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Some adults lament the growing intensity of kids' summertime pursuits. "I like the era of America when kids had summer off," says Frank Farley, a psychologist at Temple University in Philadelphia. "They could stare at the clouds, run, jump, explore, do the roller coasters and Ferris wheels, fall in love, backpack, hang out." Creativity, he argues--that intangible, untestable good--is enhanced by allowing adolescents to pursue their own interests.
But it doesn't much impress a corporate recruiter. Companies can save on recruitment costs by trying out potential employees over a 10-week summer period. At the investment firm Lehman Brothers, half the college students who intern after junior year become permanent employees. Says Jim Roper, a recruiter there: "They get a look at us, we get a look at them, and it works out pretty well."
That wasn't the kind of sightseeing Amanda Sandoval had in mind for her fling this summer in New York City. A student at the University of Denver, she had planned on trips to Central Park, classes at New York University and lots of good books for her "last summer to hang out, be a kid." But after guidance counselors warned her that she had better shape up her resume, Sandoval made a last-minute search for a job, sending off applications to the parks and recreation department, the U.N. and even the sanitation department. No luck so far, but she could always try Rockaway Beach. We checked--there's an opening for a lifeguard.
--Reported by Flora Tartakovsky/New York, Leslie Everton Brice/Atlanta, Jacqueline Savaiano/Los Angeles and Maggie Sieger/Chicago