Workplace Job ideas for a college student?

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lickmypucci

Member
Aug 31, 2009
79
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#1
I'm a 20 year old college student and I currently work at a department store on commission. I work about ~30 hours a week (usually more) and make around $700 every other week.

It's been getting to the point where I feel I really need to look for a new job. I'm very unhappy there, and since I'm a student, school obviously comes first in my life. To the store I work at, work trumps school, and I've had to skip classes (I have two full days of school a week) to come in to work on days where it turns out I wasn't even needed. I have to fight to be able to work only 30 hours a week (4 days; enough hours to make good money and still be able to devote time to school), as I am usually scheduled closer to 40.

I do feel very lucky to have a pretty decent paying job for a student, and in general, just to have a job in this economy, but I feel I would be much happier somewhere else. The only thing keeping me there right now is the money.

Does anybody know of any places where I could make about the same and work around 30 hours? I hope I don't come off as ungrateful because I'm not, but I feel as if I'm at my wit's end here.
 
#2
imo maybe you need a higher paying job... and NOT work 30 hrs. i was a college student once, so i def remember how tough it is to make ends meet. and skipping classes for work is a no-no... look at the big picture... getting a good education = potentially more money to be made later.

a lot of my friends worked at banks when i was in college... look into credit unions, they pay more than the regular banks. i had an ex-bf that work at a credit union, made $17/hr starting. or look into restaurant jobs... tips are awesome! and there are lots of campus jobs as well for students! good luck!
 
#4
Honestly, pay wise that doesn't sound ideal nor too terrible. School does need to come first. I would think that with classes two weekdays it would be difficult to get a banking job. I'd love to hear suggestions as I'm also a student looking for a employment. My first and second job were well paying and had flexible hours, I had no idea that when I left I would have so much trouble finding another job. Campus jobs usually are quite limited hours (under 20) and pay very little (most on my campus only pay $7.50 an hour).
 
#5
If you can type well, there is always a market for people needing their papers typed out.
In 1989, I made $50 for a 5-10 page paper. If there were lots of scientific words that needed to be italicized or legal terms that I was unfamiliar with, I would charge more.
 
#6
^ That's a great suggestion and I believe my mom used to have someone type her papers. Unfortunately, I don't think there is much need for that anymore. The only time I've actually written a paper/essay by hand has been on in-class essay tests. Now students do pretty much everything on their computers and even bring their laptops to class to take notes. There is a market for people to entirely write papers for others, but I wouldn't morally be ok with that nor would I want to risk the consequences for plagiarism if discovered.
 
#7
I would look at positions within your school of academia. Assistant positions always seem to be open. Postings on boards near the advising offices are good to check out too. Goodluck! :smile:
 
#8
I worked part-time at a credit union as a teller. It was fantastic. Started at $10.xx an hour, and eventually moved to opening new accounts and loans, where I made $15.xx an hour. The CU I worked for offered full benefits to PT employees over 24 hours a week. No late nights, no Sunday hours. It worked out great with a school schedule that was only 2 or 3 days a week. The branch that I worked in wasn't crazy-busy either, so work rarely stressed me out.
 
#9
When I was in uni I waited tables... then eventually got stuck with bartending. of course you don't get to have your weekends because thats when they want you to work most. But you get your days to go to class, have team meets, and do your research/school work. Plus with bartending, I didn't need to worry about missing school & making money... class was in the morning, I worked at night plus the money came easy.
 
#10
Back int the days, I used to tutor... and if you spenk other languages, tutor that also.. pepole always need help... post ur number on borads throughout campus... u should get some students... also there are places where u can apply to, like grou homes, where u get to work with people with severe trauma who are on therapy or people with disablility, all mention fromthe get go that u will only be available for this amount of time beacuse of school... Hope it worksout for you, but beleive, it is not worth it to skip class for $700. The future looks bright, so hang in there...
 
#11
lickmypucci said:
I'm a 20 year old college student and I currently work at a department store on commission. I work about ~30 hours a week (usually more) and make around $700 every other week.

It's been getting to the point where I feel I really need to look for a new job. I'm very unhappy there, and since I'm a student, school obviously comes first in my life. To the store I work at, work trumps school, and I've had to skip classes (I have two full days of school a week) to come in to work on days where it turns out I wasn't even needed. I have to fight to be able to work only 30 hours a week (4 days; enough hours to make good money and still be able to devote time to school), as I am usually scheduled closer to 40.

I do feel very lucky to have a pretty decent paying job for a student, and in general, just to have a job in this economy, but I feel I would be much happier somewhere else. The only thing keeping me there right now is the money.

Does anybody know of any places where I could make about the same and work around 30 hours? I hope I don't come off as ungrateful because I'm not, but I feel as if I'm at my wit's end here.
Click to expand...

I notice you're in LA? If you like your retail job, there are many retail locations around that would probably be able to better accommodate your schedule.

When I went to USC (graduated Dec. '09, so my experience is recent/hopefully relevant), I also worked 30 hours but did 15 at a retail job and 15 at an unpaid internship. Eventually, I parlayed all that unpaid experience into an internship that allows me to work remotely and pays more than some of the full-time jobs my friends now work. This is the best work experience I've ever had, and if I hadn't been set on going to law school I would have been able to get a full-time job there. This, in my opinion, is a great route to go because it offers some measure of job security - or at LEAST a reference - in terms of your future for when you graduate.

To me, it sounds like it's not a problem with the total hours or even the nature of the job; it sounds like your employer is disrespectful of you and your education and is behaving incompetently by making the scheduling such a nightmare for employees who (judging from the paycheck!) sell well for them. In many ways, this is the nature of retail (at least in my experience) and I had similar situations at one or two places while I was doing the college thing, too.

Nonetheless, I say skip the disrespect and find a job that will pay you with $$ AND respect! I suggest checking out Robertson Blvd. for chic boutiques or Melrose for more indie ones.

In terms of specific suggestions:

If you'd like a department store, I did a management internship for Macy's/Bloomingdale's and thought their scheduling system, although strict, was extremely dependable (it does require one weekend day, at least, as I recall). And, I'm sure you know, every dept. store has a location in LA...it sounds like you may work for one already?

Or perhaps you could try Lululemon? There's one in Santa Monica for sure, but there may also be others. Also requires a weekend day, but I hear the pay is good AND they cover your gym membership and sometimes even extra classes - something I wish I knew when I was shelling out my hard earned dough for Equinox!
 
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#12
Bartending. I would make $100-250 in tips a night working at a busy bar on the weekends. The money was good, I met great people who worked there and you could try and stack your classes on Mon-Thurs to get Thurs, Fri and Sat shifts which are the biggest money making shifts.
 
#13
^I was going to say bartending too! I bartended througout college and made $400+ a week and I only worked around 16 hours.
Though it may be a bit tricky to find a place that would hire bartenders with no experience, why not try a busy restaurant with a full bar? I'm sure waitresses get paid well too :smile: and you can ease your way into bartending.
but one gripe though, it can screw up your sleeping schedule!
 
#14
Tutoring is a great idea! A bunch of my friends do that and make way more money than they did at their PT jobs doing retail or working at fast food restaurants...one of my friends (we're both 20, like you!) tutors kids for SAT and charges each kid 50 an hour and has a class of 15 kids so she makes a TON. I work at a dry cleaners hehe and I like it because the hours are consistent and when it's not busy (which is often!) I can study....or maybe a high end restaurant if there are openings? My friend works at a very upscale one and makes over $500 in tips some nights..
 
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