<p>I am trying to figure out whether I should try to get a campus job as a college freshman.</p>
<p>My tuition/room/board/books/transportation (basically all essentials) are completely covered through a combination of scholarships and under-budget parent contribution. I have enough saved from tutoring, babysitting, and grad gifts to cover very reasonable spending money for at least two years.</p>
<p>I do want to get a job at some point, because I've read a lot about the time management and responsibility you can learn though working while in school (not to mention work experience). But since I have some flexibility re: money, I was wondering when/how you would recommend starting. Would it be wise to hold off for one semester or year so I can adjust to the pace of college? Are there any specific types of jobs that I should look into? Or should I skip a campus job altogether in favor of more volunteering and other extracurricular activities, and get a summer job instead?</p>
<p>I would say that if you can get a job that meets your needs, then a few hours a week would be a good thing. I don’t recommend freshman to work more than 10 hours a week. If you can find a job in your department, as a research assistant, etc, then it can help you. The great campus jobs are not normally filled by freshmen, but if you can land a good job that meets your career goals, then you can do that. It doesn’t hurt to have some extra money, and it doesn’t hurt to have the excellent letters of recommendation for med school, grad school. resume, etc. </p>
<p>My son wanted a job during first term. He worked in the coffee shop. After that, he got better paying jobs as research tech and cs. He said the coffee shop job was good for socializing.</p>
<p>Kid #1 worked for one year as a road salesperson for a music group. When they had in town gigs, they paid him $50 a gig to staff their sales table. After that first year, he was an usher for the Boston Symphony for three years…both great jobs.</p>
<p>Kid #2 worked first term at her college call center calling alums for donations. It wasn’t her dream job, but she was paid well, and the hours were very flexible. She then got a job as a student ambassador, and worked in undergrad admissions for three and a half years (including full time two summers). It was one of,the highest paying on campus jobs at her college. In addition, she created and ran an admitted student program that continued after she graduated. </p>
<p>We did NOT give our kids any money for discretionary spending. So…they had to earn that themselves. In addition, they felt that having their jobs helped them budget their studies better. There is actually research that supports,students working 10 hours or so a week…saying their academic performance is better than for those who don’t work.</p>
<p>And lastly…if you work, you will have a job to,put on your resume,when you apply for,the next job. It’s work experience, and that is always a good thing.</p>
<p>Years ago, I worked in the university library re-shelving books. No need whatsoever to go to the gym if you re-shelve books for an hour a day five days a week. Work the reserve, circulation, or security desks though if you want to have a chance to chat and make friends.</p>
<p>My daughter worked her junior year for a group that did fundraising for her university. The office was located on campus and all of the employees (who called alums to ask for donations for the university) were current students. It’s not a job for everyone. I know I would hate it. D was paid an hourly rate plus she got a bonus if donors gave over X amount (don’t remember the amount now). She started working for this group during the summer and stayed on during the school year.</p>
<p>DD1 worked in the library which allowed her to do school work between customers. DD2 worked in the math lab and doing tutoring after being recommended by her professors. It helped keep her broader math skills sharp.</p>
<p>My D worked in the campus food service starting freshman year because it paid better than any other campus job. That got her an in with campus catering, which she also worked for. Her recommendation from the campus catering manager got her a very sought after internship in her field of interest (which had nothing to do with food.). She did make a little bit of money, and it was not a huge time commitment. I’d go for it.</p>
<p>I’ve worked in the university tutoring center, in an administrative department doing some administrative work and some programming work (creating materials, facilitating programs, etc), and through my school’s America Reads/America Counts tutoring program. I’ll be working at a local non-profit through community-based work-study this fall. </p>
<p>I’ve loved all of my jobs-- fantastic supervisors and fantastic coworkers. It gave me a lot of times a sense of purpose and added a little more structure to my days, which I really need and like. Because all of thse were ‘student’ jobs, in the sense of all of my coworkers were students and my supervisors are aware of my job, I’ve had a lot of luck finding supervisors who are understanding of my schedule (and if I needed to take a day off to make a special review session for an exam/group project/etc.). I didn’t work my first semester in an early college program, but have worked semi-consistently since, ranging from 8-19.5 hours, with having recently worked 13.</p>
<p>Bromfield. My daughter had the same arrangement. She was paid a base rate, plus a commission for any donations over a certain amount. She typically made over $10 an hour doing this job. It wasn’t as bad as cold call telemarketing…at least they were only calling alums!</p>
<p>Kid #1 did video editing at the law school. Easy job, plenty of time to do other stuff. Kid #2 told me she has a job for next year, I’m a little bit worried she might not do well with her classes. But I byte my tongue for now.</p>
<p>Since you don’t really need a job for financial reasons – I’d suggest that you simply wait until after you are on campus to decide. Don’t ask parent what our kids did – the experiences might not relate at all to what job opportunities are available to your school. Instead, focus on what’s actually available at your school and what seems to be a good fit for your interests. Once you start school, you’ll be able to figure out where the campus jobs are posted and check regularly to see what opens up. You probably will find that many of the jobs are meant for work-study students - so if you don’t qualify for work-study funds, you’ll have to look elsewhere. </p>
