For job hunters there’s a tremendous opportunity to spend maximum time outdoors this summer. Livin’ life.

Take a look around the free JobMonkey website. You’ll see that we have an extensive outdoor jobs section where you can learn about park ranger jobs, opportunities with dozens of park concessionaires, seasonal government jobs…and so on. There are myriad seasonal employment opportunities.

When you’re done looking through the free material it might be a great idea to check out our new outdoor job board as well as the built in JobMonkey Job Center. It’s important to search for jobs using specific keywords in order to find the types of work you’re seeking. One final note: be sure to remember the sun screen!

What that means for you, whether you are 16 or 66, is that your job is less secure — and a new job is going to be harder to come by. For teenagers looking for a summer job, the pressure is especially intense. There are fewer jobs than normal, and each one is being fought over by a far greater number of applicants.

There is some good news in this whole mess: There are a growing number of programs, many of which are funded by the federal government, to aid 14 to 24 year olds in finding a summer job. Here are seven of the best sites to help you (or the youngster in your life) to find a summer job.

1. YouthBuild is a Department of Labor program for at-risk 16-24 year-olds, providing them with construction and community rehab jobs that will be utilized to create affordable housing for low-income families.

2. Job Corps is a job training program for 16-year olds+. Participants receive free room and board while enjoying top-notch job advice and training.

3. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 hosts this comprehensive list of federally-funded youth employment programs. To find a program near you, call (202) 693-3030.

4. Student Educational Employment Program helps college students find federal work internships that will further their academic and career goals.

5. Student Jobs is an online portal for high school and higher education students looking for jobs within the federal government.

6. My First Paycheck hosts a nationwide job board for youth looking for a summer job .

7. JobMonkey’s section on Summer Jobs features targeted opportunities for teens and young adults, from summer camp jobs and theme park jobs to outdoor jobs and even jobs in Alaska.

Career Renegade by Jonathan Fields is a guide to teach you how to make money while doing what you love.

After you figure out what you want to do (i.e. what you love doing), you have to work out the finances. Fields says you do not need to earn top dollars, but there is no reason that following your heart should leave you destitute.

The book is filled with personal vignettes from others who have left the rat race to follow their dreams — including the author, who jumped ship from his lucrative law practice to open a yoga studio.

The key to success, writes Fields, is to find and fulfill an unmet need within the marketplace. That advice works well for those of you with entrepreneurial dreams, but what happens if you want to be an employee? Someone who gets a paycheck from someone else to be a chef or an outdoor educator, to work as a model or a fashion designer … or whatever else your heart desires?

I think Fields would say that, even when someone else is paying your salary, you need to approach your job search (and your career) from an entrepreneurial mindset.

What do you think? Do you agree with the premise of Career Renegade that it’s possible to have it all: A career you love and a salary you love, too?

That’s mostly a good thing. If our heads had been in the clouds, they are not any more. Of course, the flip side is that people are abandoning their career dreams to focus on what they think (hope?) is a “sure thing”. Things like recession proof careers, steady paychecks and stable 9-5 jobs.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that living your life responsibly and paying down your mortgage are bad things. Not at all. But if the means to that end are leaving you empty and unfulfilled, trouble could be brewing for you. It’s like the old adage asks: Do you live to work? Or work to live? And if you work to live, shouldn’t you at least get to enjoy your work (if not love it)?

Which brings me to today’s topic: Outdoor jobs. For some of you, working outside in the blazing sun and freezing rains would be tantamount to torture. For others, however, there is be no greater reward than working in nature — whether as an outdoor educator, a park ranger, an environmentalist or a forest fire fighter.

Sadly, these are the very types of dream jobs that people are abandoning in droves for the perceived safety and security of a desk job. Of course, if you are one of the “no greater reward than working in nature” types, then soon enough, that cubicle is going to start feeling like a cell.

So when you begin yearning for the expansiveness of the great outdoors, what should your next step be? Where do you start your quest for an outdoor job? And how do you balance that dream with the practicalities of feeding your family and paying your bills?

Internships
I have talked before about the value of internships. If you are a college student or a recent college grad, now is the perfect time to land a summer internship at a national or state park.

Whether your major was archeology, botany or web design, national park interns can contribute their knowledge and experience while gaining invaluable experience in a field they love. Plus, what better way to get your foot in the door and start making career connections?

Volunteering
What if you are already working full-time at an unfulfilling job? How do you begin to make the change to a job you will love? Why not spend a few hours a week volunteering at a park? All of the national parks welcome volunteers, as do state parks and local wildlife refugees. Assignments can range from teaching youngsters to clearing trails to planting trees.

Volunteering is a wonderful outlet for practicing your skills, confirming your passion for the field, and connecting with professionals who can help you as you begin to job search in earnest. (For more on the value of volunteering, check out this post from last week on volunteering your way into a new job.)

Federal Outdoor Jobs
From North America’s national parks to the U.S. Forest Service to the US Fish & Wildlife, the federal government is the gate keeper to many of these great outdoor jobs. To plot your strategy for landing a federal outdoor job, check out JobMonkey’s extensive research on federal employment practices, salaries, benefits and more.

The bottom line: As employees, finding our way through this recession isn’t going to be easy. And sure, there are some jobs (real estate flipper, Ponzi scheme operator) that probably do not to be “downsized.” But working at a job that makes invaluable contributions to mother nature (and human nature, for that matter) is not one of them! You can work to live and love to work, with some planning and perseverance. So if an outdoor job is your dream, don’t give up on it.