7 Tips for Keeping Your Summer Job

7 Tips for Keeping Your Summer Job Its summertime and you’ve landed a great job, and keeping it requires hard work. Since there is considerable competition in the workplace, it is important that you follow a few simple rules that show you have what it takes. Aside from a weekly paycheck, summer employment enhances your resume, and strong letters of recommendation from your employer go a long way when applying for another job. How Many Summer Jobs Are There?The number of summer jobs is holding steady but declining in some industries. Overall, the labor market swells in summer as workers 16 to 24 years of age find employment between April and July each year. In July 2014, 23.4 million individuals in this age group found summer employment, an increase of 1.2 percent over 2013.Summer Jobs Vary by IndustryOverall, the food service industry had the highest percentage of employees during the summer months in 2014. Since restaurants hire more employees during summer vacation when presented with a burgeoning influx of p atrons, this might be a good choice for your job search. The number of sales jobs accounted for about 24 percent, lower than in previous summers.How to Prove Your MettleOnce you have found the job that meets your needs, you want to keep it. Each job has certain demands, and meeting those requirements is important. Knowing what makes you a valuable employee is a step toward becoming one.1. Be PunctualNothing is more important for keeping a business running properly. If one employee is late, it has repercussions on everyone. Leaving for work with time to spare makes sure that roadway conditions or traffic won’t affect you. Some successful employees make it a habit to be at work 10 minutes early every day. It gives them time to relax after the commute and get in the workday mood.2. Be a Team PlayerRemember you are part of a team, and team members support each other. Doing your job and helping another employee if asked, is what members of a team do. If a fellow employee is ill or has an important family affair, offering to switch shifts, or doing a double to help them out shows how much of a team player you are.3. Be NeatLooking neat is what customers see first. If you wear a uniform, make sure it is pressed and clean. Since you represent your employer as you interact with customers, this is something on which most businesses insist.4. Show InitiativeLook around when your duties are at a momentary standstill for something that needs attention. For instance, tables may need to be cleaned, or display cases may need to be straightened. Making the effort shows you have initiative, a prized trait for an employee to have. In addition, letting your employer know that you are willing to take on extra work or shifts is valuable, and your paycheck will reflect the additional hours.5. Stay in the MomentDon’t be on Facebook or talking on your cell phone. That sends a message to your employer that something else is more important than doing your job. For an emplo yer, having an employee who know how to work and puts other activities aside until work is over is essential.6. Be CourteousBeing courteous to customers is vitally important, and both the business patrons and your employer will notice. If your job involves getting a tip, a smile and helpful demeanor may make the difference on how much a customer will leave.7. Show RespectShowing respect has a lot more to it than saying thank you. Responsibility is a form of respect, and being at work every day is your responsibility. If you are unable to be there, call in ahead of time and give your employer enough time to find a replacement for your shift. Some establishments let you make a shift change yourself, so having a good network of fellow workers is important. Don’t make the mistake of calling in sick to spend the day at the beach. It’s amazing how often a fellow employee or the boss will see you there.Let you employer know if you would like to continue working on a long-term basis. If you have proven you have a strong work ethic, he or she might want to accommodate that desire.How to Find a Summer JobUsing a job search site such as TheJobNetwork makes finding summer work easy. You can browse for jobs online or use the platform’s job match function. You upload your preferences and resume, and the system searches for matching jobs 24 hours a day. When appropriate jobs are found, you are sent an email alert. The jobs are ranked according to the information you entered.

Tips to Improve Your French Pronunciation

Tips to Improve Your French Pronunciation Speaking French is more than just knowing the vocabulary and grammar rules. You also need to pronounce the letters correctly. Unless you started learning French as a child, youre unlikely to ever sound like a native speaker, but its certainly not impossible for adults to speak with a decent French accent. Here are some ideas to help you improve your French pronunciation. Learn French Sounds Basic French PronunciationThe first thing you need to do is understand how each letter is usually pronounced in French.Letters in DetailAs in English, some letters have two or more sounds, and letter combinations often make completely new sounds.French AccentsAccents dont show up on certain letters just for decoration - they often give clues about how to pronounce those letters.International Phonetic AlphabetFamiliarize yourself with the pronunciation symbols used in French dictionaries. Get a Decent Dictionary When you see a new word, you can look it up to find out how its pronounced. But if youre using a little pocket dictionary, youll find that many words arent there. When it comes to French dictionaries, bigger really is better. Some French dictionary software even includes sound files. Pronunciation Preparation and Practice Once youve learned how to pronounce everything, you need to practice it. The more you speak, the easier it will be to make all of those sounds. Here are some techniques that can help you in your French accent improvement project. Listen to FrenchThe more you listen to French, the better youll get at hearing and distinguishing between unfamiliar sounds, and the easier it will be for you to produce them yourself.Listen and RepeatSure, this isnt something youd do in real life, but mimicking words or phrases over and over is an excellent way to develop your pronunciation skills. My French audio dictionary has 2,500 sound files of words and short phrases.Listen to YourselfRecord yourself speaking French and then listen carefully to the playback - you might discover pronunciation mistakes that youre not aware of when you speak. Read Out LoudIf youre still stumbling over words with tricky letter combinations or lots of syllables, you definitely need more practice. Try reading out loud to get used to making all of those new sounds. Pronunciation Problems Depending on your native language, certain French sounds and pronunciation concepts are more difficult than others. Take a look at my page on pronunciation difficulties for lessons (with sound files) on some typical trouble spots for English speakers (and possibly others as well). Speak Like the Natives When you learn French, you learn the correct way to say everything, not necessarily the way the French actually say it. Check out my lessons on informal French to learn how to sound more like native speakers: Informal negationInformal pronounsInformal questions Pronunciation Tools Unlike grammar and vocabulary, pronunciation is something that you cant learn by reading (although there are some excellent French pronunciation books). But you really do need to interact with native speakers. Ideally, you would do this face to face, such as by going to France or another French-speaking country, taking a class, working with a tutor, or joining the Alliance franà §aise.If those truly are not an option, at the very least you need to listen to French, such as with these tools: French listening onlineFrench audio booksFrench audio magazinesFrench audio tapes and CDsFrench radioFrench softwareFrench TV The Bottom Line Getting a good French accent is all about practice - both passive (listening) and active (speaking). Practice really does make perfect. Improve Your French Improve your French listening comprehensionImprove your French pronunciationImprove your French reading comprehensionImprove your French verb conjugationsImprove your French vocabulary