Summer Jobs and College Admissions: Why Paid Work Belongs on Your Application
Photo by Brooke Cagle at Unsplash
Haven’t started planning your summer and trying to figure out what to do? Finalizing your summer plan and looking for one more thing?
Consider community service, a college class, or our favorite: a paid, part-time job.
We aren’t shy about proclaiming this: We love paid work experience on a young person’s resume. Did you spend part of your summer scooping ice cream, customizing latte orders, or potting succulents at a nursery? There is so much value in an everyday job.
Are you continuing your job into the school year? Even better.
But it’s less about what we think and more about what admissions officers value. They too love to see work experience. Here’s why:
Paid work hones different skills. Showing up on time, interfacing with the public, being accountable to a customer and a boss, learning on the fly, using common sense, among others.
Paid work shows that you are responsible. All the skills listed above, executed effectively, demonstrate that an applicant can take on and meet a commitment.
Paid work pushes back against perception of privilege. Colleges like to see that students are taking the initiative, developing grit, and cultivating the skills to excel in college. Take the opportunity to demonstrate your character.
Paid work suggests that you are flexible and adaptable enough to succeed in an environment that requires you to think on your feet. These abilities map well onto the college experience.
But what job should you get? Any job is great, and to borrow a cliche, don’t let the great be the enemy of the good. But if you have a few options, then you can be discerning.
Take these four summer jobs as an example: (1) paid counselor at a summer sports camp for youth, (2) lifeguard at the local pool, (3) barista at a local coffee shop, (4) laborer at a greenhouse.
Again, all these options have value, but if we had to choose, we would rank the cafe and nursery roles higher than the counselor and lifeguard positions. This is because the latter two are jobs that are not specifically curated for teenagers. This means that you would work alongside people of all ages, be expected to balance shifts that are not designed with a high schooler’s schedule in mind, and be held to adult standards. Of course, sometimes the lifeguard role is all that is available or all that works with your schedule. But don’t be afraid to canvas broadly, put in many applications, and follow up a few days later (in person!). And, in the meantime. get excited to develop some lasting life skills (latte, anyone?) and collect your first paycheck.
