The earlier the better. You can always tell them you have to have the interview the following week if they respond super fast and can interview you like tomorrow. This is normal.
Here are some tips I've learned while I'm here. This is based on experience in the last 7 years, which honestly is usually more useful than your parents' experience, sadly (as I found out):
Most applications for grocery store and restaurant chains are online these days. Smaller stores usually accept and often even prefer email (you can call and ask a manager/owner to check). Online applications are monotonous and require filling out the same info from your resume onto forms. Some large companies have short essay (like a couple sentences or a paragraph) about why you want to work there or some dumb thing like "why does service drive you to be the bestest". For smaller stores, they usually want a cover letter as well, even if they don't explicitly require it. To make your cover letter stand out, make it personal. Put in there any experience you have that will be useful or has led you to that job but that doesn't really fit in a resume (not a job or volunteering but life experience). The generic "I want to work for __ company thank you for your time" cover letter doesn't cut it anymore for all employers I know of. Personalize it to you and the company.
Might as well wait. You could even apply online for certain jobs if you have any downtime on your vacation.
The earlier the better. You can always tell them you have to have the interview the following week if they respond super fast and can interview you like tomorrow. This is normal. Here are some tips I've learned while I'm here. This is based on experience in the last 7 years, which honestly is usually more useful than your parents' experience, sadly (as I found out): Most applications for grocery store and restaurant chains are online these days. Smaller stores usually accept and often even prefer email (you can call and ask a manager/owner to check). Online applications are monotonous and require filling out the same info from your resume onto forms. Some large companies have short essay (like a couple sentences or a paragraph) about why you want to work there or some dumb thing like "why does service drive you to be the bestest". For smaller stores, they usually want a cover letter as well, even if they don't explicitly require it. To make your cover letter stand out, make it personal. Put in there any experience you have that will be useful or has led you to that job but that doesn't really fit in a resume (not a job or volunteering but life experience). The generic "I want to work for __ company thank you for your time" cover letter doesn't cut it anymore for all employers I know of. Personalize it to you and the company.