Have a student looking for a summer job?  I spoke with a friend of mine, Jeff Gebhart who hires over 400 summer employees each year.  I asked for his best insights to help kids land summer employement.    He replied with a letter to a prospective student employees.   I think you and your student will find this information helpful!

Dear Student Employee,

It is going to be a tough job market for you this summer no doubt!  Even in this market I am amazed at the lack of effort by some applying and interviewing with us that I feel compelled to give you the “inside track”.  Let’s be honest, your experience is very minimal at best.  Five years ago we were hiring summer help and you were probably playing T ball (not really resume material).  There are some tricks to filling out an application (like don’t get any pizza sauce on it) but there really isn’t much you can put on it that will seal the deal for you.  If you want the job, here is the #1 thing you can do.  Dress for success!  The first impression is so powerful that if done right it will almost land you the job.  Hey it’s cool to be an individual and “express yourself”.  If you do this when you pick up/drop off an application or at the interview (if you get one) then have fun being an “individual” this summer while your buddy that dressed for success got the job.  Remember that companies hire people that match their image NOT YOUR IMAGE!  That means if they don’t allow you to wear your hat backwards (or a hat at all) and your ear ring then don’t wear them when applying for the job.  If you don’t see the underwear sticking out from the waist of their employee’s jeans you had better pull your pants up.  In fact if you wear jeans and your buddy wears khakis maybe your buddy will loan you some money this summer because he’s going to get the job. 

 No t-shirts, flip flops, holes in pants, mp3 players, sun glasses, visible hickies, gum, texting, excessive jewelry/perfume and turn your cell phone with the goofy ring tone off for the interview.  I can almost guarantee that if you are the best dressed person in the room that the potential employee will be hoping YOU are interested in working for THEM!  One day I saw a group of potential employees waiting to be interviewed for a minimum wage job.  One young man was wearing a suit and the rest in jeans.  I walked up to the young man and said “Congratulations your hired!” on the spot and without an interview.  What more could this young man tell me then what he did on that first impression!  Is dressing for success boring and embarrassing?  Not as much as setting on the couch all summer long begging Mom and Dad for a couple bucks.  You decide.

Here are a couple other pointers in landing that summer job:
• Smile (they say it improves your face value).
• Thank the person that gave you the application or interview and shake their hand.
• Never have your parent call on the status of your application. 
• Ask when they are accepting applications, be the first to apply! Many companies that hire summer help start interviewing in February and March!
• Be personable, compliment them on their business and tell them why you would like to apply there (don’t say it’s because you need money).