For students interested in making money and possibly staying close to home after the semester ends, now is the time to apply for summer jobs.
Before Easter break, have your resume perfected and make sure you've begun applying for summer jobs and internships to ensure your chances of acquiring a job you'll enjoy.
"Easter's a great time because when you're home you can do a little bit of networking as well," Sandra Maloney, the assistant director for career and employer development, said. "Networking through your family and friends is probably one of the best ways to find a part-time job."
Even though summer jobs are less specific than internships to the field students plan on going into, they produce a lot of transferable skills, Maloney said.
People skills, managerial skills, organizational skills and teamwork skills can be just as important to learn as skills specific to your field, Maloney said.
When you apply for summer jobs, it's important to keep in mind what you can control and make sure that's what you focus on.
"You can't control other people, you can't control the job market, but you can control your resume and what you're putting out there," Maloney said.
With that in mind, make sure your resume is representative of you, your social media is clean and your LinkedIn profile is up to date.
Whether you're looking for something close to home or something farther away, there are many different places you can look. LinkedIn, Navigator or community papers are always a good start.
Networking with family and friends is also helpful.
"LinkedIn is probably the best tool that anybody can use if it's used correctly," Maloney said.
When applying for summer jobs, make sure you keep an open mind because important workplace lessons can be learned anywhere, and making money will be helpful for next year.
Samantha Giedris can be reached at samantha.giedris@student.shu.edu.
