Work Studies

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>Hi, can any current international students shed some light on work studies? How hard they are to find. How to work off campus. How much one can make. How many hours one works on average. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>It depends a lot on the school. When you’re talking about work-study, do you mean a job granted through the university or a job you’ll be looking for yourself? If you mean the former, call the university and ask them those questions. If you mean the latter, it works just like every other job search in the world. </p>

<p>You might encounter a small problem, though: international students are not allowed to work past a certain number of hours.</p>

3

<p>I’d like to expand a bit on what kayb92 has said.</p>

<p>First about restrictions that you will face as an international student in F-1 or J-1 status:

  • You are not allowed to work off campus in your first year.
  • On-campus employment is limited to 20 hours per week while classes are in session.
  • You are not eligible for “work-study” (a federal financial aid program), which might make it harder for you to find a job on campus. Students on work-study get their salary subsidized from federal grants, which makes them cheaper to hire than students with no work-study award. </p>

<p>Now to the more practical side. On-campus jobs usually pay little more than minimum wage. Expect $8-$10 an hour. Most employer at my college hire students for 2-8 hours per week. Students who want to work more hours usually have multiple jobs. </p>

<p>You find an on-campus job by contacting potential employers. The bigger employers (e.g. dining services, the libraries, the admissions office) might advertise their jobs and have a formal application process, while smaller employers (e.g. the math department secretary needing an assistant) are more inclined to hire through word of mouth. Some colleges have a website where campus employers can post open positions. Beware - the existence of such a website does not mean that most employers actually use it. You might miss 95% of all jobs if you rely on the website alone.</p>