Use Your Summer Job to Acquire Skills to Advance Your Possible Career

Summer jobs are a great way to learn skills that you can use when you get even better jobs in the future and use these experiences in future job interviews. Here are skills that you can use for a future career.

Steps

  1. Identify what you like the most. Decide what tasks that you enjoy the most and what tasks you enjoy the least. One example is if you sit at a desk all day and don't like it, you know that this kind of work is not for you when you choose a possible career.
  2. Skip the rumors. Learn about behaviours that are common in workplaces and about corporate cultures. Always remember not to get involved in work politics. When you finish your summer job, always walk away with a good reputation and reference.
  3. Hone your communication abilities. Communicating effectively is a great skill that anybody can develop. To learn to communicate effectively choose a job that requires lots of interaction with other people.
  4. Learn problem solving. Employers favor workers who have the ability to solve problems on their own instead of always asking someone. If you are given expectations, you know what is asked of you and you can take the initiative to identify problems in the workplace and solve them instantly.
  5. Having a summer job is a good way to learn about networking. The network you build in your summer job will serve you in the future. Hold on to your network by staying in touch with the people you work with after the summer. They will serve as ambassadors for you in the years to come.
  6. Look beyond the immediate. Realize that the skills you're acquiring are multi-layered. Understand that what you do may seem routine, but to the certain company, its key. Some skills can also teach you about time management and meeting objectives.
  7. Recognize the skills your job is giving you. Look at the most complex tasks you have accomplished and understand what it says about you and to what extent you are able to perform.
  8. Develop good habits. Learn about being punctual. You must perform the routine of setting your alarm so you can get up early, getting to work on time and completing a 40 hour work week.
  9. Go even deeper. If you had a summer job in the past, work at getting even more skills that are complex than you did the previous summer.
  10. Because work can be stressful at times, chill out. People are always nervous about their first ever jobs. Managing that stress can be accomplished by exercising and deep breathing.
  11. Get Real. Summer jobs are an opportunity to get a realistic expectation of the workplace and to understand that nothing is perfect. There can be things about your job that you won't like but you have to deal with them anyway.
  12. Get personal at your workplace. A summer job can create a chance to develop interpersonal skills in a diverse environment. You can learn to deal with people who may have different values and come from different backgrounds and cultures.
  13. Once you finish your job at summers end, take notes of the skills you acquire, specifically what skills you have honed and which new skills you have developed. Walk away from your job at the end of the summer with better ideas of what your skills are and what you are good at.

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