Tag Archives: Mity Nice

Summer jobs spill over into fall – a second chance to land one

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As the first leaves show a little color, and school gets into swing, some of us may feel sad that summer is ending. Especially if we never landed a summer job this year.
If you feel disappointed you didn’t end up running roller coasters at Cedar Point or selling ice cream at your hometown shop, you could still land a job there this year.
Many summertime businesses grew their schedule, whether to maximize their investments, to serve customers or to make enough to stay in business.  Ice cream shops are selling soup and summer camps are running fall weekend retreats. The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island plans murder mystery and “Somewhere in Time” weekends.  From the Jersey Shore to the  Grand Canyon, organizations are planning events this fall to lure visitors – and they usher in your second chance to be selected.
Even my small social enterprise, Mity Nice, has hired three people this fall, partly for the early University of Michigan home football games. We’re hoping for beautiful Indian summer days so we can sell through October.
As I add each person, I am clear that I likely will want them on my team next year. They make a little money now – and if they do a good job, next summer they have a job. Plus my time spent recruiting and training them will pay off for us both.
This holds true at many other “summertime employers” with extended seasons. Exhibit A: Cedar Point. Once a summer theme park and beach resort, the Sandusky, Ohio amusement park will stay now open Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays through Halloween. Cedar Point hires a second crew – 800 to 1,000 strong – for fall weekends.
“We hire all the way through, almost to the last weekend,” said Leslie Bradshaw, Cedar Point’s director of general services. Grill cooks, rides people, hotel staff and others earn $7.40 to as much as $11 an hour, and in the fall, the company provides free housing to those who live more than 30 miles away. Some 500 “screamsters” are hired to work in haunted houses, scare mazes or other Halloween attractions. “We’ve hired 34 makeup artists just to dress them up,” said Bradshaw.
If you want a second chance at a summer job, here’s some advice from Bradshaw and me:
1. Show your flexibility and adaptability if you’re coming in as others are departing.  Some seasonal businesses will operate for fewer hours during the fall months. So make sure you are available to work weekends and the other key times they need help.
2. Show your smiling face. “They need to be friendly,” said Bradshaw. Customer service jobs require a clean, upbeat and helpful mindset.
3. Use volunteer work to fill in your application.  Babysitting or caring for grandma are fine. So is being team captain, committee chair or regular volunteer assignments, said Bradshaw. Highlight “contact with the public” and responsibility.
4. Help with growth. Some employers are looking for ways to expand their product line so they can thrive in cooler temperatures. If you make a great vegetable stew, maybe your boss would want it on the menu at the farm stand.
5.  Know the employer.  If you’ve visited the Jersey Shore every other weekend for 10 years, you’re qualified to answer fall tourist questions. If you know all the rides and trails at Cedar Point, maybe you could qualify as a VIP tour guide, a job that may yield some “pretty generous tips,” said Bradshaw. If not, read up on the company on their website and social media pages, and find someone who’s worked there this summer to clue you in on new initiatives and plans.
At Cedar Point, about 40 percent of the workers return the next year, and when they return “we generally tend to put those ahead of everybody else” for summer jobs, said Bradshaw.

Plus many have served as “screamsters” and ridden the roller coasters when the wind was cold and the lines less long. That’s not something you’ll find in most summer jobs.

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Five ways to take the path of thriving as easily as you brew tea in the morning

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“Life is what we make of it. Always has been. Always will be.” – Grandma Moses.

“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.” -  Danny Kaye

My picture for myself:  I am thriving and finding so many successes, so many friends and so many adventures and opportunities for travel, generosity, joy and love. Despite a few struggles and slip-ups very occasionally, I live an abundant life and create many good things – stories, articles, seminars, connections, jobs, assistance for those in need.

And I am determined this year to be more intentional in how I live and how I create life day by day. Here’s five ways we each can thrive, no matter what happens to the job market or the profit margins or the economy:

1. Know what you’re the best at; where and how you excel.

Know your niche and use your talents well. Play to your strengths – and make sure everyone sees you shine. A basketball player who scores most of the time and can reach the rim repeatedly doesn’t have to think about defensive play. Likewise, an administrative assistant who keeps office running smoothly and the boss’ key tasks on track will be valued and may even score a raise or bonus.

