<p>Does the workstudy program on campus help students find jobs?? I just turned 30 and never worked due to a few disabilities and I'm trying to change all that by going back to school in the Fall at Broome Community College to major in Computer Network Technology. I know the financial aid thing has the workstudy program, so does that help find students jobs on campus to perhaps build up some experience and a resume??</p>
<p>Work study is a need based financial aid award. If you GET work study, an amount for the year will be allocated for the college to pay you to work in a work study designated job. YOU (the student) are responsible for finding and applying for the jobs. The college does not do this for you.</p>
<p>Typically, work study awards are not more than $3000 a year.</p>
<p>It can depend from school to school, but many of the workstudy jobs are menial. The cafeterias often have slots as do the gyms and libraries, but in my experience, the bulk of the jobs are not particularly resume building. </p>
<p>However, there are some positions that may be so, but you have to know how the system works and get there early. FIrst timers rarely get those jobs.</p>
<p>The way it works is that work study is given to you as part of the package to meet your need, if the school chooses to do so. Your financial aid package will indicate dollar amount of WS award, if you get any. You then have to go to the fin aid or WS office and look at what jobs there are that fit your schedule and your award, then apply for them. You are then paid like any other job, typically.</p>
<p>My niece did not go WS at all her first semester at school, as her award was tiny, and she found a job convenient to her schedule and paid well that gave her the hours and flex she wanted. But second semester, by pure luck she found a work study position in an administrative dept that was directly related to her field of interest. The job was just a few hours a week but this was second term and she had not used any of the award yet, so she got the job which she has parlayed into her main job and will help her resume. But it doesn’t always work that way. My kids have life guarded, tutored, checked ids side by side with WS kids. My kids got paid through non WS, whereas the WS kids got paid through WS funds. So the jobs are not always, in fact, in my experience, have not been the resume builders you are hoping for.</p>
<p>First, congratulations on re-booting your life. :)</p>
<p>To clarify, these are almost always jobs at the college, not out in the community. You won’t have to go pound the pavement looking for them. For many (most?), there really aren’t any qualifications needed other than being a work study student, and they are not terribly demanding. They are also usually flexible; unlike a private employer, your work study boss is going to be understanding about fitting your work hours around your school schedule, which is really nice around finals time.</p>
<p>You should contact your school, but here’s how it worked for my daughter: On the first day of Orientation, she went to the Fin Aid office. They gave her a list of the available jobs, and she chose one that sounded appealing. She went and talked to the contact person and was given the job by the end of that meeting, mainly because she was the first student who applied. The hiring/interview process may be more rigorous or competitive where the job requires specialized skills. But her job is Student Assistant to one of the academic departments, and consists of making copies, filing, running errands – not high level stuff. I think most work study jobs are more like that.</p>
<p>You’ll want to be there when the job openings are first posted, because the “better” jobs (easier, more interesting, more pleasant) will get filled first.</p>
<p>Most workstudy jobs aren’t resume builders in the sense of loading you up with professional-level experience. But good things can come from them sometimes, if the job is related to your field. So when you go to check out the workstudy jobs, ask first if there are any in the Computer Technology Department, or if not, anything to do with computers. You may get some skills that way which can go on a resume, and you might make some valuable contacts.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>“You’ll want to be there when the job openings are first posted, because the “better” jobs (easier, more interesting, more pleasant) will get filled first.”</p>
<p>Thanks!! I’m going down there tomorrow to ask them. I guess I was just kinda freaking out over really nothing, so I have confidence that I’ll be alright! :D</p>
<p>Be aware that you have to have a financial aid award for work study jobs. That money goes towards need, and the school has met that need with a work study award. It’s not as though you can just go and get a work study job. You have to have gotten the award.</p>
<p>However, colleges often have jobs, some of them the same as those worked by those kids getting work study, and you can check what is there. It all depends upon the school. But do be aware that you have to have been awarded Work Study through financial aid to be eligible for work study positions.</p>
<p>Well, I filled out both FAFSA and TAP a few months back, which I obviously checked off, “Interested in workstudy” which is why I started this thread in this category. It says I may be eligible, so all I’m waiting for now is my advising date</p>
<p>At Wash U the school makes work study assignments based on their Federal Work Study Application where student specifies areas of interest (by combination of deparment and job function) and work experience. Wash U notifies students of their work study assignment in August. Not sure if other schools work this way too - but students should check with their school to confirm how it works.</p>
<p>Kennedy…I will venture that most schools do NOT assign work study jobs the way Wash U does. At most schools, the student applies for the WS job and their application is reviewed…sometimes with an interview. Most schools start posting work study jobs online for the fall either in late spring or summer. Students looking for WS jobs really should keep their eyes peeled for those openings.</p>