No shortage of summer jobs in Wantagh and Seaford

For many high school and college students, the summer is the most opportune time to look for a job. For these young adults, this time of year is no longer occupied by summer camps and activities, which allows for more time to start working. Wantagh and Seaford also see the openings a lot of seasonal businesses that seek out employees for this time of year.

Residents of the Wantagh and Seaford area discussed their jobs and why they decided to work there over the summer.

“I feel it is very important to get a job in high school to build up responsibility,” said Kylie Zubel, 19, of Seaford.

Zubel has been working at Ralph’s Italian Ices off of Merrick Road in Seaford for the past four summers. She spoke about how she started working there in 10th grade because she thought it would be fun to get a job with her friends.

Others had similar reasons for working at their summer job. “My sister works here and it seemed like a really good place to be over the summer,” said Christina Maceachin, who lives in Massapequa and works at a gift shop at Jones Beach over the summer. She said it is her first year working at the beach and her first summer job.

Caroline Farello, 18, of Bellmore, works at the same gift shop and said she started working there because she is friends with one of the managers. “It is easy to find a summer job if you have connections,” Farello said. “If you are looking for one, the best thing to do is just to talk to people working there.”

Finding a summer job can be challenging, but there are many ways to go about the age-old search. “I just went walking around looking for jobs and saw it was hiring,” said Sidney McLaughlin, 15, of Seaford, about landing a job at Carvel on Merrick Road.

McLaughlin said she plans on keeping her job throughout the school year and that her favorite part is being able to see how happy she makes little kids by giving them ice cream.

Many people do what McLaughlin did and simply go around their town and search for job openings at their favorite places. Melissa Fountain, 21, of Seaford, has been working at the Causeway Deli on Merrick Road for four years and said there are a lot of people coming in and asking about summer jobs. “Kind of the same group of people come work here each summer,” she said.

Another business that usually gets a lot of summer employees is the Red Mango off of Sunrise Highway in Wantagh. “A lot of people come in for summer jobs because they are familiar with the products Red Mango sells and that definitely draws employees in,” said Kim Tierney, 20, of Wantagh.

Tierney has been working at Red Mango for the past year and says she really loves the positive environment and company motto, “Treat Yourself Well.”

When it all comes down to it, there are many opportunities for summer jobs in Wantagh and Seaford. By putting oneself out there and looking around it can be easy to take up the responsibility and start working over the summer.