2.  Feed your mind and your body with goodness.

Choose books and blogs as carefully as you pick out organic vegetables at the farmer’s market.  Recently, I’ve started carving out about 30 to 40 minutes a day (well most days) to read a book. Sometimes I grab some  water or tea and my book and sit in the sunshine. Sometimes I  stay in bed an extra half hour in the morning to read – a luxury that makes me feel like a queen. Books as delicious as vegetarian chili include The Happiness Advantage, The Optimist’s Daughter and The Fifth Agreement.  I’m savoring more poetry and a few novels too, along with winter squash and greens.

3. Develop diverse friendships.

These people serve as the fruit trees to your life. Certainly you want peaches and apples, raspberries, oranges and grapes. So find friends at work and while volunteering. On grow them on BrazenCareerist or LinkedIn, in a  writers group or chance encounter at a coffee shop. Once I met one while walking around my new neighborhood.  Then make sure you give them all the support, encouragement and assistance they need – so when your needs spike they already feel connected enough to assist you.

4. Cultivate curiosity, creativity and adaptability.

Curiosity is the triplet that grew up with creativity and appreciating or at least accepting change, key traits in today’s work world. All three will make you better, more informed and more likely to spot opportunities for yourself and your employer.  Curiosity also will encourage you to ask questions, to look beyond the obvious and to unearth information and insights.

Adaptability serves us well in these unsettled times. “We’re in the midst of this vast transformation. No one can see the outcome,” said M.J. Ryan, author of an excellent book called AdaptAbility. More from her soon on Glassdoor.com . (LINK) So be open and flexible and as Ryan suggests, look for ways to marshall your resources and focus your energies not on the past but on your future plans. And creativity in life and in solution-getting can make stones sing and problems disappear.

5.  Seek a second or third stream of income.

You may feel you have the most steady, reliable job in the world. But so did auto workers not so long ago or the staff at Aon and Hewitt Associates until their merger knocked 1,800 people out of jobs. So start thinking of yourself as a slash careerist – someone who has two or three jobs that bring satisfaction and income. And begin now to develop your second source of funds – something you can manage in your off hours. Seek ads for your popular blog or offer to work weekends for a real estate agent handling all the foreclosed homes. Help a friend with her start-up. Work as a waitress on Saturday nights. Crochet scarves; sell them on etsy or at a local farmers market.  Pray and plan that Mity Nice will make a profit this year. Someday this second income may be your primary source of living expenses. Or maybe your hobby business will grow into the real deal. Or perhaps your favorite cousin will need work and you’ll be able to train her to crochet the hats that match your scarves.

To be sure, there are other ways to brew thriving like you would a good cup of tea. So start your own list of habits and goals that will stir up a drink of life’s elixir as you stroll Abundance Lane or speed along Thrive Highway.

MORE INFORMATION:

M.J. Ryan’s books and blog are on my highly recommended lists.

I’m just starting to explore GoodReads, but I think it could be a rich resource.

Money Under 30 has 10 good tips for making moonlighting work.

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Above and beyond the basics: Star in your starter job

