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Thread: Summer jobs

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
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    133

    Summer jobs

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    I'm a teacher and I have summers off. This past summer, I applied at a few places and never heard back. It was getting really tight money-wise and I can't really afford to keep taking the time off every year. I've been thinking of jobs that I can do for the short-term. There's temping, but that's not very reliable, and having come from a corporate background, I know how flaky companies are about temps. And I'd just as soon not be directly responsible for kids at a summer camp or preschool. Love them, but a break is good.

    So, I thought Disneyland might be fun. Would it be embarrassing to work there at my age (late thirties) with a bunch of teenagers on summer vacation? I'm sure there are plenty of behind the scenes jobs in addition to things like merchandise clerks and ride operators...taking care of costumes might be interesting, although I'm sure you probably go wherever they put you.

    A friend suggested that I would be somehow downgrading my college graduate professional status by taking a low paying job like this. I disagree. A job is a job and money is money. For a two-month period, I'm not likely to find a high paying job with a lot of responsibility, and since for ten months out of the year I'm in a very intense job, something like Disney might be a fun distraction, right?

    What do you think?
    Jen

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    around Seattle, WA
    Posts
    3,238
    A job is a job, and it can't hurt to apply. Summer will be the busy season, so you may not get a break from kids, or adults acting childish. Are you in the Los Angeles area, or will you need to find housing too?
    Beth

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    133
    I live about a half-hour away, so it's a viable commute to the park. I'm not looking for a total break from kids - just a break from total responsiblity for them, lol...I'm not sure you can get away from adults acting like children anywhere these days.
    Jen

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    pacific northwest
    Posts
    249
    If you need the money and it seems fun, go for it.
    I like bikes, sometimes more than my husband

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Jacksonville area of NC
    Posts
    821
    A job is a job. Someone I knew in college actually got a summer job at Disney World and loved it. She did need housing there and they provided housing for those who where there from other parts of the country. She was a life guard at one of the hotel pools for the summer she worked there. (She's from Ohio and actually still lives in Ohio, but loved the summer she spent working at Disney). I think your living within a commute would make it a bit better for you financially though.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    San Diego, CA
    Posts
    1,316
    My BFF works at Hollywood Studios (part of DisneyWorld in Orlando) and she's, golly, about to turn 50 and she loves it. I don't think age is an issue as much as your attitude, and if you like Disney, you'll probably like working there.

    As an aside, nearly every time I visit Disney and buy something at one of the stores, the clerks ask me if I work there -- the employee discount is pretty good. I've got a Disney face.

    I say go for it. At worst, you could have a fun summer job blog about it.

    Roxy
    Getting in touch with my inner try-athlete.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Bulgaria
    Posts
    270
    I'm also a teacher and I've tought about having a summer job. I haven't been able to find one but I wasn't very persistent, too. But when I definitely wanted it to be something without responsibility, something for fun. You just need a break. I wanted to distribute flyers or promote something in stores: just stand and smile and offer people to try a new brand of something. Also I wouln't mind doing something manual or in agriculture: picking fruit or vegetables. I've done this and the feeling when you are tired is so different from the tired from teaching or doing something mind obssessing. When I used to work manual labour, I went home tired, took a shower and then became brand new and relaxed. I went out to pubs and enjoyed. Well, I was younger then, maybe that is also a factor.
    Good luck and keep trying. Have something for fun, don't look for big jobs, big money or big responsibilities.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    I taught for 31 years and only had a summer job once, when I was about 25; I worked at a department store. They hired me on a permanent part time basis and then I just quit at the end of the summer. I hated it. Even then, after having some modicum of control over what went on in my classroom and feeling like a professional, I just couldn't handle my supervisors nit picking about things that were essentially stupid. And, the job was boring. Teachers make hundreds of decisions a day in the course of their work and I just didn't like being in a job where all of my decisions were essentially controlled by someone else. So, I guess I agree with your friends.
    A few years later I became a certified fitness instructor and taught in gyms before school and after. So, for about ten years, I did this in the summer and often volunteered to sub more. That was fine and I enjoyed working with adults!
    Have you considered tutoring? You choose how much you work and the going rate around here is 50-100 dollars an hour. If you don't want to bother developing a client base, you can work for one of the bigger agencies, although you don't get as much money.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
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  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Denver Metro
    Posts
    834
    I have a friend who is a teacher and goes out to Wyoming in the summer to work on a guest ranch!

    And another who works for Whole Foods in the summer and also as holiday help throughout the year..

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Illinois
    Posts
    3,853
    Are you a swimmer? If so, get your lifeguard card and WSI, teach swim lessons and work as a guard in the summers. If you don't want to commit to a daily job for the summer, a lot of pools will hire you to teach some sessions of swim lessons that are hard to cover (no college kid like the early morning shifts).

    When I ran pools I LOVED hiring 30-somethings for the summer, they were more mature, more reliable, and just generally had better responses to emergency situations.

    Edited to add: Just an FYI, you can $20 - $50 an hour teaching swimming if do private lessons. I made a bunch of money teaching private lessons when I lived in FL.
    Last edited by Pax; 12-19-2011 at 12:26 PM.

    Electra Townie 7D

  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Hillsboro, OR
    Posts
    5,023
    I used to manage a retail outlet that was located in a summer resort area. Summers were our busy season (even more-so than Christmas, actually). I LOVED hiring teachers. They were flexible, responsible and readily trainable! If you would be interested in something like that, try outlet centers in vacation areas. They are almost always hiring in the summer time.
    My new non-farm blog: Finding Freedom

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    175

    summer job

    When I was done with college but not sure what to do for 'real' life, I worked for a summer at a resort in the Grand Teton National Park. I was a housekeeper. It was not glamorous and the pay was low, but the housing was free and the food was cheap, and on my days off I got to explore the Tetons! It was incredible. And a lot of the 'resort rats' were not young kids - there was every age from just out of high school up through retired couples working seasonally as they RV'd around the nation.

    If you have the flexibility to travel instead of staying in Southern California, I highly recommend the experience.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Denver
    Posts
    1,942
    I think the Park Service or Forest Service might have jobs geared towards teachers, if I remember right.

    "I never met a donut I didn't like" - Dave Wiens

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    3,176
    When I was a kid it was not unusual at all for teachers to moonlight at Disneyland.

    Once one of the funnier teachers said "HI" to me and some friends when he was dressed like Goofy.
    Each day is a gift, that's why it is called the present.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    1,249
    Work on a Maine Windjammer for the summer High adventure on calm inland seas!
    Help me reach my $8,000 goal for the American Lung Association! Riding Seattle to D.C. for clean air! http://larissaridesforcleanair.org
    http://action.lungusa.org/goto/larissapowers

 

 

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