Unit03-2

Summer Job[1] Planning

Assuming that you know what you want to do after college—and you may be considered shortsighted[2] these days if you have not picked a career by the time you enter college—you should start thinking about a job even before you graduate.

What companies or organizations have the job you want? Let's say you majored in English or history and you want to write a great novel. You need a job to support and educate you. You have to select from a list of several possibilities, not unlike choosing an option from the "menu" on the screen of a personal computer. Your options might include:

A. Working for a publishing company

B. Writing for a scientific company

C. Working for a public relations firm

D. Going to graduate school to postpone decision

E. None of these

If you select option A, for example, it would be a good idea to write letters while you are in college to a dozen or more publishing houses and ask for an interview with the personnel director. If you happen to have a contact[3]such as an editor who might be willing to meet with you, so much the better[4].

Make every effort[5]to have an interview. You should be familiar with the company before your interview and your aim should be to express to the personnel manager your interest in working for the company.[6] You might ask if a summer job (with pay, if possible) or an internship is available. In many cases interns do receive a small stipend; in others no pay is offered.

It is important at this stage of your life to find a summer job that will enhance your future career. If you cannot find one in your field, then the alternative is to take another type of summer job—lifeguard, housepainter, landscaper, waitress, or worker in a retail store or supermarket. These jobs tend to pay quite well, and you can save enough for many college expenses. That aspect has to be weighed against the fact that they might not help your career plans[7]. Any summer job that requires hard work and a certain amount of responsibility is good for your résumé. Naturally if the job is career-oriented[8], it makes [9] better reading.

One day on the commuter train [10], I was sitting in front of two high school girls, and one said to the other, "My college education won't cost my father one cent. At least I don't think so." She explained that she had been working weekends, summers, and Christmas and spring vacations as a waitress in a restaurant. Her tips were so good she had saved up $10,000. She planned to go to Rutgers University, commuting from home. If she continued working through college she figured she could graduate without debt and go to graduate school.

When I started looking for a summer job in college I found that the only organization that would hire me (except for restaurants) was Filene's, the big Boston department store that operated a summer branch on Cape Cod, where my family vacationed. During my freshman year at college I paid a visit to the Northampton, Mass., branch, a year-round [11] operation. I asked for a job selling on Saturdays and a job the following summer. I was hired on the spot. The following summer the manager of the Northampton shop assumed management of the Cape Cod branch for the summer, and she asked me to come along as a salesgirl.

All through college I earned my expenses by working for Filene's on the Cape during the summer months and on Saturdays and sale days during the college years. I also conceived and wrote copy [12] for the advertisements that Filene's ran in our college newspaper during the winter, and an art major did the drawings based on my ideas. By the time I was a senior I knew that I did not want to go into retailing, but it was my hedge [13] against the future. I knew from conversations with the store manager that if I could not find a newspaper reporting job I could find a spot on the Filene's training squad, and use that step toward a writing job.

Which Career Is the Right One for You?

When you are trying to plan your career, try out a variety of jobs, work in many different settings, volunteer for different tasks.
There are six basic categories of occupations. The six types of jobs, as developed by Professor John L. Holland, a psychology professor from Johns Hopkins University, are described here in some detail. Recognize that when I talk about the characteristics of people in the jobs, no one person has all of these characteristics. I am talking about trends, but they are strong trends.

Type A—Realistic Jobs

These are mainly skilled trades [1] or technical jobs, usually involving work with tools or machines, frequently called "blue-collar" positions.
People who are attracted to realistic jobs are usually robust, practical, physically strong and frequently competitive in outlook. They usually have good physical coordination, but sometimes they have trouble [2] expressing themselves in words or in talking with others. They prefer to deal with things rather than with ideas or with people. They enjoy creating things with their hands. They have good motor coordination [3], but they are frequently uncomfortable in social settings, and lack verbal and interpersonal [4] skills. They usually see themselves as mechanically and athletically inclined and are stable, natural and persistent. They prefer concrete to abstract problems.?
Realistic people tend to see the world in simple, tangible and traditional terms. Possessions are important to them, and they usually put their recreational money into cars, boats, motorcycles, or other machinery. Realistic people describe themselves in interviews as "conforming , frank, genuine, normal, persistent, practical, stable, thrifty, materialistic, and shy".
In general, in realistic jobs, life is not complicated by intricate problems between people or organizations, nor by troublesome choices between conflicting philosophies.

