As much as we’d all love to be out in the sun or at the beach, sometimes working through the summer break, especially when you’re a student, can help set you up financially for the year ahead.

Student Job Search interim chief executive Emma Adcock says this summer she expects job applications to be higher than in 2022.

September job applications were 54 per cent higher than for the same period last year.

”October is the best time for employers to list their jobs, with the peak time for student applications being November.”

Student Job Search encouraged employers to offer the Living Wage, which was $26 an hour, given the continuously increasing cost of living.

“Many of our employers will offer more than the bare minimum to attract excellent candidates. In some industries, such as digital technology, where there is still a candidate shortage, we are seeing remuneration well over and above the minimum wage.”

Meanwhile, Seek NZ country manager Rob Clark says as the holiday season approached, hospitality and tourism and the retail and consumer products industries traditionally saw an increased demand for staff.

Orchard work

It could be hard work, but with 2000 positions going at kiwifruit orchard in the Bay of Plenty, you could be spending your days in the sun picking fruit.

Picking kiwifruit could get you up to $35 an hour. File/Supplied photo.

Hourly pay is between $22.70 and $35 and the role could be up to 40 hours a week, but there is also flexible to accommodate your summer schedule.

Environmental Technical Assistant

Those studying in Dunedin and staying down south for the summer are in luck as the Otago Regional Council is looking for four environmental technical assistants to join the team on a fixed-term full-time basis until March.

The job pays up to $35 an hour and involves collecting, validating, and archiving environmental data, collecting samples and assisting in maintaining internal procedures that are aligned with National Environmental Monitoring Standards.

Sales and marketing co-ordinator

Sundays Drinks, a new drinks brand that launched a non-alcoholic range last year and will launch an alcoholic one in November, is offering up to $29.97 an hour to distribute drink samples to stores throughout the North Island.

This role also includes holding in-store tastings and merchandising in existing stores.

The successful candidate will not only get to see the North Island throughout the summer period, but also get reimbursed for all vehicle costs as it involved using your own vehicle.

There is also the chance of a permanent, long-term role being offered post-summer.

Cookie Time Christmas cookie seller

If you’re up for long days and bucket loads of cookies in the lead up to Christmas, being a Cookie Time seller could be the job for you.

Every year, hundreds of young adults and teens take to the streets in the lead up to Christmas to sell the popular buckets of mini Cookie Time biscuits.

In 2021, the average seller made $12,718 before tax, with the top seller making $37,387 before tax.

But it can be a hard slog, with one Cookie Time seller last summer saying she would often do 12-hour days with little time off.

-Brianna McIlraith/Stuff.