It’s a cold winter day in January, snow is coming down and you look at your phone and it’s showing -15 degrees outside! “This can’t be’’, you think to yourself, ‘’the summer is so far away, I can’t even remember what the sun feels like’’.  This feeling of dread, as I put it, being a huge fan of the summer myself, sometimes blinds us of the true preparation that is needed to attain our desired summer job position. As a student, I worked on many summer jobs over the years, from summer camps, coaching soccer and general admin roles to working for lawn care companies or as a general labourer for a factory. All of these positions had one thing in common, the earlier I would apply to them the better they ended up working out for me in the summer. Here are some of the reasons why I applied to summer positions early:

• OPTIONS…this is my favourite. The number of options you have when you start looking early is amazing. Everyone wants students! From companies looking for tech savvy staff, to companies wanting to have seasonal summer camp staff…some companies just want young and energetic people with them for the summer months. There are so many option out there and the sooner you start looking the easier it will be.
• PLANNING…once I figured out what I was doing for my summer months, I was able to plan around it. If there was a weekend trip I wanted to go to in the summer, I could now approach my employer and let him know the days I needed off, well ahead of time.
• GAIN EXPERIENCE…one of the great benefits of planning early is that you are able to gain valuable experience from different interviews that you may be applying for. Interviews are never comfortable but the more you participate in, the more confident you will become.

Finally I would just remind everyone that it is never to early to start thinking about applying to any summer job. Whether its part-time, full-time, seasonal or contract position, there is something out there for everyone.

-Renzo Muniz, Staffing Manager