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There Are No Small Summer Jobs

7/14/2015

Does a young person in your life have a “mindless” summer job right now? Harvard professor Jennifer Finney Boylan, writing in The New York Times, reminisced about the “so-called stupid jobs” she had as a teenager and young adult – including selling hot dogs and mowing lawns, working as an office temp and messenger, and hawking T-shirts at Grateful Dead concerts. “These jobs,” she wrote, “made me aware of class privilege in a way that my hours in Econ 101 surely did not.”

We agree that gaining some understanding of many different social realities can be one benefit of students’ summer jobs, but there are many more. Unless you are a lighthouse keeper, virtually every job entails communication skills, and many present opportunities for teamwork and collaboration. Learning to deal with a cross-section of customers and a spectrum of management styles, whether working at a retail store, in a restaurant, or on a construction crew, can provide invaluable experience for later positions.

In the theater, there is a saying: “There are no small parts.” Likewise, there are no small jobs. Taking pride in every job we do, staying engaged in the work, navigating conflict if it arises—even making and recovering from rookie mistakes—all prepare young people for the challenges ahead.

We want to hear: What valuable lessons did you learn from a summer job? To join the conversation, click "comments" on our Community of Practice Forum.

8 Comments

Mark Johnson

7/14/2015 02:29:12 am

I have worked since I was ten years old. My first job besides working in the fields, was as a paper route for a weekly. They had a subscription contest and all I had to do was sign people up. I went out knocking on doors and won the contest which was a whopping $5.00 plus I got my name and picture in the paper. Lesson learned: hard work pays off, so be the best at what you do.

susan

7/14/2015 02:49:51 am

Great life lesson, Mark: Hard work pays off, so be the best at what you do. You have certainly internalized that over your lifetime. Now, after all of these years knowing you, we discover the secret of your success!

Pete

7/14/2015 06:07:18 am

I enjoy reading your insights and all the information you pass along. This subject of young people working strikes a chord within me. I began my first summer job at 10 years old - picking strawberries for pay. What we tend to lose sight of, or at least not discuss, is that the simplest of jobs, while perhaps not glamorous, teach young people simple things like showing up on time, and building self worth through actual physical labor, and getting paid for the efforts. We tend, as a society, to look down on certain jobs, as though they are beneath us. That is sad - every job can teach us something, if nothing more than instill a fire to achieve more.

7/14/2015 06:59:10 am

Delighted that you are enjoying our Communication Capsules, Pete! Thank you for your insights about your first job -- picking strawberries. So agree that even the most un-glamorous jobs have a life lesson.

Simon Shaw

7/14/2015 06:42:21 am

One summer job I had was cleaning toilets and bathrooms, and collecting rubbish, at a camping ground. Some people would totally ignore me and treat me like I was invisible. Others would stop to chat, and some even thanked me for the job I was doing. Praise and thanks from total strangers made me feel good and helped me get through an unglamorous job.

7/14/2015 07:01:13 am

So interesting, Simon. Cleaning toilets and bathrooms and collecting rubbish made you invisible to some. Yet others were appreciative, and you remember that still. That is a lesson to us all. Thanks.

Sylvie

10/10/2016 03:08:13 pm

In my summer jobs I learned a lot. I think everyone would benefit by working in some kind of a service job because you learn how people should be treated. Among other things, I learned about responsibility, how productive and non-productive people work, and how to make improvements. My summer jobs included babysitting, retail sales, working at a fast food place, clerical, and professional level work (including an internship at a major corporation while in grad school).

Susan

10/10/2016 03:09:27 pm

You nailed it, Sylvie: The wide variety of summer jobs you held, though very different on the outside, seem to have shared a common thread about responsibility and productivity. Thanks for the post.

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There Are No Small Summer Jobs

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