Decent Part Time Jobs while in school?
 

Right now I am a pharmacy technician making 8.35 an hour, which wouldn't be bad if I was getting decent hours. I have also worked there for 4 years. Anyone have any good ideas on jobs that may work better for a college student? I live in TPA, Fl

Erika

Computer lab assistant.


You would be surprised how much time you will have on your hands.

:cool:

I worked in the school library (really boring but got lots of homework done) and was a preschool teacher. Both ended up being good, but I had to work a lot of hours for the teaching job. By senior year I was doing around 30 hours a week (plus full class schedule). If you can do it it's worth it, big time.

What about working in a call centre?

I know in Canada, employees of call centres make decent money. Even part time workers.
My godmother sets up and trains people in call centres and she said many are making $14-15/hour.
Pay usually starts around $10/hour.

I worked at RadioShack all through college and HS (had a 1 year stint at the Sharper Image, but went back to RS).

Worked with my schedule very well. I made between $10-$25/hr depending on my commission.

How about grading problem sets? I did that one semester. For a few classes in my department, the dept. would hire undergrads to grade problem sets and take some of the stress off the TA's. You had to have taken the class the previous semester and earned an A. It was only good for about 8hrs/wk and the pay wasn't great, but you could do the work whenever you wanted as long as you got the problem sets back to the TA's in time for them to record the grades and return them to the students. It was also a good way to keep the subject material fresh in your mind.

Another popular on-campus job was working at your dorm's front desk. Usually this meant sorting the mail, handing out keys to the weight room / music room / study rooms / etc., handing out keys to people who'd locked themselves out of their rooms, buzzing in visitors... nothing too crazy. It works well because they acknowledge that classes take precedence over work, plus if it's not too busy, you can work on a problem set or paper during your shift.

(I know of a guy who did something very clever: There must be a deskworker on duty whenever the dorm is open, for security reasons, and the dorms stay open during holidays. This guy had to write his senior thesis. So he arranged to stay over winter break and offered to work desk throughout. Since hardly anyone was on campus, he had almost nothing to do in terms of deskworker duties. So he took his laptop with him to the front desk, sat around and wrote his thesis, and got paid for it (time and a half for Christmas and New Year's to boot!).)

Has anyone ever worked for UPS or one of the airlines?

I'm a server at Red Robin: make about $17/hr on the weekends and at least $12/hr on other days. It'll take you nowhere, but it'll sure make money in the meantime.

I agree...even with the lousy $3/hour I was getting paid (yes, I know that's illegal, but my ex-boss didn't do much that WAS legal) I made at least $13/hr weekends and $8/hr weekdays, and that was at a little family diner.

The only problem is, it's very hard to budget a waitress salary, because sometimes you just aren't busy and don't make anything, and other days you don't stop all day (and there have been days I've averaged $16/hr, and one night I made $5 the whole night).

I guess jobs pay more out here in CA because it's more expensive to live. I've had a few part time jobs, and the best one was working at the Undergrad admissions office. I got paid $10/ hr and didn't have to work a specific shift (I got to make my own hours- it was lovely!). Also, I now code for a psych study run through the hosptial. It's interesting, and pays $12/hr.

other things to try:
Teaching for Kaplan or the Princeton Review (if you got a good score on yor SAT or graduate entry exams, you can make $17-$25/ hr).

Tutoring

Front desk hotel shifts in the evening. Hardly anyone checks in at 11pm on a Tuesday, so you can do homework.

On-Campus: Bookstore, Library, Tour guide.

Temp work through a temp agency

Working for a department on campus.

Working for research studies. Sometimes they will pay you to be a research assistant!

Being an RA, or other dorm staff (frequently you get free housing!).

I've worked as a campus security guide which was great around a 21 credit hour schedule and also as an Administrative Assistant to one of our VPs at Butler. I'd pick the office work because you don't work nights or weekends and you can do your homework at the same time! It also pays fairly well since you're considered in a higher up position.

I live in Tampa as well and there are a lot of good part time jobs in the area. Check with Bank of America, Chase, Capital One, Fairfield Resorts, Progressive, Home Depot and Raymond James - they are all really good companies, have offices in the Tampa area (Raymond James is in St. Pete and both Progressive and Home Depot's offices are in Riverview). Most have call centers and are always hiring. Those are just a few of the big companies in town - there are a lot more, you just need to look. :D

I've heard that UPS pays really well, but the hours are crappy.

