, they can earn spending money for college. My kids have held jobs. While they didn't hold jobs for this reason, I do believe colleges would look positively at students who have work experience, even if the jobs were not related to their field of interest or if the job is considered "menial".

However, I don't like if colleges were to frown upon students who travel or do summer programs related to their interests. NOT ALL who do these things do them to "get ahead with the college admission process." Some genuinely want to have meaningful worthwhile experiences in travel or organized summer programs around their interest areas. I know my own kids have done summer activities that interest them and would choose these even if they were never applying to college or grad school, etc. They do these things for the genuine desire for the experiences. Granted, not all young people have these opportunities.

Personally, I would not pick a summer experience with what looks better for college in mind. But I think work experience (whether menial min. wage jobs or ones related to an interest area), as well as organized summer activities/travel all have value for different reasons.

One more thing....for a student who wants to earn money, it doesn't always have to translate to a "menial" job (though those are fine too). I know my kids keep earning money and NOT minimum wage (though one of my kids has been a bus girl and server in restaurants in HS). One of my kids even sometimes creates her own jobs. She is 18 right now and has several jobs that earn her money, ranging from $25-$50/hour. If one has a skill to offer, even a young person can earn more than min. wage. She does.


EDIT: cross posted with wjb.....but saying basically the same thing!

[GA2012MOM]

Simba, that is a generalized, non factual statement. Are you assuming because people are poor that they adverse to working?............not true!

[MotherOfTwo]

My son and daughter did a variety of all of the things being discussed here during there summers. Between the two of them, part or all of summers during high school (and the one after h.s. graduation) were spent by one or the other as follows: attending academic programs (CTY and Governor's School), junior counselor at a day camp for eight weeks, studying abroad in a language immersion program, attending sports camp, working in a menial job, working in a non-menial internship, volunteering, working at home with dad on a very large project (car restoration), band camp, sports practice, family vacations. None of these activities were undertaken specifically with thoughts of "resume building", but were what made sense for each child for that summer.

I do think there is value for every person to work in a "menial" (for lack of better word) job at some point in their lives. As others have said, it makes a person appreciation for work done by others. It also helps young people to realize that they could be doing such a job for the rest of their lives if they don't get a good education.

[MotherOfTwo]

LOL! I already caught that dumb mistake and edited my post

This pattern seems to also continue for my kids into their college summers. My son spend his first college summer in a language immersion program abroad (partially funded by a grant from his college) and subsequent summers in well-paid internships. My daughter spent the summer after freshman year in a telemarketing job, which was definitely not something she intends to spend her life doing , and is spending this summer studying Mandarin in Taiwan. She will be studying abroad in Beijing for the fall semester, but felt she needed more than just one semester abroad if she hopes to improve her Chinese significantly. I assume that future employers will not look unfavorably on her choice to spend the summer studying instead of working at a paid job.

[A.S.A.P.]

Haha - and I deleted my post because I considered it may have been presumptuous of me to think it was a mistake..but we are on the same wavelength afterall.

[corranged]

Like many of the previous posters, I think that there is a lot of value in work.


To list the first ten benefits that come to mind:

1. Students learn the effort required in tasks or jobs that they had never considered before, leading to increased awareness and sensitivity.

2. Students learn more about the value of a dollar.

3. Students can become more financially independent--something I have always thought of as crucial, though many posters disagree.

4. Students learn more about responsibility and performing unpleasurable tasks. Yes, they can do this by cleaning their bathroom at home, but that's something they can choose whether to do, can choose when they want to do it, and they won't have to do it all that often.

5. Students learn about co-worker and boss relations.

6. Students are treated as adults and can gain confidence in their jobs.

7. Students gain "work experience" which is necessary for getting good jobs in the future.

8. Students learn how to go about writing a professional resume and cover letter, looking for a job, applying, following-up on applications and job requests, interviewing, negotiating pay, etc.

9. Students may *gasp* actually learn something valuable in their job.

10. Students can make connections and network within their communities.


I'm in an area where students regularly work 40+ hours a week in the summers once they turn 14. I have found most of my work experience valuable. I now have much more money than most students my age, as far as I can tell, which has led to more financial independence and the luxury of increased choices. I have great work experience and experience in getting jobs, so while most of my friends as college freshman couldn't find jobs this summer or are working at McDonald's-type establishments, I had a number of options for where to work. Not all jobs available to teenagers are menial or poorly-paying, of course.

My first "job" was playing music gigs. I started when I was ten or eleven charging $50 / hour. My rate increased as I got older and more experienced. I dealt with stressed-out hosts, changing plans, demanding brides, and many, many kind and gracious people. My first "real" job was as a bank teller working around 38 hours a week starting at $8.50 / hour. I was working with people who are very different from me, and overall I wasn't treated well. I've worked as a camp counselor at an extremely privileged camp (let's just say the names/occupations of some of these kids' parents and grandparents are very well known). I learned a lot about the specific age range of kids I was working with, and we had to deal kindly with a variety of kids and parents who felt very deserving. I had a lot of fun as well. I've worked in two Development positions for two very different non-profits. One was a struggling organization with a lot of internal politics and a lot of money problems. The people and organization were fantastic, and I was well-respected with a lot of responsibility. Now I'm at a high-powered political organization that has a great deal of money and influence. I'm performing many of the same jobs I did at the other organization, but the two places are vastly different, so it's a new experience. Both of these provide great resume-builders and referrals.

I look at almost all the other students I know, and I am so happy that I have spent years working. Unlike many of my friends, I now have the ability to get good jobs, I have money for current spending and for the future (my parents pay for college but give me no spending money), I know a lot of people in my community, I know that I can do a lot of things beyond reading and writing at school, I can work with a variety of people, I can stay calm in all sorts of situations, etc.

[mootmom]

Yes, yes, yes, and... I'd say "yes" 10 times, corranged, but that would be redundant. My younger son is serving frozen yogurt this summer. He has made some large and some small strides towards ALL the points you mention, and I am exceedingly proud of him for having done so. He is a more mature, confident, and responsible person for the job he holds, and he is happier, too. His friends whose parents send them on trips and give them huge allowances know nothing about the work world and call him up regularly to ask what it's like to work. (No joke.) I am very happy with his choice, and would have been dismayed if he'd elected to goof around or spend the summer traveling (with what money? he would have had to work first to finance any trip).

Plus now he can moan at his parents, "Oh man, I am tired after working today!" and have them smile knowingly, having just arrived home themselves.

[wjb]

Terrific post, corranged.