<p>I do think that having a campus job can be valuable for the various reasons you cited - but I also know that the jobs that my kids (who did need the money) lined up at the beginning of their first semesters, freshman year --were not the best jobs available. Sometimes better jobs get posted later in the semester – so there’s a definite advantage to waiting for a few weeks if you have the financial flexibility to do so. </p>
<p>I would highly recommend waiting at least a semester before getting an on-campus job. It can sometimes be a difficult transition to college, and like calmom said, you’ll have a better idea of what is available and what you would be interested in doing once you’re there. My son didn’t work at all during his freshman year, but then had two part-time jobs this year as a sophomore. One was locking up the dining hall at his dorm every night and the other was working on a research project for a professor who he worked for during the previous summer. Both of these were fairly decent jobs that paid well. Next year he’ll be a tutor for students taking introductory classes in his major, plus possibly an internship.</p>
<p>I disagree with waiting until sophomore year. Get one your fresh year and you can always trade up. </p>
<p>I recently started reviewing resumes for an on campus research position. There were well over 100 apps and students without work experience were pretty much immediately chucked. Even work in the caf got your resume actually read. </p>
<p>I worked for America Reads/America Counts then at a nearby domestic violence center for my work study jobs. I loved both of them and learned so much. In fact, the dv job launched me into my current graduate school pursuit.</p>
<p>Son had campus-affiliated food services job starting freshman year. Easy hours – 2 lunches a week, plus free meal – which gave him money for pizza etc., and more importantly, added structure to his new freedom as a college student. As he had not worked summer jobs during high school – had always been doing academic etc programs – this experience was crucial when he applied for summer jobs. </p>
<p>My oldest worked in the financial aid office for three years, mostly doing filing, data entry, envelope stuffing and the like. Her senior year she was a receptionist for the admissions department.</p>
<p>My younger daughter worked freshman year for the religion department, and did a variety of things from putting up posters to organizing a white elephant sale (including sorting and pricing all the items) to helping set up programs. She tutored a variety of courses for the next two years, which usually meant being paid to study or kill time on her lap top unless someone actually came in for tutoring. She was also an RA.</p>
<p>The responsibilities of the job determine how enjoyable it is and how flexible it is. Food services jobs keep you hopping. SOME desk jobs allow you to get studying done (such as the check in person at the weight room or ticket sales at the theatre).</p>
<p>DD started looking for an on-campus job at the beginning of freshman year. First crack at jobs was going to work study students, so IIRC she didn’t get a job until second semester or maybe the very end of first semester. She handed out ping pong balls! It was only minimum wage, but it was also the type of job where she could get some studying in.</p>
<p>Her goal was to get a job at the career center, and she attended a lot of their events which was pretty unusual for a freshman. She figured if she was working there, she would know what internships and other opportunities were coming in and would possibly be able to be the career center rep who meet and greet guest speakers and the like. Sophomore year (and still without work study), she got a job there and is working there this summer as internships for history and education majors aren’t generally available until after junior year. Last week, she interviewed candidates for a position that would also be her boss. She met with them 1:1 and formulated her own half dozen questions. I believe she will be able to go back to her job at the career center even after spending next semester abroad since they seem to like her.</p>
<p>I think DD’s LAC permits students to work only 8 hr/wk during the year; it is something like 35 hr/wk in the summer. Eight or ten hours per week is quite do-able, and she has plenty of time for her volunteer activities. If she were an athlete, she would be pressed for time as my impression is that athletics as an EC is an extreme time commitment.</p>
<p>You will have to see what’s available at your college. Often there is a online database to check. My daughter’s uni has a lot of jobs available, more than usual I think. But her jobs were a positive experience and yielded benefits beyond the paycheck. Only the TA ones went on her grad school application and she didn’t ever use the rest on a resume though.</p>
<p>Recruit subjects and run the experiment for a professor’s research. Crunch numbers for a physics research group (got a trip to the Fermi Lab with the group out of it.) Call center for alumni donations (they wanted related experience which she had from hs and this paid well.), Several TA positions.</p>
<p>One student who posts in the college forum worked for dining services the entire time and recommends it, but didn’t say any particulars. I do know there are perks in dining services. </p>
<p>I work on campus in the computer labs and it’s pretty awesome. I worked 18 hrs/wk last semester and 19 in the fall. It’s a pretty easy job, with lots of time to get my work done and access to free printing. </p>
<p>My S works in the Career Dev. Office. He’s had this job since the end of Soph year and will keep it through Sr. yr.
He works about 15 hrs/wk. I have no idea what he does but like CCsite posted about her/his D - he gets to see in advance who is coming to campus re internships and jobs. He didn’t qualify for work/study and there aren’t that many jobs on his campus which aren’t work/study positions - so he was quite lucky to get this job. </p>
<p>He didn’t look for a job until Soph. year. </p>