Many students look for summer work opportunities to gain experience, develop skills and prepare students for post-high school careers. Located in Park’s career and college coordinator Kara Mueller’s office, a job board offers a variety of work opportunities that span throughout the summer and some through the school year for students. The board has been available to Park students for years and is organized through Mueller.
Career and college coordinator Kara Mueller said the employer and their business process fees are paid through an outside business before partnering with schools to find positions for students. She said if the business has availability, students can apply and work as interns.
“We have an internship program that collaborates with businesses that have to pay a fee to GPS so they can collaborate with us,” Mueller said. “If the employer wants to hire a student intern, we set up a contract with them. The student then begins to communicate with the business owner and then goes through an interview process.”
Junior Mar’Tavion Meanchop said he likes the benefits that come with having a job because he can budget the money he receives for expenses. He said his parents aren’t able to pay for all of his expenses, so having a job is extremely beneficial.
“Since I’m a junior, about to be a senior, I’m able to save money I get from my job this summer to help with my senior year costs. (It is helpful) since my parents won’t pay for most of my things,” Meanchop said.
Senior Hayat Mohamed said it’s fairly easy to get a job from the job board. According to her, she got a lot of help from Mueller with the paperwork that was important to getting the job.
“To get (a) job, I needed to apply for the jobs I was interested in, and once I got an opening, I then went through an interview process with a resume that Ms. Mueller helped me make,” Mohamed said.
According to Mueller, there are many lessons that can be acquired from the process of getting a job. She said many of the skills learned are valuable for future careers and she wants to expand the job board to give more students opportunities for a part-time job.
“Part-time work for any student throughout high school is a very valuable learning experience. Being exposed to how organizations run their business, being exposed to building skills and being exposed to different kinds of people (are important learning experiences),” Mueller said. “There are so many valuable lessons in having a job while you’re in high school that I want more students to participate in anything for a little part-time job.”
Mohamed said she likes to work with people, so adding more jobs with personal care could help her with her future career goals.
“I like to work with people who help me refine my skills and learn more for the future. I would be really interested if they added more personal care or jobs that work with people,” Mohamed said.
According to Meanchop, he would highly suggest the job board for students looking for a way to spend their extra time in the summer. According to him, it is nice to stay busy and make money.
“I would really recommend thejob board for students. I’m able to spend my time working instead of sitting around this summer, and I’m getting paid, which really helps a lot,” Meanchop said.
