Warning: Top 3 Ways Students Can Waste Their Summer

Don’t waste your summer vacation by doing nothing.

Lots of articles will tell you about ways to productively spend your summer months. All well and good, but today we’re going to warn you about things that seem productive, but are actually a waste of time.

1) Call centres

Yes, a payday is a payday. But try to remember that many call centres don’t give you a reference, as a general policy. Granted, you can gain some good general skills, like sales or customer service. But, If you’re young, with a lean resume, you want to fill it with experiences that you can get a reference from.

If you just need money, by all means work in one. However, there are enough call centre jobs out there that you can treat them as a plan B.

2) Making coffee at an internship

This is a tough one to avoid. But an internship where you don’t actually do anything is not doing you any favours—especially if it’s unpaid. It leads to you sitting in a job interview and being asked what you did while you worked there. Then what?It’s hard to know exactly what you’ll be doing during your internship, before you start. So try to ask around, maybe find someone else who spent a summer there. If they got really good at Tetris, not a good sign.

3) “Waiting to see”

You might be “waiting to see” a lot of things. Maybe which school you get into, maybe how much you get in student aid. Or maybe you’ve got a sweet job lined up that you’re 90% sure you’re getting.In any case, don’t use this waiting time as an excuse to do nothing. Do something, damn it! Anything. Maybe volunteer somewhere, or take a course online. Keep checking and applying for jobs while you wait.