This week I want to share 5 perks I have found to having an on-campus job.
- You learn more about how an office works. Or, if you’re a research assistant, how that professor does research. Or maybe you work at the bike shop, and you learn more about how to care for and repair bikes. No matter what you’re doing, you‘re probably learning something, and in a way that is different from how you learn in the classroom.
- Depending on where you work, it probably only takes you a few moments to reach where you work. Which means that if your alarm to wake you up from your two-hour power nap (okay maybe that doesn’t qualify as a power nap), then you can probably still get to work only a minute or two late. You will probably never again in your life live so close to where you work, so take advantage of that fact.
- You are getting work experience! While it might not be in the field you are hoping to work in as a career, having some work experience is better than having none when it comes to the day you do finally start applying for jobs in your field. And some of those skills that you are learning now may be transferable to your future work. And you may get an amazing reference out of it for those future jobs.
- You can earn money to help pay for Scripps, or save up for extra traveling during study abroad. Maybe you’ll just have some extra spending money, but whatever you do with it, being able to earn money for yourself is a truly rewarding experience. And since you’re probably going to be doing it for the rest of your life, it’s kind of nice to get some practice with personal budgeting and how to spend and save in a responsible manner.
- Work schedule flexibility – I know I already talked about the perks of working close to where you live (my own personal commute is only between Dorsey and Balch), but the other thing about on-campus jobs is that they know and understand that you are a student first and foremost. While they still expect you to behave professionally, they are more understanding about the rigorous demands of college life than an off-campus job might be.
If you haven’t yet found an on-campus job, use your resources. That doesn’t just mean looking on the Gateway or going in to CP&R – although that can be very helpful – tell your friends that you’re looking for a job. Maybe even mention it to a professor you’re particularly close to. They might have heard about jobs that aren’t listed, or that they might be able to help you get hired for. Either way, don’t give up! I got my current job through a friend of a friend. There are a lot of jobs on campus, and due to the nature of college, there is frequent turnover, so you have a very good chance of eventually finding something.
What are your favorite things about having an on-campus job? And what kinds of jobs have you had on campus?
All of my college on-campus jobs helped me learn skills I’m still using here in my work at CP&R! For two years I worked in the physics department of my college, and just yesterday I used some of the Excel tricks I first learned while working there. After talking with my adviser about my career interests (career counseling), he told me about a position the psychology department was creating, a pre-adviser position, and recommended that I apply for it. I got to work with students to help them plan their schedules and get paid for it. Love the post!
I’ve actually been using Excel tricks I learned in my high school physics class a lot recently in my work in the Board Office! I never thought I would be using excel as much again as I have been these past couple months.