2021’s Best Places for Summer Jobs

Young adults will be having a summer not like any summer. Summer usually means young adults see their friends, go to the beach, and hang out and for some getting summer employment.

Last summer the pandemic had hit young adults specifically hard with the unemployment rate for 16-to-24 year olds was 18.5%, about twice as high as the year before. Employment has begun to recover, with 13.8 million people employed in leisure and hospitality jobs this March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s up from 8.7 million last April after mass layoffs took place.

With summer approaching and the leisure and hospitality sectors gaining 331,000 jobs in April, entertainment and tourism that were restricted during the pandemic, the personal-finance website WalletHub took an in-depth look at 2021’s Best Places for Summer Jobs.

To help job seekers find the best summer employment opportunities, they compared more than 180 markets in the U.S. across 23 key metrics. The data set ranges from the median income of part-time workers to the availability of summer jobs to COVID-19 cases.

Best vs. Worst

• Orlando, Florida, has the most part-time job openings per 1,000 people aged 16 to 24 in the labor force, 317.59, which is 23.4 times higher than in New York, the city with the fewest at 13.59.
• Scottsdale, Arizona, has the highest median income for part-time workers (adjusted for cost of living), $27,317, which is than 3.5 times higher than in New York, the city with the lowest at $7,817.
• Portland, Maine, has the highest labor-force participation rate of people aged 16 to 24, 78.12 percent, which is 2.1 times higher than in Irvine, California, the city with the lowest at 37.25 percent.
• Portland, Maine, has the lowest unemployment rate for people aged 16 to 24, 4.57 percent, which is 6.2 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 28.31 percent.
• Gilbert, Arizona, has the lowest share of people aged 16 to 24 living in poverty, 6.91 percent, which is 8.1 times lower than in Burlington, Vermont, the city with the highest at 55.81 percent.

WalletHub Q & A

What tips do you have for a young person searching for a summer job or internship during the pandemic?

Some tips I would suggest for students when applying for summer job/internship during the pandemic are

1. Start applying from April because recruiters receive multiple application and tend to choose from the first batch of application or referral.
2. I suggest meeting with a career coach/specialist on campus or find a mentor to network within companies you would like to work for in the future.
3. I would also suggest that it would be best if students could start doing these things during junior senior year of high school.

“It’s a must to network around campus by attending job fairs, asking professors for guidance etc. to see what the working world is like before making a decision,” said Alicia Davis, Bronx Community College. “Keep in mind you can always change your career path and nothing is limited in this world. One main thing I have seen students fail to realize is that it is best to apply for things within their major and understand their skills and what might be there weaknesses and strengths then compare to other opportunities they might think no fitting or appealing to their major.’

What types of summer jobs or internships will best equip young people with the skills and experiences they need to secure a full-time career after graduation?

“I encourage students to focus on an opportunity that aligns with their career goals after graduation as much as possible,” said David Earnhardt, M.Ed, University of North Carolina Asheville. “The closer they can get in a part-time or seasonal role to the full-time work they would like to be doing, the more those hours of work will count toward relevant experience for their aspirant employer. Almost to a person, the employers I talk with say they are looking for employees with "soft skills" because many of the technical pieces of their work can be taught on the job. What they cannot teach are things like critical thinking, professionalism, communication skills, or working with others, and so a college student who can gain those skills at a career-aligned employer during the summer will be ahead of the curve at graduation.”

What are the most common mistakes young people make when taking a summer job/internship?

“Not preparing from April what they are going to do within their personal life and business life,” said Alicia Davis, Bronx Community College. “It is a must to apply for something you can handle or willing to learn from. Make sure you are able to reach work early or give yourself enough time to travel.”

How can local authorities encourage companies to provide summer jobs or internships for young people? Should the government subsidize the cost of summer employment for young people?

“What I hear most from employers is that there is a skills mismatch between the candidate pool and the jobs they are looking to fill,” said David Earnhardt, M.Ed, University of North Carolina Asheville. “I think governmental agencies can play a critical role in helping develop workforce training opportunities to help potential employees gain skills that make them more ready for the market. For example, could a local government help employer rethink their relationships with populations with disabilities, those who have had substance concerns, and those who have been incarcerated? These populations represent a largely untapped talent pool for potential employers, and there is a role to play for governments to help build workforce skills for those populations.”

“As a caveat to my answer here, I am a developmental psychologist by training who teaches about and studies how young people make decisions about their careers and life goals… not an economist or politician who (presumably) better understands the myriad factors that go into whether and how the government (at any level) should promote and/or spend our tax dollars toward a given program or initiative,” said Matthew Joseph, PhD, School of Education – Duquesne University. “That said, surveys consistently show that around two-thirds of employed individuals in the United States are not engaged at work, and the cost of such disengagement to the U.S. economy is likely in the hundreds of billions of dollars annually. If more young people were freed up financially to select summer jobs or internships that increase the likelihood they will make wise choices about career paths that they find fulfilling, meaningful, and engaging—and more companies were incentivized to provide those opportunities—it would seem the potential ROI is huge. Moreover, given the well-documented socioeconomic and racial inequities in terms of who actually procures summer jobs and internships, especially the most selective ones, perhaps subsidizing them could contribute to leveling that playing field. Though, to be sure, there is much more that would need to be done to address that critical issue.”

To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-places-for-summer-jobs/21137

Courtesy: WalletHub