Getting to college is nerve-racking in and of itself but if you’re like me something else that can be anxiety-inducing is the idea of not making money..for weeks on end. Previous to my freshman year I worked the whole summer putting in the hours to save up money to get me through my first semester without working, “I’ll have a meal plan, I won’t be eating out.” are thoughts I had before arriving. When I got here I did indeed make it to the dining hall every day and more often than not I was not eating out, why would I? I had a buffet right at my fingertips. When we went home for winter break the idea of returning to my dark and damp dorm room became frightening, I started buying decor to create a version of my childhood home there on campus. Nothing blows through money like decor. Quickly I realized I would need work, I started looking first at off-campus jobs but quickly realized it is hard to have a company bend to your odd schedule, campus jobs it is.
Pros and Cons Of On Campus Jobs
Pros:
- Work on your schedule
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When you apply for an on-campus job nine times out of ten they will ask you immediately for your school schedule, they won’t fight you to work during your class time because it is required by the school for them to work with you!
- Follows the universities Academic calendar…almosT
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Worried about working over winter break, don’t the university is closed, you can go home and work your hometown job for that month. You don’t have to worry about being scheduled far away from your hometown when school is out of session.
- campus Pay
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I may be lucky, but my campus job pays well, not like crazy well but above minimum wage and I know that most campus jobs on Ohio Univerisites campus pay over minimum wage as well.
- work environment
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At a campus job you are working with people your age, with the same struggles as you, and in the environment that is built for you. You are given opportunities to make friends while you’re working!
Cons:
- Slow to Hire
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Depending on where on campus you are going to work it might take a while for them to get back to you and along with that depending on the job placement there might be a limited amount of hires, meaning that you have to apply early in the semester!
- Days off
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Time off is also difficult when it come to campus jobs, they rely heavily on their student staff and unlike any other job I have ever had, you can’t just request a day off. You have to provide reasoning, coverage, and accept that it might not get approved. You dont get a free day, you have to beg for it.
- Almost follows academic calendar
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Back to what I was saying before, although you are going to have winter break/spring break/summer off that does not guarentee that you will have all days off that are listed on the academic calander, just becuase classes are cancled that doesnt mean work will be. That goes for snowdays too, sometimes walking past a fun snow ball fight on your way to work can be a little dissheartening.
- Staff size heavily influences hours
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Campus jobs are still jobs, if they hire more people hours are cut, if they have fewer people hours are heavy. That can make it hard for a postive work life balance.