4 Tips for Finding a Summer Job

Four things that a student can do to find a summer job at the last minute are:

• Call all of your adult family members and friends of your parents. Tell them you're looking for a summer job, what you're good at, and what type of work is of interest to you. Don't ask them for a job. Instead, ask them to give you the names and phone numbers of three people you should call. You've just multiplied your network by three fold. Repeat until someone declines to give you the names and instead gives you a job.


• Don't tell people that you're willing to do anything. Focus. Recruiters and hiring managers are turned off by people who are too flexible as it tends to mean they're too desperate and desperate candidates tend to make lousy employees.


• Be willing to work for little to no pay in a position which is in line with your career path. Getting experience is incredibly valuable. For money, find a job that pays well even if it isn't of interest to you or in line with your career path. Invest in yourself.


• Don't focus your job search efforts on advertised openings as they're only 10 percent of the job openings and 90 percent of candidates spend all of their time applying to advertised jobs. Rather than being in the 90 percent chasing after 10 percent of the jobs, be one of the 10 percent who networks and therefore is chasing after 90 percent of the jobs. Your odds are much better.

Article by, Steven Rothberg and courtesy of CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates seeking entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.