Slacking off? Not if you want to keep up

When our parents were in high school, summer involved spending a few hours a day life guarding at the local pool or riding bikes to the beach. They weren’t worrying about resumes, college acceptances or finding a kick-butt internship.

And for the most part, my summers were the same.

In the beginning of high school, my mom said that I should “enjoy my last few real summers.” So while I was working 20 hours a week as a lifeguard, my friends were working for fashion designers in New York, interning at law firms and flying cross-country to do a summer program at Northwestern. I sat in the sun and wondered why anyone would opt for a full-time job or classes when they could be hanging out with friends.

Then I realized my friends were my competition – and they had a huge head start. They were getting accepted to Ivy League schools with the best job placement rates. The first summer home from college, they were working 40 hours a week at Fortune 500 companies. One even interned at the White House.

What did I do that summer? I worked part-time for an economics firm, filing and creating Excel documents, and for two long weeks, I was a volleyball camp counselor. While both of these jobs were helpful, they aren’t exactly the most impressive jobs for a 19-year-old.

Many people think our generation wastes time with the Internet or video games, but we also work hard. The Boston Globe recently pointed out that registration for summer classes is at a high, with many students choosing to spend their summer earning credits towards graduation, pushing themselves academically and saving a boatload of money. By taking summer classes, many Millennials are able to complete more than one major or even graduate early.

While getting a tan may be the ideal way to spend a summer, it’s not the way to set yourself apart. We Gen Y-ers have been building our resumes for years, far earlier than past generations. With the workforce changing so quickly, we must also change. We need to be better than those before us and be able to prove that we have more experience than the person next to us.

A college degree no longer sets you apart. In 1950, only 3.4% of the population had a bachelor’s degree; in 2003, 17.4% did. Now, your experience and the variety of that experience are what get you that dream job – or heck, any job at this point.

It’s in our blood to want to the best. Our parents told us that hard work would help us achieve anything. Everyone at my college was part of a leadership program or interning for one of the “Big Four” accounting firms. I knew I needed to step up my game, or I would never be able to catch up.

I finally got an internship my after sophomore year, and I have been doing them ever since. Of course, my first internship was non-paid and only part-time, so I had to work at my school’s admissions office over the summer to make some money.  But now, with three internships, four summer jobs and almost two degrees under my belt, I am ready to start getting what I want.

The problem is that everyone else is too – and we are all pretty darn qualified.

Photo courtesy of The Cydonian