Type B—Conventional Jobs

These are usually office jobs where people work with organizations, files and regular schedules.
Conventional occupations include bookkeeper, statistician, bank teller, secretary, financial analyst, office manager, computer operator, bank cashier and accountant. Conventional jobs usually require a fair amount of writing, but it is usually the writing of business letters and regular reports.
People who enjoy conventional jobs describe themselves as "conforming, conscientious, efficient, obedient, orderly, persistent, practical and calm".
They like life to be orderly and to go according to plan. They like to know what is expected of them, and they enjoy carrying out their assignments.

Type C—Investigative Jobs

These are scientific and laboratory jobs, jobs where people investigate how the world is put together.
The tasks involved in investigative jobs are scientific or laboratory in nature, and usually involve trying to solve some puzzles, whether the puzzle is a large, mysterious problem such as how the universe came into being, or a more normal, daily problem such as figuring out the composition of a sample of blood taken from a patient in a clinic.
Investigative workers are usually found in research laboratories or clinical settings, but they also work in a wide range of other places—highway departments where they study issues such as traffic control and composition of highway materials; in advertising agencies where they work on market surveys; in food-producing companies where they work on nutritional aspects of food; in military settings where they work on new weapons or new military strategies; in financial departments where they work on questions of economic strategy and money flow—in general, in any place where problems are being attacked [5] in a systematic, scientific way.
They describe themselves as "analytical, curious, independent and reserved". They especially dislike repetitive activities and sales activities. They are very curious.

Type D—Artistic Jobs

These are creative jobs where people work with words or music or art.
The tasks involved in artistic occupations usually involve working with words, music or other art forms. Decorating rooms, designing homes, or doing portrait photography are other examples of artistic activities.
Artistic jobs are found in settings such as art museums, art galleries, music departments, interior decorating offices, music stores, theater groups, photographic studios, radio and television studios and any place where artistic skills are used and/or taught.
People who enjoy working in artistic jobs describe themselves as "complicated, disorderly, emotional, idealistic, imaginative, impractical, impulsive, independent, introspective, intuitive, nonconforming and original". They like to work in free environments　that allow them to express themselves in a wide variety of media-writing,　music, drawing, photography-in general, any art form.

Type E—Social Jobs

These are jobs where people work with people—healing them, teaching them, helping them.
The tasks involved in social jobs are those concerned with working with other people, teaching them, or training them, or curing them, or leading them, or organizing them, or enlightening them. Social tasks include explaining things to others, entertaining other people, planning the teaching of other people, helping　other people solve their difficulties, organizing and conducting charities, and straightening out differences between people.
People who enjoy working in social jobs describe themselves as "cooperative, friendly, generous, helpful, idealistic, responsible, social, tactful and understanding". They like to work in groups, especially small groups that are working on problems common to individuals in the group.

Type F—Jobs of Leadership

These are jobs where people persuade other people to do something—sales jobs, political jobs, merchandising jobs.
Also included are many business executive jobs, making speeches, running for an elected office, heading a fund-raising campaign and many other jobs of leadership.
Other examples of jobs of leadership include public relations directors, stock and bond brokers, buyers, hostesses, retailers, fashion merchandisers and industrial consultants.
People who enjoy working in jobs of leadership describe themselves as "adventuresome, ambitious, argumentative, domineering, energetic, impulsive, optimistic, self-confident, sociable and talkative".