<p>Well, since she has nothing lined up at present, something unpaid is better than nothing. We had discussed the possibility of her finding an unpaid internship for 20+ hours a week, and then working part-time wherever to make some money.</p>
<p>Update: Just spoke with D. She said, “If I don’t get a job, it’s not a big deal.”<br>
AHHH!!</p>
<p>My D was a camp counselor for two summers in college. This was at her beloved summer camp where she went for 10 consecutive summers as a child. She was a group counselor one summer and a lifeguard the next summer. She made about a thousand dollars each summer. Maybe your D could do that. Not that much salary, but you don’t spend much of it either. </p>
<p>My D learned a ton at that job and used things that happened in several college and med school essays. She was chosen to be the counselor for a special needs girl as a group counselor, and she saved a little girl’s life in the pool. </p>
<p>It’s hard for camps to find good counselors as it’s hard work and doesn’t pay much. It looks good on the resume, more employment experience, and much better than hanging around your house all summer with no job. Camps all over the country hire and she could go to some other part of the country that interests her.</p>
<p>*Update: Just spoke with D. She said, “If I don’t get a job, it’s not a big deal.”
AHHH!!
*</p>
<p>lol…and this is the same kid that in your first post says, “Chill, it will all work out somehow.”</p>
<p>Yep…that’s the way these things go. First, they shut you up with the “it will work out” statements. Then, when it doesn’t work out they resort to, “it’s no big deal.”</p>
<p>At this point, I would tell my kid…either find a paying job or you’ll be volunteering at soup kitchen, hospital, church summer activities, or something.</p>
<p>DS is a sophomore in college now and has finally started to feel the financial pinch. H and I resolved to stick to a strict monthly allowance which is just enough for food and necessities. Any extras would have to come out of his pocket. He had a part time tutoring job this year that gave him extra spending money. It was hard for me to not send him extra money every now and then but I’m glad I didn’t. Now that he’s matured a but, he is looking for paid internships.</p>
<p>TheGFG, my son was an Econ major and never had a single internship. His summer jobs were warehouse work. He graduated last May, Magna cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, but without a single job prospect, despite job hunting thru his career planning office and a lot of internet looking. After sending out a zillion resumes he had one interview (a job for which he was overqualified) and a phone interview. Neither panned out. He stopped looking in May because he was going to Europe for 3 weeks after graduation with his buddies (spending every penny of his savings to do so).</p>
<p>So how does this story turn out?</p>
<p>He started a full-time job in his field on August 1. He likes what he does, his co-workers, and the company in general. In February he had a review and was given an 11% raise and a bonus. </p>
<p>He had started job hunting after returning home from Europe in June. As it turned out, his younger sister’s boyfriend (a rising senior) was seeking a summer internship. A friend of the BF’s family heard that BF was looking but didn’t realize he only needed a summer position, and forwarded BF a posting at her company. Since BF couldn’t apply to the job but he knew S was looking, he forwarded the posting to S and told him to contact the family friend and say that BF had referred him. They looked at S’s resume, had him in for an interview, and offered him a job. </p>
<p>After months of scouring the internet and visiting career planning with virtually no response and getting VERY discouraged, this job that he really likes basically fell into his lap.</p>
<p>How funny! We are constantly asking when the “magical mystery tour” for S2 is going to end. His brother just went through the college grind this year as a senior and we have to do it all next year with S2…albeit a different set of colleges, but still will require a bit of focus. We get “I’m not S1” … <<sigh>></sigh></p>
<p>Back in the day, my mom saw to it that I trained as an LVN in high school, even though no one else in AP classes was doing that. That’s how I got jobs in HS and college. It is also what motivated me. That was hard work!</p>
<p>I would like to say it really bothers me when people denigrate lifeguarding as a summer job. My D is a lifeguard, and it’s a HUGE responsibility. Not only are they watching out for people’s lives, D has had confrontational adults who don’t want to follow the rules and enjoy making themselves feel “big” by giving attitude to a teenage lifeguard. Worse, in our town a child drowned at the local pool 2 years ago, while the lifeguards were on duty (D didn’t work there). It was truly a tragedy. And despite the child having a pre-existing medical condition that the lifeguards were never informed of, the family sued the town for millions of dollars. We never heard how it was resolved, leading me to believe it was settled out of court. D nearly left her job after that, because she knew two of the lifeguards who were on duty when the child drowned, they were terribly upset and second-guessing themselves (even though the EMTs told them they did everything right and they were convinced it was the pre-existing condition that caused the problem), all the while being vilified in the newspaper. That was the same summer that D had parents who would drop off their TODDLERS at the town pond beach, then sit in their car in the parking lot expecting D and the other lifeguards to keep them safe (while watching all the swimmers at the same time).</p>
<p>Sorry for the hijack, it just ticks me off when people equate lifeguarding to working at a fast food restaurant or such.</p>
<p>Laf- That’s a good reminder about lifeguarding challenges. Not everybody could handle that. Too bad so many thoughtless parents make a tough job tougher. </p>
<p>(It stuns me. I used to put my kids in flap happy hats at the beach so they’d stand out. And I’d always be counting them, “one, two” to always have eyes on them).</p>
<p>Magical thinking, I don’t think any of us or our children are immune. S has an internship for the summer, but has almost 6 weeks of downtime before the internship starts. He’s going to work at a pet store he’s had a job at on/off since high school. I admire his work ethic, but I’ll admit it – after 4 years of college I envisioned more for him than working at the same job he had in high school. Even it is just temporary.</p>
<p>Who was magical thinking again? LOL</p>
<p>DS was reluctant to do serious job hunting after his freshman year. I decided that I would award an “unpaid internship” which would update his house painting skills. House got repainted. DS quickly developed initiative and found work on campus in the fall. He’s on job or internship #4 currently.</p>
<p>My oldest is a planner, works hard and does the next right thing. She planned her academic calendar out, regularly visits her career center, resume ready to go (never know when you will need it), applied for every internship that came her way.Had career wear always clean and ready to wear. She has been successful but lives in stress mode all the time.
My S is the exact opposite. He is King Magical Thinker. He is not a planner. Never visited the career center, his portfolio had some big mistakes, he didn’t begin looking for a job till he was graduated. But luck seems to always find him. He somehow despite not having a clue as to graduation requirements managed to graduate in 4 yrs. He came home for a weekend and answered an ad on Craigslist on Wed and started working in his field on the following Tuesday. He has rarely been on time in his life. He manages to get a boss who is as time deficient as he is. My S is the ultimate no worries guy. For some reason luck is usually with him. It is hard to convince him that life doesn’t usually work that way.</p>
<p>Just an aside, whenever I see or hear “magical thinking” I think of the expert witness who said Case Anthony suffered from magical thinking and that is what caused her to lie so much.</p>
<p>GFG, I feel your pain. My youngest d was also on the quarter system. You would think some employers would want someone who could work later in the summer. What worked for us was the local movie theater. They hired scads of kids and loved the ones who could count backwards to make change. She didn’t always get lots of hours but enough and she could work anytime she came back to town. It also made her realize she didn’t want a job again where you had to wear a string tie and a beret.</p>