Good high paying summer jobs for college students are not easy to come by these days. Summer provides a great opportunity for college students to get a taste of the real world after college, specially when it comes to employment and jobs.
Summer also makes it possible for students to put some of their newly acquired knowledge into use, while making some money to help with students loans and everyday expenses.
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Unfortunately, with the way the job market is going, it is kind of hard to find summer jobs, especially for college students. And making money without a job is not an easy task. However, that doesn’t mean there are no options out there.
There are plenty of summer job ideas for college students. You just need to look a little harder and be willing to do what it takes to snag a summer job. Here are some of the arguably best summer jobs for college students and teens:
20 Summer Jobs For College Students
1- U.S. Census Bureau
Here is a summer government job perfect for college students. You can find open positions in nearly every state’s bureau. As a field representatives of census bureau, you will be conducting surveys and phone interviews. You will be doing most of it during the evening hours and weekend, which leaves you free with your weekdays to do what you like.
2- Lifeguard
Another cool and exciting summer job for students is being a lifeguard. There are pools all over the place and in summer they are all open and busy. Each and every one of those pools are required by law to have a lifeguard on duty. Fill that position and get paid while having fun and potentially saving lives.
3- Fast Food Employee
This the most common summer job for teens and students, and yet probably the most hated one as well. Yeah, working at a McDonald’s may not be the coolest job you will ever hold, but it helps you make some money during the summer. Not to mention the permanent smell of burger on your T-shirt.
4- Resorts
Another really fun summer job for teens. Many hotel and resort operations have programs where they hire teens and college grades for their busy season which is summer.
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The pay may not be decent, but most programs cover all of your expenses, from travel expenses to your room, board and food. Plus, you get to enjoy all the luxuries of the resort for free in your off time. It’s a great option to stay busy during the summer while traveling and enjoying a totally new place.
5- Pet Sitting
If you are an animal lover, you will certainly enjoy working with animals. Just like people need sitter for their babies, they also may need sitters to keep an eye on their beloved pets.
You can actually make good money if you can manage to get more than a few clients and are able to keep the pets happy and under control together.
6- Babysitting
Bay siting is something that any responsible person can do and it’s the perfect summer job for a college student. It doesn’t require any especial knowledge or expertise, and best of all, it’s fun to hang out with kids and keep an eye on them.
Use classified ads sites like Craigslist to find baby sitting opportunities. You cold even baby sit for your friends, family and neighbors.
7- Teach English over seas
A truly cool summer job for college students is teaching English over seas. ESL or English as a Second Language jobs enable you to travel to a new country and teach English there. It’s a fun and exiting job.
Not only you travel and get paid, you get to experience a new culture and possibly even learn a new language, all of which are going to be great assets in your life. Go to EslEmployment.com and search their database of programs and available positions around the world.
8- Freelancing
If you like to work online, there are online jobs for college students as well. You can work online as a freelancer. There are hundreds of opportunities available, from writing articles and designing websites to managing social media campaigns for different companies and more.
9- Internships – Apprenticeships
The best thing you can do as a college student is to find a job that not only helps you stay busy and earn money over the summer, but it also works as an investment for your future. Internships and apprenticeships jobs are exactly the kind of jobs that can help you do that.
Finding internships and apprenticeships opportunities are a little hard, because most companies don’t advertise them. So, the best way to get these jobs is to approach prospective employers and ask them.
Now, many internships are unpaid, however, you can still get some benefit out of them as well. The best benefit is that it gives you the hands on experience that will come handy when it comes to finding and qualifying for a job after graduating college. Though, there are some apprenticeship programs that do pay. But finding them is getting harder these days.
10- Department store associate
Lots of department stores and retail shops like Walmart, target and best buy hire seasonal workers. Simply check out your local retail shops and ask to see if there are any open positions. Some times it can be though, especially dealing with all kind of crazy customers, but over all the job is easy.
11- Theme Parks
If there were fun summer jobs for college students, theme parks jobs would definitely qualify as one of those fun ways to make money. Summer is the busiest season for theme parks across the united states. And so most theme parks hire seasonal workers for the summer. And who wouldn’t like and enjoy a job at a theme park.
You get paid for maintaining fun for everyone! Check out companies like Six Flags, Universal Orlando and Disney for summer job opportunities.
12- College IT Support
IT technicians are always in demand especially during the summer, since departments lose a lot of people in summer. Of course, colleges would rather hire people from their own campus. To find open postilions, simply check the listings in your school.
13- Farmers Markets
If working on a farm 6 days a week isn’t your cup of tea, consider farmers markets. They only work on the weekend (in some places 1 or 2 week days), which means you get the whole week to yourself. You could either use it to get a second job or do whatever you like in your free weekdays.
14- Lawn Care
This is the most popular option for students looking to make money while in college. If you don’t mind the heat and the noise, you can actually make a decent amount of money cutting grass. Finding clients is as easy as going around your neighborhood and letting people know you can cut their grass for $25 or so.
Even if you get 10 clients, that’s $250 a week and best of all, most clients will need you to cut the grass at least twice a week. So, you can even earn double that amount.
15- Nonprofit Organizations
Nonprofit organizations provide numerous opportunities for college students looking for summer jobs. Most of your work would be trying to pass petitions by gathering signatures from people and organizations.
The good thing is that these days, nonprofit organizations are active in almost any field you can imagine, from animal related issues to environmental issues and everything in between. So, it’s not that hard to find one that works with an issue that you are passionate about.
16- Farms
Early summer is the height of production for farms and that means, there is a need for labor. Of course, farm jobs are physically though and demanding, so it may not be for everyone.
17- Movie theater attendant
Love movies? Why not make money working as a movie theater attendant. The pay may not be that much, but there are lots of cool benefits. For starter, you work in a cool environment and that’s enviable in summer, especially in extremely hot locations.
Also, you get free movie tickets and popcorn, which you may need and use a lot of during the summer.
18- Cruises
This is the most fun summer job for college students. Scratch that, this is the most fun job for anyone! You get to travel the sea and see beautiful and stunning places. You can work as a cook, kitchen helper, on board staff, tour guide, etc.
The easiest and safest way to find jobs aboard cruises is to check their websites or call them directly.
19- On-Campus Jobs
It’s surprising how many college students don’t even know about this. There are so many jobs on your own campus from helping instructors to grade papers and organize research to even keeping the campus ground clean and taking care of the landscaping.
There is no reason to shy away from on campus jobs. Put yourself out there and let potential campus employers know you are available.
20- Summer Youth Employment Programs
Summer youth employment programs are becoming more popular and they have been responsible for creating hundreds and thousands of jobs for youth since 2009. They help kids from 14 to 24 years of age, find open positions with law firms, summer camps, museums and even government offices.
Though, you need to keep in mind that most summer youth employment programs are geared more towards helping kids in lower-income families.
I hope this list can help you find a summer job that will sustain you through the summer. What’s your experience? If you are a college student what kind of summer jobs do you take on?…
Don’t forget to comment below and share with us if you have more ideas about fun, normal or unusual good paying jobs college students can do during the summer..