The Best Summer Job in America

Instead of mowing lawns or going on coffee runs for employers, some Boston University students are applying for what has been called “the best summer job in America.” The job’s premise is simple: spend all day lounging by the beach, host parties at night and travel to England for free.The U.K.-based clothing brand Jack Wills will pick one guy and one girl to win a six-week paid internship with Jack Wills and $20,000 to put toward college tuition. Needless to say, these perks have won the attention of quite a few BU students.

OH THE PERKFRONT

Lola Mendez, coordinator at Lividini & Co., which does retail strategy for Jack Wills, said she thinks the job offers opportunities that other internships don’t.

“[It’s] a once-in-a-life time opportunity to intern with the . . . outfitter, whose slogan ‘Fabulously British’ should tell you something,” she said. “[Interns] will be traveling to their stores on the east coast and visiting the U.K., all while developing marketing, event planning and social media skills.”

But College of General Studies sophomore Maiya Dempsey said she applied more for the travel opportunities rather than the skills she would develop.

“When I heard about the internship I decided to go for it,” she said. “The opportunity to work for [Jack Wills] would be great by itself, but the added perks make it the best.”

Mendez said the winners will intern with an international retailer but during most of the summer, they will live in Nantucket and work as Jack Wills “Seasonaires.”

Seasonaires are given the arduous task of spending days sailing and surfing on the beach and hosting parties at night all in order to promote the retail brand.

Seasonaires also serve as product brand ambassadors, event planners and social media experts as they travel throughout Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and South Hampton to visit each of the summer Jack Wills boutiques, Mendez said.

However, some students know that most summer jobs are not as glamorous as what Jack Wills is offering. For those who are hunting for other options, well-paid summer jobs are few and far between.

“It is extremely difficult to try and find a paid summer internship. The majority of companies expect interns to work for free and merely receive school credit,” College of Communication sophomore Lindsay Bender said. “Paid internships are very competitive and hard to come by,” she said.

THE COLLEGE VIBE

Jack Wills is catered towards university students, as it markets itself as the original “University Outfitters.” The store has more than 40 locations in the U.K. and Ireland, with 11 stores in the United States.

Sebastian Scholl, who works for the Jack Wills store located at 179 Newbury St., said the easygoing work environment is one of the reasons why he enjoys his job.

“Working with Jack Wills feels more like having fun with good friends than a job,” Scholl said. “The atmosphere around the store is as distant from a corporate atmosphere as I could ever imagine.”

Scholl also said that the young employees add to the overall “vibe” that Jack Wills tries to get across to consumers.

“With the employees, all the way up to the owners, all under the age of 30, there is a youthful vibe that pulses through every event and encounter involving Jack Wills,” he said. “Their organic and progressive attitude toward advertising makes promoting for the company feel as though I’m including people in the fun, instead of trying to push a sale.”

NO RESUME REQUIRED

Instead of the normal application process of submitting a résumé and being interviewed, summer applicants for Jack Wills must create a 60 second video explaining why they believe they should be the next Seasonaire.

Jack Wills gives no instructions on creating the video and students can make it whatever they want, according to the contest’s Facebook page. Videos are then posted online so that the general public can determine the winners.

Scholl said he struggled to make the perfect video to submit for this year’s contest.

“The most difficult thing was definitely thinking of a creative concept,” he said. “Being somewhat of a musician, I decided to write a rock song about the company and then make a music video that I felt would make a statement about who I am. Hopefully Jack Wills appreciates it.”

Dempsey struggled with the application process as well.

“The application process wasn’t that difficult,” she said. “My problem was that I only had four days from the time I heard about the internship until when the movie was due. I had to rush to film everything, find pictures that expressed what I needed and then put it all together.”

Some of the applicants needed help from other people to film their videos.

“I had to find people to help me with the filming,” Dempsey said. “Modifying my cover letter to meet the character limit while still saying why I’m a great candidate was also a slight challenge.”

Dempsey admitted that advertising her video and gathering voters has been the most difficult aspect of the application.

But despite difficulties, these two BU applicants said they appreciate Jack Wills’ overall innovative method of selecting interns.

“Personally, I think that a normal application process wouldn’t suit Jack Wills,” Scholl said. “They are looking for people who are creative, innovative and social. By [including] the public vote, they are involving the as many people as possible, and spreading this amazing opportunity, and their name, to tens of thousands of people.”