Juggling your studies with your personal life can be a challenge, but college also comes with the added responsibility of gaining real-world work experience. One way to alleviate this struggle while still getting the most out of your college experience is to consider working on campus.
On-campus jobs have many benefits, including flexibility and convenience. Many jobs are designed to fit around a student's class schedule and are usually located close to classes or dorms.
Jill Montgomery, Weber State University’s Student Employment Coordinator, emphasizes that one of the biggest benefits for students working on campus is “the great connections they make with other students, finding their community at Weber State, and gaining skills that will be useful in their future careers.”
Montgomery found that having the opportunity to make new friends and focus on being a student first was very important because students who work on campus are more likely to graduate than those who don't work on campus.
More importantly, Weber State's careers supervisors know how to help you develop and improve the skills future employers are looking for when hiring. This approach, which prioritizes growth and networking, helps set the tone for what students need to succeed after graduation.
“As a student, you need to make more connections before you graduate,” said Veronica Rajate Figueredo, a career services worker and student at Weber State University, “so getting good letters of recommendation is very helpful, as is knowing how to apply for jobs.”
Another reason to consider an on-campus job is pay: Utah's minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, but Weber State University guarantees workers a minimum salary of $11.50 in their first entry-level on-campus position.
The first big step in applying for an on-campus position is to visit jobs.weber.edu and click on “Job Search” from the menu on the left. Then, make sure the “Job Type” is “Hourly Wage.” You may want to add keywords to narrow your search and bookmark the job to come back to later.
The second step is to get professional help from on-campus Career Services, which offers one-on-one career counseling, drop-in time for resume checks and even practice interviews, and is available free and unlimited to all Weber State students and alumni.
Montgomery said applying to a variety of jobs can be a daunting task if students only have one standard resume, and she recommends having different versions of a resume for different jobs and getting a career services professional to help create these resumes.