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<li><p>Do you have a friend or parent who would let you use their car for the day, as long as you drive and pick them up on time for their work? Explain you need it for job-hunting, not just fun. Heaven forbid, no fun.</p></li>
<li><p>Does craigslist.com cover your geographic area? Look into “Maine” and see.
They might list jobs. What my S discovered was many listed jobs turned out to be Temporary Agencies, which wouldn’t be so bad for you for summer work because they assign by the day or week to different offices. If they call you in, then they ask you for a skill test on computer typing. </p></li>
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<p>After that, if you keep hounding them, they “might” give you some day work. To determine whether a craigslist ad is directly from an employer, it should say something on the ad like, “Not a Temp Agency” so that’s actually a better phone call.</p>
<p>You can also post your own ad for free there, for what it’s worth, bullet-pointing your skills, stating dates available. Say college-bound rather than h.s. graduate. They can email you back through craigslist. General advice I’ve heard is: do not put a phone number in your ad, but I’m not sure I agree with that advice. In big cities, students who put up ads wait for an e-reply, and if that sounds good then phone numbers are exchanged. Your choice. I feel that some people more readily phone than e-reply.</p>
<p>If you wish, you can also cold-call the Temporary Employment agencies in your region (Yellow Pages or yellowpages.com) and find out if they have anything. They’ll always say they “have something,” so you have to figure out whether you’re just wasting time going to temp agencies, taking their tests, and then just sitting idle within their rolodex files. Perhaps follow up calls to temp agencies each day are needed.
As you can tell, my S didn’t get far with temp agencies around here, although he tried several. </p>
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<li><p>In Maine, I’m sorry that you don’t have a car, so when they ask if you have a car, don’t say “no”-- instead express that you are in “walking distance” of the village. It’s no business of theirs how many minutes it takes you to walk. </p></li>
<li><p>If I were you, I’d explore fully with parents if you might arrange a summer where you take them to and from work, and have daily use of the car. Your goal is important to the family, so they might cooperate for 2 months. Offer to pay for gas for the summer (that’s a dealmaker!)</p></li>
<li><p>Are there other ways to make money, such as organizing and running a yard sale for your family? You sell all their junk, do all the legwork and manage the sale (safeguard your cash box throughout the sale! Keep sending money into the house, not leaving it on the table.). Split the money afterwards. </p></li>
<li><p>If you’re so inclined, look at craigslist under “Domestic” or “Childcare” (different section than the jobs). Some offer work, others are ads put up by people seeking such work (“and you can, too”). Offering regular summer tutoring or childcare. If you don’t feel capable of infant care, just say, “preschoolers or older” or “toddlers and older.” Even if you find other work, you might land a few babysitting clients, and can still do those.
If you’re male (I think I recall that) offer “character references” in your ad, because people are unfortunately wary of male sitters. When they phone, then tell them you are, at this moment, available part-time or full-time, but you might need transportation to their home, depending on where they live. Emphasize that you are college-bound, so might be able to help with math games and reading practice over the summer with their kids. If they ask if you “cook” pin it down. If they mean, “make lunch for my kids” that’s a lot easier than you think. If they mean, “set up dinner for when we come home” that’s a bit more involved.</p></li>
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