It’s that time of year again. You’ve returned home for the summer, and it’s time to find that summer job that will keep your bank account afloat and pay for your summer fun or future textbook expenses for fall. Many of us have experiences a bad job- I’ve had my fair share and so have my friends. One of my friends worked at a theme park in the summer. His job was to serve as a games host. He was the guy standing around by the game booths guessing your age and weight. He hated standing out there in the sun and the uniform consisting of khaki pants didn’t help. He also hated the disputes he’d get into with customers. Guessing the weight of overweight individuals was the worst he said, and guessing the age of older people also got him into some trouble if he guessed older. It seemed like a simple summer job at first, but the long hours and nagging customers drove him to the brink. He learned right there that he didn’t want to work at an amusement park ever again, but the experience of dealing with customers helped him in future jobs.
Other bad jobs that include long hours in the sun are lawn care, movers, and pool cleaners. Jobs that include long hours in an air conditioned space, but still test the tolerance of individuals, are fast food and retail.
You can learn a lot from a bad summer job, though- bad or good. Although at the time you may be miserable, you end up gaining experience in the workforce and learning the value of making a buck. After my experience working in retail, I developed a deep appreciation for anyone working at a mall. We take for granted all the hard work people in retail and fast food put in, and we don’t really get to appreciate it until we step into their shoes.
Any experience is good on your resume, even if it doesn’t relate to your career field. It shows that you’ve kept busy over the summer and fills in employment gaps. Having a bad summer job also pushes you to develop a good can-do attitude in the direst of circumstances. Somehow you managed to work through a bad job the entire summer and that commitment and attitude will help you in the future. Bad summer jobs come and go, and chances are you’re bound to experience a bad professional job in the future and you’ll utilize the skills you learned at your bad job in the past to help you make it through that rough patch.
Use a bad summer job to your advantage. Use the contacts you’ve made and network. You may not know it, but maybe you’re mowing the lawns of someone that works in the industry you’re interested in pursuing after you graduate. You’ll never know until you put yourself out there and ask. So, take this bad summer job experience and make the best of it. Everyone experiences a bad job or two in their lifetime, but it’ll pay your bills, and at best it’ll make for a good story to tell.
SOURCE: Professor House
IMAGE: Courtesy of Entrepreneur Rookie
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