I know, I know. Who wants to work in college? Honestly, I wanted to wait until my sophomore year, but I need to have money coming into my accounts to help pay my bursar.
The reality is that many students all over college campuses hold down at least one paying job in order to pay for their college education.
One criterion for a job for me personally was that it was on campus. There are so many benefits that come with it, and here they are!
1. The location is hard to beat.
With a job on campus, it makes showing up to your shifts that much easier. If you have to live on campus your freshman year like I do, you already are living there, going to classes, so you might as well work there.
2. The job understands that you are a full time student.
I know that when I was working in high school, sometimes my managers would forget that I was also a full time student outside of work. I also worked with some college students, and they would complain how it was hard to be working 20+ hours each week while being in school full time.
When you work on your college campus, you are considered a "student employee", and with that classification comes the understanding from your managers and employer that you are a student first and before everything. This really helps with your scheduling and availability.
3. Sometimes they have programs that can pay for housing.
Now, I work in the gym on campus, so I don't have this benefit. I do know here at the University of Oklahoma, they have a program for incoming freshmen where students can work a certain amount of hours a week and get free on-campus housing. At OU, housing & food cost about $11,000 a year, so this benefit is AMAZING!
4. Depending on the job, you could do schoolwork while on shift.
For my position at the gym, we can't do homework while on shift because we have to constantly be aware of what is going on for safety purposes of our members.
I do know that other desk jobs around my campus allow their students to do schoolwork while they are on shift and don't have any other work things to do. Make sure you confirm with your manager if this is allowed before!
5. As a student worker, you may not have taxes come out of your paychecks.
I don't know what all states this applies to, but I do know that on my campus, as a student worker who is at least enrolled in about 12 hours a semester, we don't have taxes pulled out of our paychecks. This may not seem like much, since you don't get paid a lot, but every cent adds up, especially for college students.
6. Some jobs have benefits for the organization/facility you work for.
At the fitness center I work at, I can take free CPR classes and other certifying classes they offer. I also can get a free FITPass, which allows students to go to all of the classes offered, like Zumba, cycling, kickboxing, etc.
7. You can make some friends with other classmates or upperclassmen.
At any job, you can make friends with your coworkers. When you work on campus though, you are around other students who can understand the struggle of being in school full time, inform you on what classes to take and not to take, and overall just be a good resource while you are furthering your education.
If you aren't convinced by now to get an on-campus job, I don't know what else will convince you! Working on campus is fun and quite rewarding. Check out what jobs your college offers because you could be making some easy spending money or help pay for your education.
