The best outdoor summer jobs are the ones that put you in a location and situation that you enjoy, that makes you want to go to work. Jobs in the forestry sector as fire signallers, sitting atop high towers in State and Federal Parks, watching for fires and helping lost people. Jobs in the service industry would include my personal favourites from growing up; working as a lifeguard at a beach (pools are too crowded and noisy), and managing campgrounds.
The best outdoor summer jobs are those that are located near a major body of fresh, clean water, where you can swim to cool off, and fish to relax. Working as a second hand on a lobster boat in Prince Edward Island’s North Rustico Harbor, I had to bait the traps after picking through all of the lobsters in the pots, grade the lobsters and throw the little ones back. Every day for 2 months in the spring and 4 weeks in the fall I had to eat lobster, 5 or 6 of them a day.
Having grown up in the Canadian Maritimes, that was not exactly a hardship. When the lobster season was closed, the boat turned into a deep-sea fishing excursion boat, where I had to bait hooks for people who were a bit too queasy to do it themselves. Other than that, and taking the fish off of their lines, I fished all day long for mackerel, cod and tuna.
One of the best outdoor summer jobs is working at, or managing a campground. You get to camp and fish all summer long and get paid for it! For myself, the majority of the best outdoor summer jobs that I had were based on or beside water, and fishing was ultimately a part of it. When you can combine your favourite sport, hobby or past-time with your job, it is a sweetheart of a deal.
For some students, the best outdoor summer jobs can be working as a lifeguard at a public pool nearby to where they live, or working for any company that does what the student is studying for. Many students have changed their majors after getting summer employment in the field in which they are studying (I don’t think port-a-potty cleaner is a college course, at least not yet). When your outdoor summer jobs are related to what you are studying, you get a feel for what you would be doing for the rest of your life, and sometimes that is not a very good feeling.
However, when studying child welfare or child psychology, having outdoor summer jobs as a park supervisor, a wading pool lifeguard, or as a carnie in a local theme park can let you know if you are really made out for the career path your studies will lead you on. The same goes for animal welfare, like a farm animal veterinarian’s course, where you could get great outdoor summer jobs working on farms.
From berry picking to tree planting, and from selling beer at ballparks to waiting tables on busy patios, the best summer jobs are the ones that make you want to get out of bed early, and stay at work late.
So, what were your best outdoor summer jobs, and would you do them again, at your present age? If not, then maybe they were not the best summer jobs, after all.
