Like most college students, I found myself broke and in desperate need of a job. This led me into a desperate job hunt, so here is how I got a job and some things y’all can learn from my experience.
First off, I would personally advise you to have an honest conversation with yourself and ask:
- Am I mentally and physically prepared to make this commitment to work?
- Can I handle a job with my school schedule?
If you respond yes to both then I would suggest then asking what your strengths and weaknesses are. I have a lot of customer service experience, so I immediately gravitated toward those kinds of jobs. My next move was to go on my merry way and start job hunting.
My job search started where most things do: the internet.
I used indeed.com, but I also just looked up a bunch of stores and restaurants, basically any place I thought was hiring. My mistake, though, was that I quickly became overwhelmed, not only in the search, but also in the application process. I would suggest setting a list of criteria that you personally want for your job hunting like distance, pay, flexibility or whatever is most important to you.
It took me about two weeks to realize that a regular job was just not going to work out with my school schedule, so I started looking for an on-campus job because I know that they are very flexible. I saw it has an opportunity to get to know not only more about my university, but also my fellow lumberjacks. Fortunately, at Stephen F. Austin there are a lot of job openings on campus.
So, if y’all are ever struggling to find job opportunities try and look to your own campus.
I hope that this has helped and encouraged y’all to go out there with a new sense of empowerment and confidence. If someone hasn’t said it already know that you can do it and go into these new experiences with a willingness to try new things and meet new people.