<p>I would love to work at the UCSD Library for my WorkStudy.</p>
<p>I feel like food court jobs wouldn't sit right with me.</p>
<p>How can I apply?</p>
<p>and what other cool jobs are there on campus?</p>
<p>What experience do you have?</p>
<p>If none, then look into dining halls. Hard truth, but people who are more qualified would also love that job.</p>
<p>yea i dont wanna work in dining halls either… but i hv no work experience. :(</p>
<p>It definitely isn’t as bad as it sounds.</p>
<p>1) First, you’re working among peers. This may sound obvious, but this is something you should never take for granted. Right now, I’m working with software engineers and MSDN programmers who are all at least double my age right now, and there’s only so much we can talk about. During slow periods in your shift, feel free to talk to your co-workers so long as you look at least a little busy. Your shift supervisors (I was one of them back in the day) were all regular employees not too long ago and know that side conversations aren’t the worst thing in the world. Also, if you work outside the line (kitchen, dishroom, other, etc.), feel free to listen to your iPod. As long as you can’t be seen my consumers, your supervisors/managers don’t care what you do to make your shifts were tolerable and pain-free.</p>
<p>2) The scheduling is extremely flexible and pain-free. Do you have any 3+ hour gaps in between classes? Are you done with class for the day after 11am? Do you have 9 hours a week where you feel like earning some spending money? Do you live in NorCal and have nothing to do when the SoCal kids go home every weekend? The application to apply is just a submission of your class schedule. The minimum was 9 hours/week and minimum shift was 3 hours/shift. The supervisors and student managers handle the rest.</p>
<p>3) The compensation is pretty decent. I remember the starting wage was a bit above minimum wage (I think it was like $8.60/hour when minimum was $7.50 or something); this is going along with a free perquisite meal with every 3+ hour shift worked (up to $5/meal for breakfast/lunch shift, $7 for dinner). If you’re living on-campus and have a meal plan, this isn’t extremely enticing, but it allows you to spend money freely on Naked Juice or something without worrying about running out of meal points…ever. When Freshmen only had $1800 dining dollars, I had $500 left over or so a month before school was over.</p>
<p>4) Being promoted to cashier is extremely easy. If you want a job where you’re not handling any food, you just have to work for a quarter and be in “good-standing” (basically don’t drop too many shifts without making them up by picking up others’ shifts). You attend a 2-hour training session about handling cash and using the register and you’re allowed to be cashier instead of working on the line or kitchen. This was definitely one of the easiest jobs and a good way to have conversations with a lot of the students.</p>
<p>5) Being promoted to supervisor is pretty easy, too. The minimum qualifications were to work there for at least 2 quarters and to be in good-standing. I was able to get promoted to supervisor-in-training as a first year and quite a few people at my dining hall and others were the same. The perquisites that come with being a supervisor were:</p>
<p>-higher pay (I think it was $11.50/hour BEFORE the all of Housing and Dining Services gave everyone raises)
-same perquisite meal for every shift
-7 extra free meals each week even when you’re not on shift
-supervisor/leadership experience that oh so many employers/MBA programs look for</p>
<p>You get additional training on how to keep lines efficient, going through different protocols for running shifts, how to open/close dining halls, how to schedule/reschedule workers, how to do basic accounting, etc. The basic rule is if you’re a worker long enough and don’t eff up much, you’re almost guaranteed to be promoted to supervisor.</p>
<p>After that, I quit.</p>
<p>I never had a problem finding a job after that, though, since a lot of employers liked the practical experience I had gained. I’ve been a Teaching Assistant, Research Assistant, Auditing/Accounting Assistant, Computer Technician, and now a Computer Programmer. If anyone has any questions about other tips, feel free to ask or PM me.</p>
<p>^
thanks a LOT for that post.</p>
<p>Very informative, and I can see what you are getting at. I suppose everyone has to start somewhere.</p>
<p>I have zero experience, so I guess that is where it will have to be.</p>
<p>Thanks again.</p>
<p>Anytime!</p>
<p>I took the job with a lot of skepticism at the time and it paid off a lot. Especially in this economy where people with tons of experience aren’t able to land jobs anywhere, having this opportunity to get a job almost instantly is a luxury.</p>
<p>So, would you say working at the cafeteria is a good job? Or are there better on-campus jobs?</p>
<p>ok so i have a lot of job experience. a lot of office and some retail. i was thinking about working at a cafe or something, but what jobs are there on campus for kids with work experience? what jobs tend to pay more? oh and i’ve also considered library because a lot of my experience is in libraries. would i have an upper hand at a library job if that’s the case?</p>