Summer Jobs

kihyle
Sat, 15 Jul 2006 17:00:28 +0000

What is your job?


Summer #1 (my very first jobs): administrative assistant, student lab helper in 2 different biological labs. I went to like 10 interviews and was able to obtain these 3 jobs for my very first summer working. My parents wanted me to come home and work another job that paid much more, but i was proud and wanted to work jobs i found for myself.
Summer #2: another lab assistant job for the lack of anything better, but i kept on looking for something else. Then, i got an internship at local pharmaceutical company doing some synthetic support type of stuff. It was very exciting. I kept working all through academic year. Also did research (volunteering, no pay). Three interviews. One was a phone interview and they turned me down as soon as they learned i didn’t have a car.
Summer #3: Graduated, got a job for 3 months as research technician at a lab, once again doing synthesis. Meanwhile got a fellowship to do some research over summer. One interview.
Summer #4: after completing master’s program came back to that same lab from summer #3 because i wanted to save myself the trouble of going to interviews. Plus i felt like no one would want to hire me for just 2 months. But with those guys i was able to simply continue my project from last summer. No interviews.


What is your salary?


Summer #1: $7-8/hour on all three jobs with administrative assistant paying most. Parents got $13.5/hour job for me that i didn’t accept.
Summer #2: $10/h as intern, $8/h as lab assistant
Summer #3: Graduated, $17/h plus $5000 for summer research (i felt ******* rich!)
Summer #4: $18/hour, they knew i’ll be coming to work for them anyhow, so no substantial raise even though i was now the proud possessor of a master’s degree


How did you get your job? Through a parent? A friend? Your school’s career counseling office? etc. Friend.
Summer #1: college website (sent out my resume to a lot of places)
Summer #2: same as above
Summer #3: through company website – i posted my resume on their website and they called me 3 weeks later
Summer #4: just came back to work for same people as in summer #3


All in all, here are my conclusions out of the whole process:
It is hardest when you are just starting out with little experience and connections. It is easy to get discouraged, but the thing is to remember that everyone has trouble at first. It is always good to aim high. I didn’t want to apply to some jobs because it seemed to me like I lacked qualifications. However, these jobs did not end up being over my head. So don’t underestimate your skills. Also, sometimes people suck at describing the job they are offering. This is most true for places with many employees, where job descriptions are compiled by the HR people who usually have very little idea about what the job will actually be like (one posting, for example, said that candidate will be taking care of a rare piece of instrumentation while in reality that was not true). So sometimes it is good to apply to jobs with descriptions that only vaguely match what you can offer. Sometimes there is a lack of applicants for a good job that will increase your own chances of getting it. Employers are people, and sometimes they get lazy/busy and wait until mid-summer to start interviewing. By that time the major influx of student workers have already found some other job, so these employers might be forced to choose from fewer candidates while the job they offer is pretty good. So it is not a bad idea to continue looking for a job well into summer.

It is also a good idea to think about who your audience is prior to going to an interview. For example, if you’re interviewing for an academic lab position and they ask you whether or not you’re considering to apply to grad school, the correct answer is “yes” even though you haven’t the slightest plan to do so. So think who your audience is and what it is they want to hear coming from your mouth. You want to persuade them that you’re one of them, that you’ll fit in, and that you’ll do the job.