This is true. My mother-in-law worked for UPS and our last year in college she let my husband know about a job opening at the local UPS hub so he could try and recruit one of his friends so she could get her referral bonus. It paid very well, but you worked from 11 pm to 7 am. Blah!

I don't know if you have a campus job listing for the Tampa area or some way of finding people, but nannying is a great job. If you can handle being around little kids then it is awesome. I get paid about $10 an hour and it is really flexible around other commitments. I might keep it up in the fall around my class schedule. My friend found our nanny job b/c the family advertised in some listing at Wesleyan and my friend did ti for 2 years, but she went home this summer so I took over. See if you have some sort of job listing on your campus.

OK word of advice that I wish someone would have told me in undergrad so I wouldn't have worked at a crappy waitressing job even though it was good, quick money:

LOOK FOR SOMETHING IN THE FIELD YOU PLAN ON GOING INTO.

at least you can put that on your resume and it will make you one step ahead when you graduate.

Unfortunately my career path is with govt. It's hard to find jobs in either criminology or political science related. Right now my job is in health care and I would really like to get something towards my field.

Unfortunately this is a really difficult thing to do.

It's one thing if it's summer job where you can work full time for 4 months, it's another thing, if you're looking for a part time job to make some extra money WHILE attending school.

Going off on what Winney said:

I agree with others that it's near impossible to find a major-like job without a degree in that major. But I got this suggestion from a design forum once. Design studios like people with experience. But the Catch 22 is that you can get a job to get experience if you don't have experience. One of the forum leaders suggested doing clerical work for a design firm. And if the studio seemed over loaded with projects and they needed help, volunteer!

You may be able to do this with government jobs. While I hate doing clerical duties (answering phones, faxing stuff, filing) it may be a way in. And it's easy enough that you won't stress about it when you have other things to think about... like school. Gosh if you lived in Sacramento, you would be in luck. There are quite a few state jobs out here and that's basically what everyone does while in school.

As far as UPS/airlines: My dad works as a baggage loader guy for an airline. They do hire part timers... and from what I hear from my dad, they kinda favor them. (No benefits required=more part timers!) But my dad has some funky hours and his "weekends" always change. Depends on what department you want to work in. If dealing with stressed out travellers is your bag, go for it.

I'm afraid that it is legal in restaurants. That's because some Americans, in the past, went to Europe and started tipping. Foolishly, back in the States, tips became part of a server's salary instead of an indication of efficiency and presentation.

You may try your local sheriff's office. I'm working there this summer (that's actually where I am now). I work in the property and evidence division. It's pretty basic stuff...filing, computer work, pulling evidence, inventory etc...but it's a reputable org so it'll look good on a resume if you're interested in criminology.

-Jessica

Do you know how I would go about applying for something like that? Also, is it paid? I have internships right now with campaigns but I don't get paid anything.

Well, I found out about this job through a family friend, but you should be able to contact the city and see what jobs are available. My position makes 10.47 an hour, so that's really exciting for a job that doesn't require that much work!!

A lot of places (especially in the social service field which is related to what you are doing) look for people to work p/t and on a per-diem basis. It is affordable for the agencies because as mentioned earlier, they don't have to worry about paying benefits. Clerical was also mentioned. You can work in a criminal-justice related office just answering phones and if you put on your resume that you've worked at this place it still looks good. I don't think it is THAT difficult to find a p/t job while in school. You just have to be willing to be a little bit flexible sometimes. I've known people who are students who still want to have a VERY active social life and TELL the job what hours they want to work and you just can't do that. As a p/t or per diem staff usually you are going to be the one to work the hours that the f/t and long-time staff don't want to work. I see a lot of college students (and I was once one too and did the same thing) who are very picky for these reasons I mentioned. When I worked in a community residence we actually STOPPED calling certain per diems because they never were available at certain times (and I am not talking cuz it conflicts with class) then they would complain later about not being given hours. (Keep in mind I am not implying this is how you are). Even my younger sister is like this and my parents get annoyed with her all the time. It has a lot to do with life experience which we all gain with time. Also check out craigslist.org, it lists a lot of part-time jobs in major cities and their outskirts. Idealist.org is another good website.

