Summer jobs in our uncertain times

Opening Day has come and gone, the buds are on the trees. And final exams are right around the corner.

Have you thought about where you're going to find a summer job?

If not, you already may be out of luck.

With millions of Americans out of work and looking, and with the unemployment rate in some of Chicago's suburbs significantly higher than the national average, you can bet that the jobs you may have turned your nose up at in years past might actually be unattainable.

In Sunday's Daily Herald, reporter Deborah Donovan explored the uphill battle high school and college students will have this year in securing summer employment.

Whether you need the work to pay your cell bill or buy textbooks or pizza or whether you need to help the folks out for a change because one of them has lost a job, you'll be up against it.

Against others who have lost jobs and need to pay the mortgage, make car payments, scratch together enough to pay their kids' tuition. Against others who have graduated college into a job market that resembles a black hole and have delayed entry into their chosen field or changed course entirely. All people who are starting lives or trying to hold onto what they have.

All people with more job experience than you. All people who probably need it more than you.

We don't want to sound like your parents (although in some cases, we are) but the summer job is no longer something you fall into. Or take lightly.

This is a different time.

You need to show seriousness of purpose. You need to show polish. Enthusiasm. Conviction.

This is the worst economy since your grandparents or great grandparents muddled through the Depression.

If you're lucky enough to still have a relative who lived through that, ask him or her how they did it. You'll hear stories about how extended families came together, how they gave up all that wasn't critical for survival, how they pooled their resources.

One Aurora teenager in Donovan's story said he didn't like jobs where he gets dirty.

Slogging picnic benches for the park district isn't as alluring as, say, selling clothes at the Gap, but with retail stores hurting as they are, you stand a much better chance doing something that will require a lot of energy - and laundering. And you could get in shape in the process.

Consider something in the food service industry. People who wait tables learn a lot about psychology and multi-tasking. Working in a fast food joint could help develop management skills.

Trust us, we speak from experience.

Try home health care, a market that's actually growing. You might learn something about patience, compassion and humility and what it's like to grow old.

Whatever you do, look those potential bosses in the eye. And sell yourself. You know what an asset you can be.