“I think that it just is going to prepare me and teach me how to work with customers, work with my other employees, manage my time and be more organized, just stuff like that,” Lewis said.
Lewis said it is easy to work around her school schedule, sometimes working two-hour or longer shifts on the weekend. Though her work schedule may be different every day, she said the work is not too strenuous. However, Lewis’s first job was in high school, which made transitioning into her new job much easier.
“I’ve had a job before, so that first job was my trial and test area where I had to figure out how to balance everything, so now I’m used to it, and I know how to better manage my time so I haven’t really had any problems,” she said.
Deciding whether to work during college has always been a personal decision for students. Whether they need a little extra financial footing or just want to gain real-world work experience, both on-and off-campus jobs are available for students of all ?majors and interests.
“The best way for prospective employers from University departments to reach UA students is through the online student recruitment job site, where hiring managers can post student employment opportunities, customize a job application, track student applicants and review student resumes,” according to the UA Student Employment Office within the department of human resources website.
One website for job connections is jobs.ua.edu, and according to the UA Student Employment webpage, over 4,000 students work on campus each year. Kasey Covington and Nick Knight at the Apple campus store within the Supe Store both found their jobs with this method. Covington and Knight said they agree that working for an actual University is special and can give you invaluable references and training for the future.
Knight said it is easy to change around schedules and that the employers know school is first priority. He also said finding a job was not too difficult, but actually receiving the job is a different story because of the high volume of students applying.
“Getting a job is really hard, because a lot of students apply. We just had a job opening here, and we probably had about 25 applicants for only two positions. So you have to stand out,” Knight said.
Covington also said there are pros and cons to working within the University. While a student employee typically makes minimum wage and is restricted to working a certain amount of hours per week, they are able to work shifts around their school schedule and have evenings free.
Examples of jobs posted through the UA Student Employment Office are work-study programs, co-op programs, Help@Home temporary jobs, departmental student assistant jobs and different off-campus jobs.
