As a college student, summer break is an awesome opportunity to have fun, enjoy the sun, and spend time with your friends. Free from all your classes and responsibilities that you left on campus. On the flip side, summer break can also be the one season of the year you have time to make extra cash while staying local. But since there are so many part time jobs to choose from, how do you know which is best for your summer break? Let us help you with this decision. Below we have listed 10 of the top summer jobs for college students.
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Lifeguard
Unless you live in a southern state, summer break is one of the only times you will get to be a lifeguard. And although it may not be exactly as Baywatch portrayed, you will get to spend your summer days out in the sun rather than sitting at a desk until dawn. It also is an opportunity for you to learn helpful skills, such as CPR, and meet a bunch of new people.
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Campus Tour Guide
On the off chance you don’t want to go home for your summer break, you can always apply to become a campus tour guide. This opportunity provides you the chance to get to know your campus better while showing potential freshmen how much you love your school. In addition, most universities will pay for your summer living. And summer on campus often results in meeting new people and spending a lot of time with them since you’re the only ones there. This summer gig is not one you can experience later in life.
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Camp Counselor
This summer job is not for the faint of heart but those who do it end up absolutely loving it. If you’re willing to spend the summer away from home, chasing after children, spending your time outdoors, and sleeping on a bunk bed, then becoming a Camp Counselor is your type of job. This job comes with many perks such as living somewhere beautiful surrounded by trees and water, as well as making some of your most dearest and cherished friendships. How can you not become friends will one another when you see each other in your most dirtiest and raw forms?
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Nanny
This is another one for you college students who love spending time with children. If this is something you enjoy, becoming a Nanny is like a glorified babysitter that gets paid more but has less flexible of hours. Often times, as a Nanny, you will be taking care of the children five days a week while the parents are at work. In addition to supervising the children, you will also clean and chauffer for the family. This may seem like a lot, but Nannies make some of the best money, close to $15+ an hour, and are often tipped on top of that. Great summer job to get the wallet packed full.
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Construction Worker
This is a great job for students who like to do physical labor or want to spend their summer break being active. It is also a great job for the early birds, those who don’t want to sleep in too late, for the average day of a construction worker starts at 5 a.m. And although this may seem early, when you are making between $20-30 an hour, you will be okay with waking up that early. The job does put stress on the physical body but if you are interested in becoming a construction worker at any point in your life, during college, when you are still young and limber, would be the best time. This is also a smart opportunity for those going into Construction Management. By doing so, you get to learn what the average day would be like for your employees once you graduate college.
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Server
Depending on the restaurant you choose to serve for, being a server could rack in the most amount of money during summer break. Per hour, servers do not make much more than $4 an hour but if you work at a higher end restaurant, or one of the most popular restaurants, you could easily be going home with over $200 in tips a night, straight in your pocket. This job can get stressful at times, due to taking care of 10+ tables of customers a shift, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature. Another great thing about becoming a server is most restaurants need the seasonal help and if you do a good job, you are often promised a position with them the following summer.
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Fitness Instructor
Interested in fitness? Enjoy working out? Want to use the summer to get your ideal body for start of the school year? Becoming a fitness instructor is right up your alley. This job gives you the opportunity to help others with their fitness, workout during your job (not having to schedule extra time for it), a free membership at the gym, and a chance to get to know many people with similar mindsets. And although being a fitness instructor may result in earlier mornings, it is not a full day job. Often times you will have to teach one or two classes a day, both 60 minutes each, and have the rest of your day for friends, sun, and fun knowing that you’ve already gotten your workout in.
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Golf Caddy
If you don’t mind wearing khakis and walking a ton of miles, then being a Golf Caddy is the summer job for you. You get to spend your day outside, rain or shine, and make a ton of money doing minimal work. Your day revolves around walking the course with club members, lugging around their golf clubs, fetching their golf balls, and racking in the tips. When you are a Golf Caddy out of the local Country Club, you are guaranteed a couple hundred dollars a day thanks to the fact that every Vice President of every local company will be a member there.
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Freelance Writer
Are you good at deadlines? Do you prefer to make your own schedule? And ultimately, do you like to write? If you answered yes to even two of those questions, becoming a Freelance Writer for the summer is the gig for you. Being a freelance writer does not work for all college students. It is a lot of research; you often have to write on topics you don’t know much about. It is heavy on time management because you are given a deadline and working from home which means you have to get yourself to finish your assignments or you will not get paid. There is no clocking in or clocking out. But with that said, you get the opportunity to create your own schedule. To make time for your friends, for the sun, and for the fun. When you’re putting your name out there for a freelance job, make sure you are being mindful with how much time you will be putting in and the rate you want to ask for. For this is all up to you and you can make as much or as little as you want. A great website for freelance opportunities is www.upwork.com. Be sure to check it out.
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Intern
Becoming an intern is a pretty wide open summer job but it may be the best job for your future endeavors. When looking into summer internships, be sure to look in a field that pertains to your major and the career path you are hoping for. This way, you will spend your summer learning additional skills for upcoming courses, as well as get the opportunity to see if this is the type of career you want in the long run. Most companies offer internship programs but this is something you must look to early for they often hire beginning of second semester for the summer intern. Although it will feel like an adult career for the summer, it will help you get into the mindset of a standard 9-5 job and what you are looking for as a professional. Also! Interns are not always the one fetching coffee and doing their bosses dry cleaning. Most times they are the ones writing first drafts and creating important spreadsheets, depending on the job.
