Imagine you walk into your first interview, and at first, the discussion is going smoothly. You get asked your name and where you went to school, but then out of nowhere, you are hit with a difficult question: Tell me about what you did last summer. You think back to how you spent nearly all summer going on vacation with your family, playing video games, and hanging out with friends.

While this might sound like the ideal summer to most kids, these ‘all fun and no work’ summers can eventually come back to haunt students in a job interview. When most students finish up the school year and are about to head into the summer, the only thing on their minds is either relaxing or having fun.

It never hurts to go on vacation with family or to spend time hanging out with friends on the weekends; in fact, it’s fun and worth it, but it is not a great idea to spend your entire summer simply having fun.

I spent my summer after my junior year in high school working at Kroger during the week, occasionally going to Braves games and playing Frisbee on the weekends. I saved money for my future and spent a little bit of my money to watch Freddie Freeman and the Braves at Truist Park.

I was also able to begin building my resume which was helpful once I got to college and started applying for internships and, ultimately, jobs. One of the most important things employers look for on recent high school graduates and college students’ resumes is experience. More specifically, they look to see how students spend their free time.

Other exciting ways to help build your resume can include traveling abroad independently. For example, I spent the summer after my sophomore year in college studying abroad in London. While I took two classes in London, I traveled to Spain and Amsterdam, which gave me a more global perspective on the world. This allowed me to find commonalities with my interviewers and share some engaging travel experiences that showed growth and independence.

Another great way to spend one’s summer is to develop skills outside of the classroom, such as learning a second language or even developing computer science skills. Whatever the discipline of choice for developing one’s professional skill set, I guarantee you that future employers will be impressed with the initiative to take your future into your own hands and develop yourself further.

There are many ways to spend your summer, and while we all want to go to the pool and maybe even the beach over the summer, there is a lot of time available for us to use wisely. I highly recommend getting a job over the summer that teaches invaluable skills such as working with others, dealing with unexpected situations, and even how taxes affect your salary (a lot!). 

Whether it be getting a job, traveling abroad, or learning a new life skill such as financial literacy, which you can obtain through taking a Wealthy Habits summer course, these are all great ways to begin building your resume for the future and a guaranteed way to impress future employers.