How can you find a job you love in college?
With school just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about your part-time work and what you’re going to do for money. After all, beer isn’t free and you likely want your own money for spending on the day-to-day stuff.
I want to help you find a job that you’ll actually enjoy in college.
What are some sweet gigs you can realistically find in college?
I wanted to look at jobs that you have a shot at grabbing this coming semester that you would enjoy:
- A job where your friends work. I’ve had so much fun at jobs in the past just because of the people there. This is a weird thing to write on a personal finance blog, but you can actually have a blast in college by working with your buddies. I would recommend that you start off by getting in touch with buddies to see where they’ve been able to find work. Hopefully they can put in a good word for you to help you get in.
- A gig where you can turn off your mind. Sometimes you just want to turn your mind off and work. You can work a basic service job where you just zone out and think about school or whatever else you want to.
- A sales position. I honestly feel that sales experience in college will be valuable for the rest of your life. You can work on your self-marketing skills and learn to interact with strangers. This will benefit you in the future.
- Anything on campus. Working on campus is ideal since you’re always there and you can meet more people this way.
I left starting an online business off this list because I’ve already written about it to death around here.
Let’s dig a little deeper…
How can you find a well-paying job on campus?
What about those jobs on campus? I was successful in securing a pretty decent gig at school one year. I found work as an “Exam Invigilator.” I was one of those dudes that walked around the lecture hall to ensure that you didn’t cheat (shame on you if you try to cheat!).
What are some well-paying jobs on campus?
- Teaching Assistant.
- Department help.
- Work with a professor.
- Exam Invigilator.
- Random duties around campus (putting up posters and taking them down).
How can you find these jobs at school?
- Keep your eye on postings.
- Become friends with the folks at the student employment centre (or whatever your school calls it).
- Talk with professors to see if they need any help. The truth is that most of the best jobs on campus don’t even get posted.
- Chat with the people actually doing these jobs. These are the folks that can help you out the most.
What if you can’t work in college?
If you absolutely can’t squeeze in a few hours per week to work a part-time job then you must be in a challenging program. Kudos to you and good luck with it. You could perhaps look for online jobs for college students or you can focus your energy 100% on your studies.
If your program is fairly flexible and you have some free time, you should be able to work. No excuses. Just get off Facebook and stop creeping.
Oh and if your grades start to decrease, you might want to cut back on the hours.
Will you find a job you love in college?
I worked in the mail-room for 3 years in college. It was a great job for me, because it was fairly physical, forced me to interact with a lot of people on a daily basis, and got me to memorize where every single office on the campus was.
That’s interesting. You kept the job for three years? That’s sweet. Did you get to know a lot of people on campus?
Yeah, I started as a sophmore. By my (first) senior year, I was doing things usually reserved for the full-timers, like signing for packages, going to the post office, and working breaks. At one point, I knew the head secretary of every department on campus.