Summer, the season of sun, vacations, visiting family, sunburn for some, and working all day for others. While vacations to Maui and day trips to Tahiti may be in the books for some, the reality for others is ill-fitted uniforms and aprons. As unappealing as working over summer break may sound, there are also a plethora of memories to be made from those late night closing shifts where somehow everyone is laughing to sharing your frustration because of an unruly customer. Besides befriending co-workers or potentially meeting your soulmate, platonic or otherwise, one summer afternoon working that shift you did not want to work, summer jobs are often quite beneficial in a multitude of ways for those who work them.

“Most of my employees are students who need a place to work over the summer and I welcome them with open arms,” pool manager, Chris Palezta, states. 

While getting monetary compensation may be a huge driving factor for those working over the summer, there are also benefits such as gaining connections for future endeavors. According to investopedia.com, for those who already have an idea of their future career, applying for summer jobs related to or in that field can help build familiarity with and contacts in that sector. In other words, one may be able to gain connections related to their future career choice. As one of the most important parts of finding a career is networking, using lasting connections gained by working over the summer can prove itself as beneficial. 

Most people struggle daily trying to enhance their time management skills. Some often find themselves behind on assignments, late to important meetings, constantly distracted, and even burnout. However, trying to balance a social life, free time, and trying to earn either a liveable wage or the money to have a social life by working throughout the summer is already a way to learn effective planning experience. Which is another big factor throughout one’s adult/career life, while one can go through life without time management skills, they certainly may make it a bit easier. 

“I’m learning a lot about myself through this job, I’m also getting paid to hang out with kids so, I get to have fun and make money,” recreational center kids camp leader, Samantha Wamba, shares. 

Another benefit to having a summer job is learning more about yourself, while this may be more of a personal than business aspect it is extremely important. As for the business side of things, in order to build a resume, write a cover letter, or interview for a position, you would have to know about yourself and your accomplishments. One of the most feared questions and most common questions is, tell me about yourself. Therefore, it makes it 100 times easier when you know that you work well under pressure, since you worked at sonic and had to deal with being understaffed and there was a rush everyday during happy hour, or that you memorize things easily, since you worked at a waterslide and had to tell the kids that came the rules. While these may not be inclusive to your experience, while working a summer job, you may experience a similar fate. 

“This is my third year in college, but every break when I come down I work the same job. Since they know me already I don’t have to train every time, but since I want to be a camp director I can use this on my resume,” Wamba discloses.

Resume building, the bane of a surplus of people’s existence, for a lot of people creating a resume is annoying. It can be extremely hard as it can be overstimulating, frustrating, or the words just do not flow right. Nevertheless, if when it comes down to job hunting and your resume is looking a bit bare, that three months that you spent as a concessions stand worker taught you how to handle face to face transactions, utilizing POS system to take orders, handle registers while maintaining efficient time management skills, and how to use effective communication to enhance customer satisfaction. 

For many, the summer is a time for greeting customers with a smile as they golf for hours on end. For others, the summer is a time for sipping pina coladas on the beach, but for some, the summer is a time to greet customers with a smile so that they can sip their pina coladas on the beach. While the summer may look different for everybody, this does not deter from the fact that retaining a job over the summer can have benefits ranging from beautiful memories to connections for their future plans.