The Summer Job Game

With the economy on the rise after months of stagnation, summer job prospects this summer are brighter than in recent years. Not surprisingly, business and computer-related employment offer many of the summer employment offerings, but the lion's share of summer jobs, as always, should fall in the public and non-profit sectors.

Mary Beth Begley, administrative assistant at the Massachusetts Internship Office, says interest in public sector work is as strong as ever. Her office helps place students in internships with private, non-profit organizations and with government agencies. These internships, most of them unpaid except for some work-study openings, are offered in nine different areas applied sciences, the arts, communications and media, counseling, education, environmental affairs, health, law and government and management.

Most of the agencies that a student may be placed with are in the metropolitan Boston area. Student interest in the social sciences--law, government, public relations--is usually particularly strong, and this year should be no exception. Begley attributes the popularity of these programs is due to the experience these internships offer, not the salaries. "These students are concerned with making contacts, getting recommendations, and internships are useful for this sort of thing," she adds.

But the availability of these internships may be threatened by federal cutbacks in work-study funds available. In order to compensate, the agency has to pay a larger share of those internships that are salaried positions. "Our office's expenses are getting larger, but our budget is not," Begley remarks.

Nevertheless, government jobs are available Leon Konarsky, coordinator of Placement Programs at UMass Boston, notes that the internal Revenue Service is a particularly good employer for students interested in accounting or business related work Konarsky also points out that the current reorganization effort at the Boston IRS office has created an increased demand for students to help there Work, mostly clerical can also be found in such government office as the civilian personnel offices of the U.S. Army, the Department of Health of Labor and National Parks Service.

Public sector work is also available with various public interest groups, such as the Massachusetts Public interest Research Group (Mass PRIG) and Massachusetts Fair Share. Summer positions involve door-to-door canvassing, fundraising, and political outreach. The hours, two to ten p.m., may be more favorable to some students than the normal nine-to-five track. Salary is based on the funds raised by the individual canvasser.

Scott Levenson, Canvass Director-in-training at Mass. Fair Share, has noticed an increase, not a decline, in summer staff over the last three years. "Yes, there are more students going after business and computer jobs, but there are two student job markets out there," Mr. Levenson asserts. "The students interested in political and community outreach work experience are in a different market from those in the business technical market."

For those who do look toward the business sector, jobs are abundant, but highly competitive. They may also prove are elusive; Konarski notes. "There are openings in software engineering, however this type of higher level job opportunities often are not advertised."

As a result, students unable to find career-oriented paying jobs and unable to afford volunteer work, often turn to the most traditional summer employer--the recreation industry. Cape Cod offers many recreational jobs, says Intern Marianne Nee, internship coordinator at Wellesley College. Those jobs include bartending, lifeguard positions, house painters and sales clerking.

Jobs at the Cape are particularly attractive because students "are able to earn a significant amount of money while living in a nice vacation spot," says Konarski.

See you at the beach.