14 BEST SUMMER JOBS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS IN 2022

Summer vacation is a great opportunity for students looking to get their hands on one or more activities that can earn them money. While summer vacation allows you to indulge in relaxation, you may want to keep such relaxation minimal and rather commit ample time to profitable activities.

Summer jobs are an awesome opportunity for college students to make money that would be sufficient for their expenses after returning to college. Even for those who are hell-bent on fun activities, there are a pretty number of summer occupations that will fetch them money while still keeping them excited.

Whether the ultimate goal is to make substantial money or learn the skills that would transform them into market-ready graduates, college students can avail themselves of summer jobs. We have, therefore, come up with a reliable list of the 14 best summer jobs for college students in 2022.

1.Babysitter

There are usually dozens of vacancies involving nanny positions and this is just why any college student can be sure of landing a babysitting job.

If you’re so fond of kids that you want to spend time with them and take care of them, working as a nanny could be your best bet for making money all through the summer.

Due to the hectic demands of their jobs, many parents barely spend enough time with their kids. While such parents opt to hire babysitters, idle college students during summer can take advantage of this situation to serve as nannies and get paid.

As a college student working as a nanny, your hourly earnings can go as high as $14.56. If you really have a knack for taking kids outdoors, caring for them and keeping them lively in the absence of their parents, babysitting might just be the ideal summer job for you.

2.Sales Rep

For college students who fancy the idea of marketing or helping a grocery store (and other sales outlets) drive sales, opting to work as sales reps wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Furniture galleries, grocery stores, boutiques and clothing stores do hire salespeople. If you’re a student with the required interpersonal, sales or marketing skills, your chances of getting hired are very high.

During summer, you can look around for any of your favourite retail shops where sales reps are needed. Note that if you’re taking up the role of a sales rep, you must be ready to handle your employer’s business (sales) as if it were yours. Your marketing, customer relation and business skills are certainly parts of what you need to excel as a sales rep. Depending on your employer or the store where you work, you may be allowed the privilege to earn a given commission on each sale the store makes through you. But if it’s the other way round, you might be stuck on the average hourly wage for sales staff which is estimated as $10.20.

Frankly, the role of a sales rep constitutes the summer jobs that allow you to harness your business, marketing or customer relation skills.

3.Bartender

During the summer, you may consider working as a bartender or waiter. Since this kind of job can be combined with other jobs, it’s very likely that you’ll find it awesome.

As a bartender working the night, you can earn a couple of bucks each night. Your earnings from bartending might not seem substantial at first but by the time you’re able to successfully add another income stream in summer, you’re definitely on the way to augmenting your summer earnings.

The summer period is a great time for hardworking students to make money that should be sufficient for their spending after returning to school. If it does interest you to double up your income stream during summer, you shouldn’t shy away from looking for bartender or waiter jobs in the hospitality industry.

Fortunately, the bartender’s or waiter’s job is one of the jobs that hardly require any special (technical) skills from intending persons. This way, it’s beyond doubt that college students on (summer) holidays can fit well into the role of a bartender.

4.Computer Technologist

The IT world offers plenty of job opportunities which tech-savvy individuals can take up on part-time or full-time basis. Not only can you land a high-paying summer job as a computer technologist, you can also leverage the job for honing the skills that should prepare you for relevant full-time engagement after graduation from college.

College students taking up jobs as computer technologists really have the chance of building their portfolios as well as earning decent amounts of bucks during summer.

Students with strong computer skills –including programming –are well suited for the role of a computer technologist. Averagely, a computer technologist earns an hourly wage to the tune of $15. With this, it is quite fascinating that college students armed with computer skills can leverage their proficiency for landing high-paying summer jobs.

5.Lifeguard

For a college student who’s excellent at swimming, the summer period could just be the best time to make the most out of this swimming skill. Since beaches and swimming pools are mostly visited during summer, an excellent swimmer can hope to get hired as a lifeguard in summer.

The role of a lifeguard is one way to keep yourself outdoors, catch a lot of fun and earn money for doing what you’re good at. If convinced that your swimming skill is excellent enough, you can look around for public beaches and neighbourhood pools where lifeguards may be needed.

If you have a certification to prove your excellence as a swimmer, you’re likely on your way to earning much better than those without certifications. As an average lifeguard, you can expect to earn an hourly wage to the tune of $9.31. This, probably, isn’t too low for a college student looking for a way to make a few bucks in summer.

6.Freelance Web Designer

With web design being a job they can offer as freelancers, college students with web design skills are pretty certain to make the most out of their summer holidays.

Students working as freelance web designers can work remotely while still attracting several clients. Interestingly, this sort of freelancing summer job lets you define your work hours. As a plus, it saves you the pressure and stress often associated with job positions that demand 9-5 work hours.

Armed with the necessary programming skill, you may opt to help clients design websites via Squarespace, WordPress and several other platforms. Your job may involve widget installation, web presence maximization and specialized customization for your clients’ websites.

While on this kind of summer job, your earnings can vary considerably but on averagely, freelance web designers earn $26.99 per hour. This means web designers earn really well.

7.Bank Teller

Students dying to have a lovely experience of customer service and money management may opt to serve as bank tellers during the summer. Working at a bank can give you the practical exposure required for working with financial institutions in the future.

Particularly, students who choose to work as bank tellers will be generously exposed to cash handling and the rendering of customer service. Not only will they understand how banks do the latter, they will also develop the trait of trustworthiness that attracts customers to banks.

