Are you looking for a job in college? Many of the best jobs in college are hard to get, leaving you fighting for a few extra bucks while in college. We all know that it is hard to graduate from college without debt and finding a job in college is one of the best ways to avoid it. Have you ever wondered what the best jobs in college are? Or maybe how to get them? Well, you’re in luck because this multi-part series is going to cover everything that you will need to get the best job in college. If you have already graduated from college, this series may be a reminder of what you missed out on. You may even start thinking about how to prepare your children to land these jobs.
Why Having a Job in College is Important
If you are reading this, odds are that you are looking for a creative way to earn some quick money. Everyone has bills to pay and not everyone has parents that can help them pay for it. Having a job in college will help you in so many ways. Here are some of the many benefits that having a job in college offers you.
Earn Some Money: A little obvious, but who doesn’t need a few extra bucks. Whether it is to buy text books or buy something nice for that person you are getting to know, having a job in college gives you the money to do those extra things.
Gain Job Experience: Do you know what the biggest challenge that college graduates face when trying to get a job after college? Lack of experience! Most employers want years of job experience for any decent job. By taking a job while you are in college, you are beefing up that resume. If you are looking to land a job right out of college, it is better to have the years of slave labor minimum wage under your belt. Otherwise, you will be coming to some harsh realities when you try to pay all of your bills with your job at Starbucks. You may get “lucky” and land a street canvassing job, but it’s not exactly the best job in the world when it is 20 degrees out.
Learn to Multi-task: If you think that life is only about juggling one thing at a time like studying for exams, you have another thing to learn. Graduation from college often marks the beginning of the juggle. Life comes at you fast from different areas and you will find it difficult to manage everything if you haven’t learned to juggle more than one task. Having jobs in college will teach you about prioritizing, to-do lists, and meeting deadlines when it seems impossible.
Discover Your Strengths/Interests: Having a job in college will help you discover what you are passionate about. It is one thing to learn something in the classroom, it is quite another to apply it in the workforce. By having a job in college, you can find out what you will enjoy doing for the rest of your life earlier rather than later. I have heard many stories of people graduating college and thinking that they want to do one thing, only to change their mind 2-3 years later. While you can always change your mind, by taking a job in college you can learn more about yourself.
What’s the Best Job to have in College?
So, enough of the boring stuff, right? I am sure you want to hear all of the juicy details – or in other words – what the best job is for someone in college? There are lots of options to choose from and that is why I am not going to answer this question this week. Tune in next week for the second part of jobs in college. Next week I will start with one of my own experiences – a position I held while in college. At the end of the series, you will be the judge of what the best job in college is. That’s right – I need your opinion because there are so many choices.
i had multiple jobs in college, often at the same time.. and I think i learned a lot from all of them:
i tutored girls in math and business classes, where i got over my fear of talking to pretty girls
i worked in the computer lab, where i learned how to “look like i am working”, while actually just dorking around on the internet
i delivered pizza for Papa John’s, where i learned how to strategically allocate your income to minimize your tax burden
I didn’t get a job for my first year, big mistake. I want to get a job on campus next year, but I will also consider the advice you give next week. Any job would have been better than the empty pocket feeling I have all the time now.
I couldn’t effectively manage a job during the college semester with my engineering degree program. I did however, work like crazy during the summer with interns and co-ops. Was much better than sitting around and eating pizza all summer.
The best job for a college student is an on campus job, hands down! Typically they offer better hours, basically no commute from class, and they will work with your schedule. The only down side is that it’s usually minimum wage, and if you’re not eligible for work-study it might be hard to land one. One tip for landing an on campus job is to look towards the end of the spring semester. Most people haven’t started applying yet and most offices are losing students to graduation or transfer to another university.
That being said, I had a job on campus as well as one off campus. I really enjoyed both of them and made it work with being a full time college student. My on campus job took care of those random two hours between classes and offered a great place to study before tests in the mornings. My off campus job was typically on the weekends and late evenings. I loved them both and actually still work one of them. The only thing I would change about my college/working experience is I would’ve tried to find a job my first year instead of waiting to see if I could handle the schoolwork and looking my second year.
I worked a bunch of jobs when I was in college. My favorite was probably working at the photo lab. I didn’t really have to do anything except for mix a couple of batches of chemicals here and there. Basically I got paid to study in the photo lab office while the students were developing photos in the dark room.
I also worked as a nanny which was really good money for a college student (heck it’s good enough money that I’m considering picking up a few babysitting gigs on the weekends now). It’s been my experience that if you live in a bigger city with a higher cost of living parents typically pay $15-25 per hour, cash.
I bartended through undergrad and grad school. It was the best because it paid well and I got to have fun, going out exactly where I would have gone before, but not having to spend money. Win win. I’m a big fan of working through college…
I never went away to college, I just took classes part-time so there wasn’t any reason for me not to work during college. It did take a lot longer that way but at least I didn’t go into debt.
I worked on the on-campus computer lab during Pharmacy school, and at a local pharmacy on the weekends. The money from the computer lab helped pay for incidentals such as lunch and entertainment. The pharmacy job was more for career experience and the money was saved. I’m a 1 percenter now.
I worked hard in college – I’m still in it! The best job I had was just working at a retail store with my friends. It was fun and wasn’t super stressful. Plus, I got to see my friends at work, so who’s complaining?
I had a work-study job my freshman year, but that only allowed me to work about 10 hours per week. My sophomore year I ended up working off-campus. It taught me a lot about the working world, saved me money because I didn’t feel like going out or didn’t have the time to go out, and generally made me more productive. I never felt that it interfered with my studies. In fact, it just made me play a lot less Playstation!