As the end of spring semester approaches, students look for summer employment to make some extra cash. Some students may have summer jobs lined up for them months ahead of time. However, others have to go out and apply for work right up to and during summer.

About 42 out of every 100 U.S. teenagers or college students landed a 2003 summer job, according to a study done by Northeastern University in Boston.

The job outlook this year does not seem much better. Students are struggling to find summer jobs, like Marty Emrich, junior sociology major.

“I’ve talked to several employers I had interest in working for this summer,” Emrich said. “They all told me they won’t be hiring a lot of seasonal help. Most of their seasonal help are people who worked for them in previous years.”

The rise in unemployment over the past few years has caused adults to start looking for employment in low-waged jobs mostly taken by teenagers and college students, according to the study.

One piece of advice college students should take is to not wait too long before searching for a job. If it is already summer and school is done, it is probably too late to start searching.

Marijean Benedik, assistant director at Career Services, said that it is never too late to find a summer job because there are always jobs available, just not the ones people might want.

For students looking for summer jobs off campus, they don’t need to come in person. They can view all the jobs that are offered on Flash Forward, the online recruiting system for Career Services.

If a place is not hiring, don’t let it discourage you. Benedik recommends contacting an employer if they are of interest of you but aren’t hiring at the time. This can help make connections and find out if the employer plans on hiring in the near future.

Whether full-time or part-time employment is being sought, search for jobs early before all jobs of interest are snatched up.

Contact career services and alumni affairs reporter Joe McKenzie at [email protected].