The role of a bank teller could be a summer job with decent work hours and a reasonable hourly wage that ranges between $12 and $15. This isn’t surprising since a bank employee normally earns above the minimum wage. If you’re one of the college students looking to earn money and gather useful financial experience, you shouldn’t shy away from taking a summer job as a bank teller.

8.Touring Musician

During summer, college music students and ardent players of musical instruments have a real shot at making money as touring musicians. Why this is so is that some bands look to hire musicians or musical artistes for their summer events. Such bands understand that for them to actually create a huge musical impact in front of their massive audience, it’s necessary to have additional musicians.

Some musical groups hiring college music students may demand that the students continue working with them even after returning to school. The students can take advantage of weekends to continually embark on tours with these musical groups.

While working as a summer touring musician, a college student studying music (or playing musical instruments) will not only showcase their proficiency but also monetize their summer time. Averagely, a touring musician earns as much as $42.92 per hour.

For both music students and any students skilled in playing musical instruments, working as touring musicians is one of the best ways to make substantial money. By the time such students are returning to school for the fall season, they are likely to have made enough money to cover their college expenses.

9.Online Tutor

If you’re a brilliant college student with a flair for teaching, you can definitely cash in on your summer holiday to earn as an online tutor.

In this internet age, it is a lot convenient for tutors to connect with their students without having to meet them physically. This is actually through the concept of virtual tutoring.

As an online tutor, you can choose to operate independently or simply attach yourself to Chegg Tutoring or similar platforms. If your desired course of action is to operate independently, do well to sell yourself to prospective students in your college, residence, hometown, etc. Since you’re establishing yourself as an online tutor, it shouldn’t be difficult for you to have a good number of students within and outside your neighborhood.

Interestingly, working as a summer online tutor lets you budget ample time for other activities such that you can have a meaningful summer holiday. With this kind of summer job, you’re bound to create flexible work hours for yourself.

Averagely, summer online tutors earn up to $19.57 per hour. Besides the benefit of flexible working hours, working as an online tutor is one great way for academically minded college students to monetize their summer time.

10.Camp Counselor

Summer jobs as camp counsellors could be the ideal fit for students with a flair for spending quality time with children and feeding them with advice on education, career, etc. Different camps may demand varying counselling roles but in general, your kind of summer counselling program will likely be determined by your field.

While art students may be required to organize or conduct programs on creative activities, students in the field of science may have to focus on science-related camp programs.

Specifically, as a camp counsellor, you must be able to demonstrate a strong leadership personality. Also, you should be able to play an excellent advisory role along with your desire for organizing fun outdoor activities for children.

If you showcase a relevant academic background coupled with a high level of experience, you may earn more than what the average camp counsellor is entitled to an hourly wage. Meanwhile, the average camp counsellor earns $9.28 per hour.

11. Pet Sitter

College students who don’t want to spend their summer doing anything can look the way of pet sitting. Especially for somebody with a soft spot for puppies, pet sitting is a lovely way to keep oneself occupied and still make money.

Convinced that pet sitting is worth your time, you can opt to walk dogs and get paid in return. If you know several dog owners in your neighbourhood, you should try asking if they would like to engage your service for pet sitting.

Some people are just too busy to have enough time for their pets. In order to give the pets some optimum care, they choose to hire people who can do the job on their behalf. If you’re pretty sure that you have a soft spot for puppies, opting to walk the dog in summer might just be the ideal way you can combine fun with money-making. For this kind of summer job, people earn an average of $14 per hour.

12.Retail Seller

This is a summer job that can arm you with some of the skills you need for employment positions after college graduation. Particularly, working as a retail seller will build your capability in the areas of salesmanship and customer service.

Averagely, a retail position can earn you a fair income to the tune of $10 per hour. However, the salaries of salespeople vary depending on the (US) state where they are working.

13. Entrepreneur

College students driven by entrepreneurship can leverage summer for committing ample time to their small businesses. During summer, student entrepreneurs should have more time for their various businesses such as graphic design, online retailing, content development, etc.

There are students who run their businesses right in college but if college activities barely let you have sufficient time for your business, you must learn to take advantage of your summer holiday.

Entrepreneurs are of different types and it may be hard to arrive at a fixed figure for what they earn. While their salaries vary depending on the industry, entrepreneurs with small businesses earn an averagely of $25.43 per hour.

There are success stories about people who began their entrepreneurial journeys right from school. Provided they have a flair for entrepreneurship, college students who don’t want to stay idle in summer can get their own small businesses off the ground.

14. Swimming Instructor

You may never have thought about monetizing your swimming proficiency despite being an expert swimmer.

As an expert swimmer who’s also a college student, summer could be the best season to teach others how to swim and get paid for your service.

Basically, a swimming expert could be hired to give swimming lessons to amateurs. If you really want to sell yourself as a swimming instructor, you must be convinced that you know relevant emergency precautions and that you can impart swimming skills to people of different age grades.

Your responsibility, as a swimming instructor, may include organizing indoor and outdoor swimming exercises for children. Averagely, the wage of a swimming instructor ranges between $8.56 and $18.73 per hour.

Conclusion

You’ll find some or (at least) one of the listed summer jobs worthy depending on your flair, skill, academic field and even career goal. We’re hopeful that you’ll consider picking a summer job that clearly aligns with your competency, ambition or career goal.

Finally, we consider the listed jobs worthwhile for college students looking to engage in high-paying activities during summer.