Best ways to prepare for the summer of 2022
Made on Canva by Raffaella Bravo
by Raffaella Bravo, staff writer
Summer is approaching and doors are opening for opportunities--let's not miss them. Internships, jobs, Santa Rosa Junior College classes, community service, and volunteer work are all some opportunities to build your resume, discover what you like, help develop skills and build experience for a career you're interested in. This article will provide you with some opportunities, tips on how to email an application for internships or jobs, and example emails.
JC classes are excellent for catching up over the summer, getting back on track for graduation, and getting ahead; additionally, the JC is excellent for taking classes not offered at the school, such as electives and additional subject classes. Summer registration for high school students opens on May 10 at 7 a.m. You should know what classes you want to take before registration begins because they fill up quickly. You’ll want to avoid submitting an application on the last Monday, June 13 (applications are open until the day first summer classes start; however, when the classes are full they stop taking applications, which is why it's important to register ASAP).
Also, there are several internships available to high school students that provide a work environment in which you may acquire exposure and opportunities to enhance or develop your skills. For example, an internship offered for students interested in engineering is the Industrial Engineering Internship at Keysight. The qualifications for this role are skills in teamwork, problem-solving, interviewing, communication and writing. Some responsibilities for this internship are engaging in manufacturing studies, learning basic processes and terminology, learning supply chain methodologies to achieve the best results for new products, applying knowledge that you learned to develop solutions, partnering with representatives from multiple organizations to integrate ideas and make decisions to create improvement in the company. This also makes it a wonderful opportunity to network and gain connections!
Santa Rosa Water Department offers an internship opportunity as well. Santa Rosa Water “protects public health and the environment by providing a safe and reliable water supply, wastewater collection and treatment, beneficial reuse of recycled water and biosolids, and stormwater management.” There are multiple positions for this internship with different focuses, such as Energy and Sustainability, Environmental Compliance, and StormWater and Creeks. Pay ranges from $15.85 to $19.65 an hour. Qualifications range from each position so you can research here.
Another option is the electronic assembly and testing internship at MICRO.VU. This internship works on assembling, programming, and testing electronic cables and PC boards for Micro-Vu measuring products while being supervised by engineers. The pay rate for high school students is $18 per hour. More information is available at MICRO.VU.
When you figure out where you want to intern, you need to write an application. Writing an application for internships can be difficult if you haven’t written one before. Below are some tips for developing an email outreach/application for any job/internship you're interested in.
First, use an appropriate greeting and pay attention to your tone throughout your letter, keeping it more formal. If you have any connections to the company, reference them! Most importantly, highlight what about the company interests you. Additionally, be specific about what type of internship position you are applying for if there are multiple positions. Keep it short because employers may have many applicants, so they might not have time to read it all. Be concise and highlight the most important information.
If you do have a resume, attach it! Adding a resume looks really professional and is a quick way to give more insight without the dreaded long email essay that you don't want to write and the employer doesn't want to read. In your resume/email, display traits or experiences that the employer mentions on their site. For example, if they want someone who can work with a team, mention your experience on a team at school or at a job. These keywords will make you stick out and give you a better chance of getting the internship. Also, insert relevant academic achievements and skills.
You can find more information about crafting an effective resume and communicating professionally from the College Essay Guy and TheMuse.com, a firm that works to connect companies with people seeking jobs. In short, explain why you're qualified for the internship and what you think you would get out of it.
If you’d rather do community service or volunteer over the summer, a couple of opportunities are Ceres Community project, where you cook food for people in health crises, and the Schulz Museum, where you would conduct weekend gallery tours and assist with museum maintenance and welcome visitors. (If you're interested in going into an art field, it might be good to show interest in your local art museums.) If you're interested in astronomy and want to share your knowledge with others, the Robert Ferguson Observatory is a great place to start. Also, at Life on Earth Art, you could make artworks to spread compassion and healing among people and the earth.
Overall, whether you want to catch up over the summer or get ahead and build your interests, you should start choosing classes and sending out emails for internships and jobs now so you won't miss out on opportunities.