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Exceed expectations.
It’s the easiest recipe for success around, yet it’s not as simple in practice as in theory. Instead, you could get so caught up in workplace drama, social media connections or personal dreams that you forget the advice of  Dale Carnegie, the author of “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and the creator of a huge training company. Said Carnegie: “Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.”
The persistence especially paired with critical thinking and creativity really can raise you up. My latest article in the Washington Post offers pointers to recent graduates and others who are stuck in a barista job when they know they should be the coffee shop’s marketing director. Turning a basic job into something better starts with your ability to excel.
So how do you do that, especially if you’re 23 and worried about your college loans and career path?  Here’s five approaches to help you “underpromise and over deliver” no matter what job you landed:
UNDERSTAND WHAT’S EXPECTED. Know the basic requirements of the job – and the measures of success that will be applied to you and your boss. Sometimes these are not what they seem:  Pizza sales may be the mainstay of the business, but if your shop owner has decided to diversify into salads and sandwiches, those may be the measures that really count.
Ask for a written job description. Ask coworkers for the real story. Ask questions about expectations – “What are the best ways to spend any extra time when things are slow?”  “What’s a benchmark of sales you’d like me to hit?” and “What else is expected of me?”  Then after you’ve been working for a few weeks, ask them again – and different ones again.
A CAN-DO, CREATIVE ATTITUDE.  Your attitude determines your altitude, as the saying goes. So choose one that will help you fly. Among the best: enthusiasm and energy, confidence, creativity, a willingness to take on new work, a willingness to do the dirty work, persistence, good humor and helpfulness.
Now you may not have these as natural parts of your personality. Then fake it. Put them on like you put on your comfortable sneakers or your apron.
INTENSE FOCUS.  Some young people think because they have an easy job – scooping Italian ice and selling lemonade for example – they can just take it easy, chat with friends and go with the flow or just hang out and daydream. They forget instructions; don’t watch the weather or disappoint customers. They forget to focus. It’s a big mistake.
To impress your boss, concentrate on all the big and little details of the job. Focus on making things run smoothly and making your mark.  By paying careful attention, you may come up with some great ideas to improve sales, or engage customers or organize the shop. By focusing on your job like a professional soccer player focuses on the game (World Cup or regional league), you will improve your game – and eventually be a star.
EXTRA HOURS.  You may have a 7 hour 15 hour a week job. Yet you know that if you could work 20 hours, you’d really shine.  So do it – even if you aren’t paid for most of the extra time.
That’s how my former Newsday intern Julie managed herself – and managed to write more cover stories and feature articles than anyone else on an academic internship ever had. She chased stories on the weekends and stayed late to come up with better examples and quotes. She was amazing and impressed us with her efforts and her results. At the end of the internship, she had an excellent portfolio, some great experience – and excellent references.  (Julie now works for a National Public Radio station and from what I can tell still is a star.)
AMAZE THE BOSS. And if you can, impress the boss’ boss while you’re at it.
This is the most difficult to do, especially if you work for a boss who’s been around a while, or who has a cynical perspective or who has very high expectations, as I do. Small things – like bringing her coffee with the right amount of cream or a chocolate truffle – won’t work. Big things – like landing a new six-figure client or solving a situation that has dogged her for a month – will.
As a boss of Mity Nice, the Italian ice cart business I co-own, I’d be amazed if one of my teen employees hit $50 an hour in sales for two or three shifts in a row. And I’d be amazed if someone spent a couple of hours recruiting friends and others to our Facebook page – and doubled or tripled our count. And I’d be thrilled if someone discovered shortcuts for opening more quickly and efficiently, and taught everyone how to manage this feat.
In summary, you need to be a star in your starter job while reaching up for the step-up job and demonstrating your stellar talents for it. You need to exceed expectations.

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Teen job tips: Search starts here and on Facebook

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Ah – summer and the summer job. The first ones stay with us forever, whether we work as an admin in Mom’s business, a caddy on the links or at the Farmers Market. Some find first jobs in factories, others in candy shops.

This year, though, summer jobs look scarce for youth. Teen unemployment nationally tops 25 percent in April, and is higher than that in some hard-hit areas of California or Michigan.  So teens need help, lots of it.

That’s why Mity Nice and I are launching an ambitious series of teen job search tips. They’re culled from many sources and experts and from my life experience and expertise. After all, I’m a mom of three as well as a careers and workplace writer, and co-owner of Mity Nice, which hires teens to sell Italian ice and support charities in and around Ann Arbor. We know we can’t hire all the teens that need jobs this summer, or even a small percent of them. So we hope to help them with some advice and encouragement.

The tips will be offered on Mity Nice’s Facebook page, and also collected here. We’ll give one a day, or five each week for at least six weeks.

Here’s a sneak peak at the first three, a long-form version of what’s on Facebook:

1. Know what employers look for.

Some traits are universal:  NACE, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, lists five top qualities: communication skills, analytical skills, teamwork, technical skills and a strong work ethic.   The American Management Association’s four Cs add to that list creativity and innovation.

Many of these are the very skills that make you a good student or the go-to co-captain of your sports team – the “soft skills” that you learn from teachers, parents, teammate. And a few requirements are specific to a job, such as lifeguard’s need for certification or sous chef must know how to chop and saute vegetables.

Either way, build these skills – and these words – into your resume and into your introduction to a future boss.

2. Develop a positive and confident attitude.

“Confidence is about trusting oneself,”" said the Buddhist monk Gayuna Cealo. You may feel very nervous about finding a job – that’s natural. When you go into a business to apply, push all that away. Take a deep breath. And fake it until you make it.

Another way to build confidence: Ask your best friend or a teacher  to list five great attributes you have. Write them down, put the list in your iPhone — and look at them often.

