The Pros And Cons Of On-Campus Jobs At UTK

I started working on UTK's campus in January and so far I have a lot more pros than cons. I am an office assistant so the Honors and Scholars Programs and the majority of my work in scanning documents and answering the phone. Now that I have worked a full semester and summer I have made a list of pros and cons if you are considering applying for a job on campus.

Let's start with the pros:

You are already here for class! All you have to do is walk into another building and you are ready to squeeze in a shift before or after your classes. This is especially helpful if you live in a dorm because you will not have to move your car and fight for parking.

If you work in one of the offices you most likely will not have late nights. Most of the department offices on UT run either 8-5 or 9-5 so you will always have time after work to study, workout, go to tutoring, or hang out with friends.

Another one that only applies to some jobs is that you are off on football game days! No more having to beg coworkers to switch shifts with you to go to games.

The last pro I want to mention is that you get to network within the university which is always a good thing. Seeing professors, deans, and other students can help you get in or get help with future classes as well as learn of opportunities coming up on campus that you may have missed.

Even though there are a lot of pros, every job has its flaws.

A major con is that you will see the same people constantly. I am not talking about coworkers, I mean the same students and staff that are constantly around and you feel like you can never get away from. Think about having a regular customer at a restaurant that is super needy and doesn't leave a tip: that is how all the people you see every day make you feel.

You cannot always choose your schedule and because of that, you may miss out on things. I knew people who had to leave classes early, skip tutoring sessions, and drop out of clubs because their campus job did not account for extra activities or travel time around campus when making schedules.

The third is that you begin feeling very stuck on campus. When you work here, go to school here, and live here it is easy to forget that there is a world or even more to Knoxville than UT.

With everything said above just remember to really think about your personality and what you want out of your college experiences, classes, and jobs and then decide if working on campus is the right direction for you.