Also check out residential treatment facilities and legal services clinics. Both are related to law and gov't obviously. Are there any law schools in your area? I did an internship in a legal services clinic once at Cardozo Law School and they hired a lot of staff to do clerical stuff and interns to cover cases in the summertime.

$3/hr is NOT legal. (In Illinois, I know some states it's different) $3.09 USED to be legal when I started working. It is now $3.30, as of Jan. 1. And yes, $.09, and especially $.30 DOES make a difference when you work at a place for a year.

My friend worked for the poli sci dept reading the NY Times and cutting out important articles and archiving them. Maybe they have a job like that in your school. She had worked in the dining hall the previous year so this job was a dream come true in comparison. I suggest that you talk to the department head and individual professors to see if they are hiring. Good luck!

I still hadn't been able to find any jobs with the police department or social service type jobs. If anyone knows of any ideas...

what area of the country are you in? sometimes it is really hard to find a job in certain areas without a degree/experience/etc. even WITH these things it is hard in certain areas. also it is SUMMERTIME right now. EVERYONE is looking for a job. be patient and hang in there!

I suggest that you pound the pavement and go to the places you want to work with your resume in hand dressed for an interview. Also a temp agency might be able to help you. Good luck!

Co-sign.

Despite the fact that I had jobs in my field every summer between years in undergrad...I had a really hard time finding part-time jobs in my field until I got to graduate school. I took jobs in clerical things, and was able to get more seniority and responsibility. I use the skills I learned in my non-field related job just as much (if not more than!) those summer internships.

I worked in banking during school but in a different group. I knew kids who worked in all sorts of jobs from IT to law firms during the year. Also, in Chicago a few of my friends interned at the Mayor's office. I know for sure NYC also has an internship program. Sometimes these things aren't advertised but you gotta look for them - for my jobs, luckily they weren't hidden and I was in a pretty large banking hub.

-Rudey

I am in Tampa, Fl. I work as a pharmacy tech but don't get enough hours. I have great job stability (I am 21 and have had the same job for 4 years, 3 months, almost 7 days)... I have applied at UPS, airlines, University of Tampa's student activities office (I go to USF), applied to Blockbuster, a shoe store, etc.

Like a mentioned before. why not a call centre??

I know you want to work in government/social services, but my dad works for the federal government and they have a huge call centre. One of the girls in his office started off there in the call centre. Why not see if there are any call centre related jobs within government organizations?

In this day and age when EVERYONE is seemingly out of work/not happy with current employer/looking for a job YOU HAVE TO BE ASSERTIVE. Go to places YOURSELF and don't sit and wait for them to call you. Unfortunately not many people find jobs this way. Also try to get an "in" from people you ALREADY know. Good luck!

Since being in college, I've done telemarketing and archival assistant. Currently I work at a convenient store and a computer lab. I'll probably end up leaving the convenient store because the pay and hours are bad. I definitely do not recommend it! I get a lot of study time at the computer lab!:)

Thanks for all the insight. Contrary to popular belief, I do spend about 4-5 hours a day looking for a new job and that means scouring the net ads, the news paper, going to local business areas. My resume is at probably 30-40 places. Still no word.

I applied anywhere and everywhere accepting applications. I ended up with two jobs, and now am down to one at which I make $10 an hour to occasionally wait on customers and I have the opportunity to use a computer if I'm not helping customers. I did exactly what you did, but I started before the summer. I started back around the beginning of April. It really could be the time of year, most places are staffed for the summer and will start looking for people around the middle of August when college kids go back to school.

Yea... I am hoping. I am scheduled at my current work until the first week of August. A lot of my friends are surprised that I don't make more than I do. I make 8.35 an hour as a Certified Pharmacy Technician. The job I was hoping for is filed but I guess I can hope for others or maybe something better will come along. Luckily the high school students go back early August...

I'm surprised you don't make more than that either! I have lots of pharmacy friends who make around $9-10 an hour. Although during the school year I work making $7.50 an hour working for the VP of Enrollment at Butler. It's really easy work (I keep the fridge and the pretzel jar stocked basically) so I can live with making less.