Looking for summer employment? You should be hitting the pavement, now.
Summer internships and more competitive positions that are career boosters, rather than simple hourly wage fillers, tend to have earlier deadlines and stricter applicant requirements. If you are switching careers or currently in school earning your degree, you should begin looking for these resume building experiences long before the summer sun starts to sweat.
Aboutcareers.com also suggests putting your networking skills to work to land a summer position, especially if you are looking for resume building work rather than a permanent position. Businesses may need help to fill in during staff vacation time or extra help during the busy summer months. Network with friends and neighbors to be the first to apply for positions that may not even be advertised yet.
If you just need a job for the summer, expect to have a lot of competition, and not just from teenagers.
In states like New Mexico where recent layoffs left thousands of people without jobs the need for work is overwhelming. USA Today reported that 10,000 applicants applied for 290 jobs at a newly-opened Cheesecake Factory restaurant.
If you live near summer vacation destinations, your job search should be slightly easier. Theme parks, restaurants, mini-golf courses and retailers near beaches and tourist attractions have already hung the "now hiring" sign out front.
Industry analysts suggest that adult applicants may face competition from teens looking for summer work, but that hiring managers are continuing a trend of hiring the adults versus the teens.
Renée Ward, founder of job-focused website Teens4Hire.org. told USA Today that given the choice of hiring a youth or an adult, most employers "will go with the more mature person, because they feel there is less that they have to do to train them," she says.
Also, fewer teens are also looking for summer jobs.
Slate.com reports that from the 1950s through the 1990s, between 45 and 60 percent of teenagers had summer jobs. Today, just one in four American teens have held a summer job.
Experts suggest that teens are leaving the marketplace in search of volunteer work, unpaid internships and academic studies that will boost their college resume rather than their work experience.
