Working on campus offers students many benefits

Ursula Muñoz Schaefer/ Staff Writer

The hustle is real.

Whether it be to gain career experience or just to get by financially, the prospect of finding employment is a necessity for many college students.

This is especially true for those attending FIU, many of whom are immigrants or non-residents barely scraping by on student loans, financial aid and tuition waivers. Even for those struggling less, college is still expensive.

If you’re anything like me, the prospect of finding a job to relieve your pockets a little may seem grueling.

What do you put on your resume if your motive  in getting the job is to strengthen your resume?

How will you get to work if you don’t have a method of transportation, and when will you find the time to work in the first place when uni life has you stressing out non-stop?

These are questions you may be asking yourself and the longer you wait, the worse it gets, because the anxiety that comes with ignoring your responsibilities is real too.

Thankfully, there is a simple solution to that dilemma and an answer to all of these queries: apply for a job on campus!

I can think of no better way to save time or avoid stress than working in the same place as you study. Believe it or not, on-campus jobs can be student-friendly, as employers are more likely to know the busy points in a semester and accommodate for their employees as necessary.

Freshman psychology major Judith George worked a temporary position at the bookstore on our BBC campus last semester. She cites these location and flexibility factors as beneficial to her schedule and needs as a student.

“Let’s say you had a class earlier that day and you work… It’s basically within walking distance and you don’t have to catch the bus or drive to your workplace,” George explains. “Plus they work around your schedule.”

She says that if she had classes at a particular time, her boss would make sure not to put her down for that day. “To me it was practical and pretty straightforward. I would recommend the bookkeeper position or any job on campus.”

Because it was only a temporary position, George only held the job for 90 days, but she found the experience to be well worth it.

Getting a discount on the items sold at the bookstore was also a nice plus, according to George. After a long day of study sessions and multiple lectures, BBC’s “bookstore” serves students as a reliable source for energy snacks.

Getting discounts on chips and gummy bears sounds ideal. It might be worth looking into what sort of benefits other food and shopping services on campus serve their employees.

As we’ve said before on PantherNOW, FIU also offers students plenty of opportunities to work within their fields of interest so as to beef up that resume or give them a taste of what a future career may look like.

For instance, a journalism major may like to meet deadlines and cover news for our student newspaper, while someone majoring in education may want to seek a position as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant. These are worthwhile ways to earn some cash while gaining necessary experience to enter the job market after graduating.

Working on campus offers many benefits. It’s up to you to take that first step and see what’s available!

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

Photo by Ursula Muñoz Schaefer/PantherNow