Feature Article: Are Summer College Prep or Academic Enrichment Camps Right for You?
Special Feature: Job Options for (Younger and Older) Teens
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
The Career Doctor: Answering Your Questions
What's New on Quintessential Careers: Latest Additions
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
This issue we present a relatively new wrinkle on how teens can maximize
their summer vacations -- by attending summer camps to improve
their academic skills and their approach to getting into
good colleges. An older wrinkle is the good old summer job for teens,
and this issue offers a list of good ideas for how teens can gain experience
and spending money during the summer.
If you know of a teen graduating high school this spring, or a
student graduating college, you may want to check out our
Graduation Gift Guide.
--Katharine Hansen, Credentialed Career Master, Certified Electronic Career Coach,
and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: College Prep Camps
Are Summer College Prep or Academic
Enrichment Camps Right for You?
by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
Summer camps used to places for hiking, swimming, singing around the campfire,
and other fun activities -- and while there are still many camps like this
-- a growing number of camps are dedicated to college and career prep for high-school
students from around the country.
In the increasingly competitive college admissions process, some high-school
students -- or parents -- are turning to college-bound programs offered by
a variety of traditional and academic camps. And according to the American
Camping Association, the number of member camps offering academics has grown about
15 percent over the last few years.
Most studies show that teens who work part-time or summer jobs gain valuable
experiences that help build both educational and job-related skills. Working helps teens
build self-esteem and independence, while also learning time-management, team-building,
and communications skills.
Teens4Hire is a national job-matching site for teens and the employers who hire them. Teens (14+)
can create a personal profile, search for job openings from local and national employers, and apply for
positions by forwarding a profile to select employers. Job types include full-time, part-time,
seasonal, temporary, vocational, apprenticing, interning, and volunteering.
A resources section contains information on youth employment, work permits, and
labor laws and offers a no-cost career assessment.
Articles are offered with titles such as Top 10 Tips to Land a Job, Top 10 Qualities
Employers Want Most in a Teen Candidate, Top 10 Tips for Teens on How to Write a Resume,
Top 10 Places for Teens to Look for a Job, and Job Titles/Positions Suitable for Teens.
Kelly writes: "I am a college-bound teen -- I hope -- and am interested in your opinion about the value of
attending a summer camp to help with the whole college choice, college application process.
What are your thoughts?"
Susan writes: "I looked in a variety of areas, but cannot find any advice on how to appropriately thank
the people who provided references for me during my job search. What would you suggest?"
Melissa writes: "I am 27 years old and looking to go back to school full-time. I went to college briefly
after high school as a business major but didn't stay and am now regretting it...BIG TIME. I want to further
myself and my career but sometimes feel I am too old competing against all these younger people that just
graduated college. How can I overcome the feeling of inadequacy, and what are some suggestions for a college
major that is goal-oriented but will help me out in the real world?"
Get the latest career, college, and job-search news you need!
Have you read the Quint Careers Weblog (Blog)?
It consists of career and job-search news, trends,
and scoops for job-seekers, compiled by the staff
of Quintessential Careers.
The blog is a great way to stay posted on the most
recent events occurring in the career and employment fields.
EdRef --
a directory of more than 7,000 U.S. colleges and trade schools, where you can
find schools by name, by size of minority population, and by athletic scholarships.
Information includes admissions requirements, tuition expenses, and more. No cost.
Hcareers.co.uk --
a UK job site for the worldwide hospitality industry, where job-seekers can search thousands of hotel,
restaurant, casino, catering, and cruise ship job listings (by job type, location, keyword),
post your CV, and register for a job-matching service. No cost to job-seekers.
Maine Technology Jobs -- a job board
for software and information technology professionals seeking a job in Maine, from MESDA
(the statewide trade association for Maine's software and information technology industry). Job-seekers
can search for job listings (by type, category, keyword) and post your resume. No cost to job-seekers.
MarketingHire.com --
a great job site for marketing professionals seeking marketing, public relations, and
sales positions. Job-seekers can search job listings (by location, type, keywords)
and post your resume. Also includes a growing career tools section. No cost to job-seekers.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest Additions section.
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
Amid the mounting competition over summer internships, the traditional summer job has
tumbled further down the prestige scale," writes Erin White in The Wall Street Journal's
CareerJournal.com. "Waitressing or retail couldn't possibly help them climb the
corporate ladder, they figure."
