The Summer is fast upon us and we all know that this season is the busiest season for students to find work.  For starters, don’t let the news and media scare you!  You’re going to find that there are plenty of jobs out there that you can take advantage of as a college student.

Upon my research, I have found that the people on unemployment complaining about not finding work are either the ones that are over-qualified for jobs, those that expect $30/hr when they have no education, or those that are just not trying.  Unless you fall into these groups, you’re not going to have a problem finding a job at all!

If you’re looking for some great college student job ideas, I wanted to give you some pointers on what paths you should look after.

• Painters: You’ve seen the signs on the side of the road most likely, but painter contractors are usually the busiest in the spring.  Call up some painting companies, or if you wish, I would look for some job postings online.
• UPS / Fed Ex: Places like UPS and Fed Ex are always looking for package handlers.  The job can be a  lot of work, but the pay is good, and hey, they may even pay for some of your college education!
• Fast food: Fast food is always hiring and you don’t necessarily need to tell them that you’re doing it for the summer, but rather see who’s hiring in your area.  If you want to be honest, let the manager know and see what they can do for you.
• Retail: Just like fast food, I would recommend that you check out hourly rate search engines such as SnagAJob.  It’s an amazing search tool that you can use in order to find the job that you need.
• Telemarketing: Another job that many people don’t want to do, but what you’re going to find out is that a company like this is usually pretty desperate for help.  You can get a nice hourly rate plus bonuses, which is usually nice.
• Temp help: If you have a temporary help shop around you, call them up, or see what they have.  You will most likely get some day laborer based jobs, but it will bring in some extra money.
• Ask your college: If you live on campus, or even if you commute there, head on down to the career office, and see what they can do for you.  You could land a job that’s in the cafeteria, or the bookstore, etc.  The great thing about this is that you can get paid in terms of college credit, as well as money.
• Tutoring: If you excel in subject, consider looking on Craigslist for people that want help, or even offer the services yourself.  Parents die for a tutor, and you can charge as much as $20-30/hour!

On most of these jobs, I had the focus of getting them during the summer.  While you can get these during your college season, it’s always best to try to get into a field that somewhat relates to your study.  If you can’t, it’s not the end of the world, but always helps!