Creative Summer Gigs

So you haven’t set up your internship with Goldman, found an apartment in Manhattan, and picked out the perfect suit for your first day?

No worries—there are still plenty of opportunities for those willing to go the extra mile.

If cooking is your thing, the Laramie River Dude Ranch in scenic “North Central Colorado” is looking for campfire prep cooks. Refine your skills over an open flame by preparing food for pampered city folk on their overnight rides.

Don’t want to lose all the fun facts you learned in Life Sciences this year? Join the crew at Barnacle Busters of South Florida and perfect your marine biology while scrubbing the keel of the yacht you one day hope to own. Or steal. Whatever.

A bit of a homebody? Can’t get enough of the balmy Boston summer? Keep in touch with that good old college spirit while attending Red Sox home games as an alcohol compliance officer. Just imagine the glory of being paid to be that douchebag who tells everyone they have had too much to drink!

But we all know the fastest way to capitalize on summer is to make those essential connections so that you never have to get a real job. Schmooze with high society at the Breakers resort in Palm Beach as a pool and beach attendant. But be warned that the standards are high—only those who can apply sun-block, adjust an umbrella, and mix a stiff gin and tonic all at once need apply. (And we’re guessing that cabana-boy man-thongs are par for the course as well.)

Jump on these opportunities and this summer need not be lost. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to start the search for summer 2008—it’s a mere 395 days away.