How to find an On campus Job

After you come here in USA the first thing in your mind after studies is to find yourself an on campus job. Of course on campus jobs are really helpful because most of the times the money you make from them help you in paying your rent and grocery bills.

One of the things you can do is to come early . If  you are coming here in fall and your orientation say is August 13 then try to come here in July second last or last week ( You cannot enter USA a month before the date mentioned on your I-20 ) . This really helps because most of the students start coming here around August first week or so . This buys you time to make connections and searching for on campus jobs. 

Talk to your seniors who are graduating . Referral really works here in USA. If  they refer you for their position then most of the times you will get an interview call. 

Modify your resume accordingly . For an on campus job in library you would not want to show them a two page resume about your lab research or experience in Java. Make a simple one page resume which shows some of your extra co curricular activities and if you have prior experience in customer service , add it to your resume. 

I believe Library jobs are the best jobs ( though it is a  minimum wage ) but you can study there, not a lot of work and the schedule is flexible usually. On the other hand I would not recommend hospitality jobs because you would have to stand for hours , mop the floor stand near the oven and bake food etc . Etc. But usually it pays more than minimum wage and also you get good discounts on food. Hospitality usually requires a lot of student assistants , so if you are searching for an on campus job your starting point should be hospitality. 

The most important thing to note here is . "Talking never hurts ". Don't be afraid or scared , just go and talk to the managers and ask if they any positions open. Talk to them about your prior customer service experience or any other job related experience you have. Make sure you have modified your resume according to the job . You would not want to hand over your 3 years Java experience resume for the post of student assistant in Hospitality .

Master's or PHD students can always look for RA/GA/TA jobs. ( Research Assistant, Graduate Assistant and Teaching Assistant) . Sometimes it is hard to get these jobs but still talk to your professors and ask if they have any open RA or GA positions. These positions pay really well. Generally a  Research assistant can fetch you up to  $1200 - $1500 a month. A Graduate Assistant position can fetch you up to $10 to $ 15 an hour . Teaching assistant position can fetch you up to  $1500 to $2200 a month . These jobs comes with other perks as well. You might get a tuition waiver and this would save you a lot of money. 

Make a lot of copies of your resume and go to each and every department . Introduce yourself and ask them if they if they have any jobs available. Leave a resume with them even if they say they currently have no open positions. Ask for a business card from them and follow up in 15 days . But don't be pushy.

I hope the above information helps. If you have something to add to it , do leave a comment below . Don't forget to like our facebook page for latest updates. Also follow us on Twitter.

You would also want to look at my article : How to Search for Jobs

Image Credit : http://www.sjfc.edu/campus-services/payroll/student-employment-overview.dot