Summer job no one wants: sidewalk mascot

Standing outside a shop in a full-size mascot costume trying to entice customers inside is the worst summer job in Korea, according to a survey.Part-time job portal website Albamon released the results of a survey asking 1,340 student workers what they thought were the best and worst part-time jobs for the summer.Of the respondents, 30.3 percent of replied that their nightmare job was working as a mascot in a giant, sweltering costume.Meanwhile, 19.5 percent of respondents chose parking attendant as the worst job. They said that high temperatures in parking lots as well as harmful vehicle emissions made the job unpleasant.Loading items onto delivery trucks was a close third with 17.9 percent, followed by window-washing office towers with 15.2 percent.On the positive side, the dream job for 30.7 percent of respondents was working as an assistant in a well-air-conditioned office.Working in a government office, where students can gain practical experience in good working conditions, was the second most desirable job with 21.3 percent. Other desirable jobs were working in a cinema, tutoring and working as a barista.When asked about the most important determinant in distinguishing good and bad summer part-time jobs, 42.8 percent of respondents said air conditioning. Work hours came in a close second, followed by salary and commuting distance.When asked what makes summer part-time jobs difficult, the majority of respondents cited having to deal with customer complaints when they are not feeling well due to adverse weather conditions. Other popular answers were drowsiness due to the heat and motivating oneself to go work.BY YOO BOO-HYEOK [ebusiness@joongang.co.kr]