A third confidence booster: Practice. Recruit a friend to rehearse for job interviews. Or practice the introduction you’ll give walking into the store to  land a summer job. Or practice your affirmation – repeat it every time you wash your hands. (Yes, you can say it silently when you’re in the ladies’ room after gym.)

3. Create a resume.

Even if you’ve never held a paying job before, you really really need one. A resume is an important marketing tool – and a valuable way to gather up all the great things you’ve ever done or achieved, at least since you’ graduated from tricycle to two-wheeler. Your resume is an opportunity to tell your future boss that you’re a standout and you put extra effort in – whether it’s for a sport, a hobby, your classes, your volunteer activities or your friends.

If you can’t imagine what you’ll say, pull out your awards and recognitions. Then pull up your computer and send three adults who know you well these two questions: What have I accomplished or done that you think belongs on my resume? What three traits or qualities do I have that an employer will want?  (Yes, you may ask your BFF and your current beau those questions too, though they may not give you the best, resume-ready answers.)

Resumes are so important, Vickie wrote a longer blog post on creating a first resume. Read it soon – and then use it to create yours, or your kids.

I’ll post bonus material on this blog too, such as some advice sent to me from employment and recruitment companies, and anything that needs a little extra space beyond the short tips.

Please share these tips with teens who are searching, and with their parents, who are important career advisors and cheerleaders. And sign onto our MityNice page to see more later this week.

Teen tips are copyright Vickie Elmer, 2010. For permission to republish or use them, please contact the author.

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More advice on landing a summer job or internship

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This weekend, my younger son and I started looking for summer jobs – for him mostly, though I wouldn’t say no to a camp counselor job or maybe something selling fruity gelato and sorbet.  We looked online of course – CraigsList is our first stop – and also went to the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market.

I made him practice a few things – and pointed out the importance of creating a “cheat sheet” of names and phone numbers of the places he’s worked before. And I tried to coach him a little on what to wear and what attitude to put on to impress a shop owner or a farmer / sales person.

He’s not seeking an internship, just part-time work. But I want him to treat it as seriously as a full-time internship, which provides valuable work experience – and contacts in the intern’s chosen field. They also provide experience in different work environments – and aside from pay, three in 10 marketing professionals believe that is their most important role for students.

Internships also improve thes “soft skills” and technical knowledge, according to a Creative Group telephone survey of 250 advertising and marketing executives who work at the largest agencies and other companies.

The Creative Group, which places people in temp and permanent marketing jobs, offers some advice for landing an internship.Here’s an outtake of their tips:

·        Put on the polish. Your cover letter, resume and portfolio should be professional and without error. Likewise, your attire for for the interview.

·        Show your independent side. Many firms are stretched thin, so demonstrating an ability to work without much direct supervision can be a plus.

·        Emphasize your social media skills. Many firms seek professionals to help launch compelling e-marketing initiatives. If you’re a whiz with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, you could have an advantage.

For more advice on finding a great internship,  I checked outInternWeb.com. InternWeb offers free internship postings, and some good advice on developing a “power resume” and developing some experience through volunteer work and school projects and organizations. See all five strategies for landing “your dream internship.”

Please check my previous posts here at WorkingKind on a teen’s first resume and other internship advice.

As part of my youth jobs and nonprofit support company, Mity Nice, we will launch a series of job hunt tips for teens in about a week. They likely  will appear first on Mity Nice’s Facebook page and then will be gathered here somehow. My plan is to offer one a day, five days a week, for six or seven weeks – it’s ambitious, I know, but how else to help out young people who want jobs?

Bankrate.com via the Boston Globe offers 15 steps toward an internship – from tapping your professors and parents to introducing yourself to speakers at events – but the advice would have been more relevant in January.

And my advice to my son, on searching CraigsList jobs and gigs is simple – start by doing a word search using “summer” and then go to three to five categories and look at most of the listings.  Many won’t be appropriate and some may be bogus, but there are great possibilities there. Like our gardens in spring, we must look for the new shoots of beans, broccoli and sage and water and fertilize them — and throw out the weeds.

Note: This piece originally appeared on April 20, 2009, before my blog was hijacked. I’m reposting it here in hopes that it will be useful. It’s been updated – and the MityNice teen tips will be even more up to date starting right around May 1.

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