Summer jobs range from seasonal work, internships and returning home to work minimum wage. These jobs could be part-time, full-time or simply just “taking up your time.” These jobs are vital to returning to college with enough cash to either get you through the school year or to get you through until you can find another job away at college. Here’s my experience with a seasonal summer job and the benefits and downsides that I experienced while working one.
Let’s start with the disadvantages first and get those out of the way before discussing the parts of the little ice cream shop job that I loved the most.
CON One con that I dealt with during my summer job is that I felt that I was not seeing enough of my friends before we went our separate ways back to college. Being torn between money and memories is an awful feeling because time is fleeting but without money there’d be no returning to college. The age-old debate of “experiences versus materials” almost doesn’t apply because as Ilya Pozin  put it, “learning lasts a lifetime.” I did end up seeing my hometown friends, however, it took a lot of texts telling each other that certain days wouldn’t work because we were prioritizing our jobs.
CON Another issue I had with my summer job was that it was hard to request off for different events. When everyone wants weekends off to have fun or there’s little staff to trade shifts with can make it challenging. With low numbers on staff, especially in seasonal work, if someone is on the schedule for certain days it usually means that they can only work on those specific days and are not able to trade. It’s hard not to get frustrated in that situation but it helps if you request off or begin searching to trade two weeks prior to the event.Â
PRO Working with the same staff for the whole summer does have its advantages. This is due to when you work almost 40 hour weeks with the same people every week, you start to bond and become closer. We all eventually ended up hanging out outside of work for crew get-togethers and my farewell party. Joking about our frustrations and while we worked, in general, made the long days fun and helped us all become friends (our manager’s nightmare). Now a few of us are back in college and regularly Snapchat each other and are planning for them to make a trip to come visit me here.
PRO The biggest plus side of having a seasonal summer job is that not only can they be a break from trying to achieve career goals, they also understand that you’re leaving rather soon for college and are accepting of it. When the place you work is only open for the summer they only expect you to work for the summer so there’s not much heartbreak when you have to return to school.Â
Conclusion
Whether it’s an industry experience or a break from the seemingly neverending career prep college students face, seasonal jobs are rewarding in their own ways. Lifelong friends and short-term money can be gained in exchange for dealing with whatever the job throws at you.
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Edited by Katie Carnefix