White continues: "But sometimes a traditional summer job -- think retail, waitressing, lifeguarding,
house-painting and the like -- proves a lot more substantial than the endless hours of mind-numbing
clerical work that pass for an internship at some companies. If the choice is between an internship
offering meaningless work and an unglamorous but more-substantial summer job, then the latter could
be the better choice, some career experts say.
A survey of 120 major American corporations affiliated with Business Roundtable, employing
nearly 8 million people, concludes that in today's workplace, writing is a "threshold skill" for hiring
and promotion among salaried (i.e., professional) employees. Survey results indicate that writing
is a ticket to professional opportunity, while poorly written job applications are a figurative
kiss of death. Estimates based on the survey returns reveal that employers spend billions
annually correcting writing deficiencies.
In a recent survey, business careers proved to be the top choice among high-school students,
with more than 9 percent planning a career in business. Many of those future business people would like to
work for themselves, as teens also expressed a strong interest in self-employment.
If your school, organization, business or other
entity has a Web site, we welcome you to link to Quintessential Careers.
If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
appreciate it. If you don't have a link to us, please
send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
For more details (including sample HTML copy), see our
Link to Us page.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Job Burnout Quiz
* Job Burnout Remedies
* The Value of Internships Abroad and Study Abroad
* Top 10 Fears of Job-seekers
* For Job-hunting Success, Develop a Detailed Job-Search Plan
* How to Build a Personal Advisory Board
* Keep Your Career Dreams Alive
* MBA Career Portfolios
* Trends/Tips in Career Portfolios
* Pre-Hire Background/Credit Checks
* Noncompete Clauses
* Entrepreneurs
* Get a Job in Sales/Pharmaceutical Sales
* Critical Elements of the Job Search
* Managing Job Stress
* Telecommuting Ranks High
* Sticky Job Interview Situations
* Situational Interviews
* 10 Resume Tips
* Why Hire a Resume Writer?
* Is Your Resume Lost in the Internet Void?
* Career Activist Quiz
* Practice Career Management to Avoid Career Crisis
* The Changing Landscape of College Admissions
* Offbeat Ways to Pay for College
* Financial Aid/Scholarship Timetable
* Build Confidence and Avoid Insecurity in Job Interviews
* Empty Nest Job-seekers
* Baby Boomers Beware
* Are You Sabotaging Your Job-Search/Career?
* Quiz: Marketing Yourself
* Marketing Yourself with internal/External Promotions
* Lifelong Networking
* Networking for the Shy
* Converting a Seasonal Job to a Permanent Position
* Working Night Shifts/Odd Hours
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Career, College, and Job-Search Book reviews
. . . and much, much more!
Don't ever want to miss another issue of QuintZine? Get a free subscription to
the email version of QuintZine by completing our
subscription form.
Ad: Quintessential Careers Career Coaching Services
We now offer two types of career-coaching services!
Are you...
feeling stuck in an unsatisfying job?
facing a major change in career or job status?
searching for your ideal career or job?
seeking help in developing a job-search plan?
looking for a solution to job-search obstacles?
desiring to bounce ideas off of a career expert?
trying to discover the keys to career success?
Let Dr. Randall S. Hansen, The Career Doctor, help you work through all your college, career, and job-search concerns,
issues, and problems. He has helped hundreds of teens, college students, and experienced job-seekers identify obstacles, develop
action plans, and achieve success -- and he can help you!
And for an economical online-only career-coaching alternative,
visit The Career Clinic.
Quintessential Careers Advertisements
Quintessential CVs is Your North American Headquarters for CVs
We produce professional quality career marketing correspondence -- Curriculum Vitae (CVs), cover letters,
resumes, and more -- for job-seekers in all industries at all levels from all over the world. Quintessential CVs
is your premier North American source for:
Curriculum Vita (CVs) for Academic jobs: College/university teaching and administrative positions.
CVs for Scientific jobs: Research and all types of science-oriented jobs.
CVs for Medical jobs: Physicians, nurses, and more.
CVs for International jobs: Whether you seek a position in your own country or any other country around the world,
we can prepare an English-language CV for you that conforms to the CV traditions of your target country or countries.
Quintessential Careers also offers writing services
for those who have been asked to give a speech and
need assistance in researching and writing their
remarks.
Need a speaker for your career-oriented conference or
event at your college or organization? The Quintessential
Careers Speakers Bureau can help! Our quintessential experts
can provide presentations/workshops on a variety of
career-related topics.
