From June to September, students can go to summer school, soak up the summer sun or maybe even find a summer love. For many, however, summer means getting a job.

Kris Kero, a career advisor for the UW Career Center, encourages students to choose a summer job that is in line with their interests, which will most likely coincide with their major.

Kero tells juniors and seniors to find a job that is closer to their field of interest, while freshmen and sophomores should do something fun.

“Summer should be as fun as it can be,” Kero said.

Junior Kyle Rowland has not declared a major but is considering international studies. This summer she is working as a travel director for Unparalleled Productions, an event planning company based in San Francisco. She works off-site in Seattle and borrows space in her dad’s office.

“It’s really hard to explain to people what I do,” said Rowland. “People think it’s a travel agent [job], but it’s not. I work with travel agents, though.”

As a travel director, Rowland plans special events for pharmaceutical companies. Her tasks include coordinating travel itineraries, talking to travel agents and sending invitations to participants. Her job is not over once the planning of the event has been completed. She also goes to the location of the event to see that everything runs accordingly.

In June, she flew to Miami to oversee a conference. Within the next couple of weeks she will be running a meeting by herself in Frankfort, Germany. There will also be a cardiologist conference in Munich over Labor Day weekend.

“We plan everything for the doctors so all they have to do is show up,” Rowland said. “We tell them when to eat and when to go to the airport.”

Rowland explained that the hardest aspect of her job is working alone in Seattle while everyone else is in San Francisco. “It’s a weird dynamic because I’ve never been in a situation like this before. I don’t report to anyone because I’m by myself [in Seattle],” she said.

She keeps in contact with her co-workers through a server where they share files, as well as through phone calls, e-mails and faxes.

“They just kind of throw you in there,” Rowland said. “There’s been no official training. I learn as I go.”

How she got this gig in the first place “was really random,” she said.

Rowland and her family were in San Francisco for a vacation and her mother decided to visit her college roommate. Her mother had not seen the roommate, Maggie Gibbons, in 14 years and did not know that she is the president of Unparalleled Productions.

When the family met Gibbons, she liked Rowland and offered her a job at her company. At that point, Rowland didn’t know exactly what Gibbons’ company did or what type of work she would be expected to do. Rowland also had plans for a vacation to Europe over the summer.

When the Europe trip fell through, Rowland decided to take up Gibbons’ job offer.

“They called me to work in Miami right before finals started,” Rowland said. “I took a red eye out on Thursday night, even though I had school that week.”

Impressed by the manner in which she worked at the Miami conference, Gibbons hired Rowland to work fulltime for the summer.

“It’s way different from any other job I’ve had,” Rowland said. “I work with so many different people and get to travel to different places.”

For students who may not be able to find a job as easily as Rowland did, the UW Career Center offers many resources. The center has several connections with different companies. One of these connections is with Student Painters.

Sophomore Lindsey Wilson works for Student Painters and explained that she practically runs her own painting business.

“Pretty much everything is on me,” Wilson said. She oversees everything from the hiring and firing of painters to the productions, sales and marketing of the business.

On a typical workday, Wilson wakes up at 5:30 a.m., goes to the paint store to pick up products for the day and is at the job site by 7:30 a.m. She is at the job site monitoring painters until 5 p.m. and then does estimates with clients until 6:30 p.m. She returns home by 7 p.m.

As a branch manager of Magnolia and Queen Anne, Wilson has a lot of responsibility.

“I like that it’s a challenge,” she said. “I like that I have to get up and use my head in the morning.”

Wilson is cautious about where her salary goes. Her earnings go toward school expenses and rent and also pay for her participation in a local competitive Ultimate Frisbee team.

According to Wilson, the average Student Painters manager produces $40,000 worth of work during the summer and makes about $10,000.

However, money is not the only thing that attracted Wilson to the job.

“The main reason for working with Student Painters is not just money, but the experience,” Wilson said. “It takes a lot to do sales. I like how it’s changed me as a person.” Wilson has not declared a major, but she is interested in business.

Wilson feels constant pressure, because many people look to her for help and support.

“This isn’t a job where you can do what you want,” Wilson said. “If I forget to pressure-wash a house, three people are out of work for a day. If I buy the wrong paint without talking to the client, the money is taken out of my paycheck.”

Wilson was introduced to Student Painters from a flyer she received in her economics class during the school year. It is unlike other painting companies, she said, because it has a connection with the Career Center on campus. It is also based in Seattle and has been around for more than a decade.

Wilson and Rowland both have entirely different summer jobs but are getting the experience out of it that they hoped for. The importance of a summer job is for students to understand what they want to get out of it, Kero said. Of course, enjoying the job is a plus.

“I love my job,” Wilson said. “It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”