Looking for ideas. What do your college-age children do in the summer?
My daughter is a freshman. She has asked me to help her think about how she should spend her summer. She has to earn some money, but she doesn’t want to work full time in retail, restaurant, or similar, although she would consider working those types of jobs a few hours a week to supplement a non-paying internship or volunteer work. She is open to living at home or elsewhere (abroad, another part of the country). In the past, she has worked at camps but she does not want to do that any more.
Only one restriction: It can’t be a “summer program” that I have to pay for.
Our kids worked full time…and yes, sometimes it was in restaurants or retail.
One kid worked part of the summer, and attended residential music programs the other part. He had an awesome employer who gave him full time work in a restaurant when he was here.
The other kid worked as a lifeguard…full time…every summer through the summer after freshman year. Summer after sophomore and junior years, she stayed on her college campus and continued her reguakr school year job working in undergrad admissions. In the summer, that was full time.
Our kids were responsible for funding all discretionary spending, and books. Unpaid internships were not considered at all. Ever.
One kid taught through the Breakthrough Collaborative for 3 summers (starting after sr. year of HS). She was able to live at home. Very competitive to get those positions, though. The other has been researching on her college campus every summer since freshman year. Some students stay on campus and work at admissions at most colleges. Older students sometimes can get orientation related positions that take up a lot of the summer. Kid who researches now worked at Walmart as a night stocker summer before freshman year (not her favorite).
Like thumper1’s kids, ours covered their own books & spending money. D1 saved up and covered her own unpaid internship expenses in DC one summer. She also worked on campus during the school year (Writing Center).
I think your D might need to reevaluate what she won’t do. Unless she has some special skills those are typical job options for that age group. D’s friends work in restaurants, camps, retail mostly, as many hours as possible since they really need the money. One braids hair also, another cleans homes. Unpaid options aren’t usually in play.
My d is a freshman considering this right now. She’s thinking about internships and some hospital programs that pay a stipend but also has a restaurant job at home she can return to. Her college also offers funding for various summer programs, Your d’s might also?
On the right margin, see “Search Internships”. Come winter/spring, there will be a lot of listings there.
Many summer opportunities all over the country. Some are trail/park/historical building work, some education/outreach for a variety of parks/environmental programs…a real mix. Some are group/crew, some are individual internships.
Most pay, at a minimum, a travel stipend (to help you get there), and a weekly “living” stipend, and provide free housing. Some pay more. Some are eligible for earning Americorps credit, which can be directed to your college to help pay tuition, or to pay toward student loans.
She would work retail or restaurants, but does not want that to be the totality of her summer. As I said above, she does not want to do that FULL TIME.
My D’s summer income paid for her discretionary spending as well. The only unpaid options came in the form of a few music summer programs, but she footed that bill with grants, scholarships and working part time through the year. I think that’s why she has never ever had a problem finding a paying job. She has become an extraordinarily resourceful young woman who understands that the harder she works, the luckier she gets.
Mine work, generally more than one job, and no it’s not always glamorous or future career related. The oldest had a part-time job in healthcare in the evenings and she’d add work at the city pool (full-time days). She had an externship after junior year, but it was only open to those within a year of graduation. The youngest is looking for an internship for next summer, but if that doesn’t pan out, she should be ready to move up to pool manager, and then keep her tumbling coach job, too.
All this boils down to 1. How much money does your kid need? (Mine had to make enough to cover books and personal expenses and the last had really quite a bit to do with personal habits.) 2. Is she a worker? (Is she someone who wants to work and be productive or is she someone who wants a lot of free time?)
This is a family decision that is yours. If you can fund things without your daughter working full time for pay this summer, and are willing to pay living expenses if she lives not at home…go for it. Fine.
In my small world, that was not an option. My kids had to work full time as much as they could in the summers.
My kids are out of college at this point. While in college, every summer was spent doing a job or internship in their respective fields that paid. They NEVER lived at home during their college summers and so their jobs had to pay enough to support their living expenses wherever they were that summer (this was often in a city). One also did jobs in Europe in her field in the summers. Some jobs (but these were minority) might have involved grants and a couple (again in the minority) involved being given free housing. We did not support them in the summers. Both graduated college with resumes with job experiences in their fields over all their college summers (and one of them continued to do this during grad school summers, both in the US and abroad). One is in the field of architecture and one is in the field of performing arts/theater.
While in college, my kids have all worked full-time during the summer. However, during the summer following their junior years, they both had paid internships. They worked the kinds of jobs your daughter may not like…retail, restaurants, etc. The goal was to make money to get through the next school year.
We do not give our children any spending money while they are in college, so they need to work to cover their expenses. If you are willing to give your daughter the money she needs, then she will have more options about what she can do over the summer. I do believe that working the kind of jobs your daughter doesn’t want to do is quite character building. My children have learned how difficult it is to deal with the public and they now have great compassion for people working in those jobs.
Relevant work experience is so critical for the kids and the earlier the better. My criminal justice daughter worked 2 internships her first 2 summers. The first was @ a criminal background check company and the second @ security company doing physical security … both were paid internships. These 2 have set her up nicely for the upcoming summer (2016) because mow she has some relevant stories to tell in interviews. Good luck!
My kids did nothing but swam, ate, played and had as much fun as they possibly could, while their friends were busy being shuttled from one sports/music/academic camp to another all summer. They have precious few years before they have to go to college, and their summers will never be this carefree and idyllic ever again. We prefer to let our kids enjoy their childhood while they still can.
All three of mine worked and only freshman summer did they come home and work, the following summers the two olders worked and took 1 or 2 classes of did a paying internship staying in their college towns. The last one worked sophomore summer at a labor job and he has told me he will be gone junior summer doing a paying internship. They all worked 30 hours in high school during the summers once they turned 15 and pretty much full time summers when they were 16, 17 and 18 prior to starting college.
During high school summers, my daughter: had a boring unpaid internship at a museum, worked as a babysitter for a French speaking family (and greatly improved her French), played the piano and sang for a preschool daycare program, and did an unpaid internship with a ministry that served homeless people (she wrote their newsletter, served meals, sorted clothes, etc.) She also taught beginning piano students. All of these were part-time gigs, but she did make enough money to fund her fun activities during the school year.
My son: worked two summers in the IT department of a public school system. He was paid well, but hated it. The summer before his senior year, he did nothing except play League of Legends, write plays, and listen to his parents nag him about finding work. This coming summer, he’s getting a job, any job. Or else.
A lot depends on your daughter’s major and longer-range career interests. The folks at the career center at her college should have some ideas for her.
At Happykid’s community college, all the theater tech majors got paid internships with the summer dinner theater program (after freshman year), which meant that they developed skills that made working as theater techs in the area in the summers after sophomore & junior years entirely possible. Various of the nieces & nephews found paid internships or summer jobs related to their majors through their college’s career offices. Everyone still found plenty of time to have fun.
@cmsjmt I believe this poster is asking about what to do after each year in college…not during HS.
My kids didn’t work during the school year, and one spent most of the summer at summer music programs in HS…but they worked in the summers whenever they could.
Once they were in high school, they both did sleep away programs for 4-6 weeks…and worked the rest of the summers.
Plenty of time to be “kids” but still be responsible, and earn some money.
Like Sooz, my kids left college with some job experience on their resumes…but neither did unpaid internships.