Get Paid to Play this Summer

If you’re looking for a fun tech job on the side this summer consider harnessing your inner child. Technology teachers are in stronger demand during summer months and you can team with local schools and programs to train and inspire tomorrow’s masterminds.

Consider being a camp counselor. What was traditionally thought of as summer camp is no longer the norm. Kids can choose from an array of interests to focus on in their free time. Animation, web design, video game programming, even computer repair and engineering are all options on the table for summer studies. If you like to spend your summers on the go, sign up for a traveling camp. These jobs tour the country teaching for a week or two at each location before moving on to the next.

Start a club. Team up with a rec center or day camp to teach the basics of your tech specialty. Charge the children a fee for the class and give the program a portion. Game programming, web design, photography, videography and robotics clubs are all popular possibilities for preteens and up.

Take your game to the extreme. Businesses are popping up in neighborhoods across the country to take gaming off the couch and make it a more social experience. These aren’t your father’s arcade. Instead parties can be planned or you can pay for free play on over sized screens of movie theater proportions. By linking multiple systems a plethora of players can interact together and online.

Take your game on the go. Take the video game mega-plex and put it on wheels. You have the GamerBUS. 16 high def screens and 16 Xbox 360s all linked together on the go. Land a gig like this and it’s a summer full of birthday parties and promotional events. You can practically count on catching half the concerts that come to town.

Just remember that jobs dealing with kids require people who are patient and spontaneous. Who knows, you may inspire the next brilliant mind to change the face of technology in the future. Or it might just be the best summer ever.


By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a multimedia developer with experience in web, film, photography and animation as well as traditional fine arts like painting and sculpting. In addition to writing for TechCareersBlog.com, she is co-founder of design and promotion company, BlackChip Solutions with fellow Nexxt blogger, Staci Dennis. Heather’s spare time consists of making puppets, teaching Sunday School, building Legos and doing science experiments with her children.