i’m sure this topic has arisen before but I’d like some help if its not too much trouble.
Right now ii’m a fulltime college student. Never held a paying job, did a bit of volunteering in high school, nothing serious (on campus) and until now was involved in several clubs, as an officer, and volunteering as well. Had a bit of a rough patch last year that severely affected my GPA. Fortunately I’m on the right track now, but it will take a lot of hard work and time to completely rectify the situation I am in.
Now, my family has always been against my working while I’m in college, but my mother has finally relented and given her consent for me to get a part time job. The conditions are as such: that I can still concentrate on my schoolworkand get good grades, and–this is where the desi-ness comes in—it has to be a “respectable” office job, preferably on or near my campus.
I’d like to know from those of you who’ve been in my situation, more or less, plese share whatever information and advice you can give me. Would it be realistic for someone with no prior paid experience to get an office job? Is my family the only family that has a problem with working? And please, none of the “your so stupid go work in mcdonalds” crap that I’ve read on several occasions in this forum. Thank you.
I agree with belle - your best bet would be to look for on-campus jobs in administration... your registrar's office, family care office, student affairs etc. ... most Universities have a work study program which offers students the flexibility to work in the office whenever they get time off from classes etc. - in turn they don't have to pay out of their pockets... so its a win-win.
Secondly, it wouldn't hurt to work a diminutive job somewhere where there's a potential for you to get more meaningful work later... for e.g. my very first job in first year undergrad was with Kaplan in helping them distribute flyers on campus etc. after which I moved to an Office Associate, then to an Instructor within two years time - so think long term :)
Non office job: but u could also try working in your local school as a Teaching assitant, mentor or an academic coach. This kind of thing is big in the UK and looks really good on a CV not to mention put backs a lot in the community.
Number of companies such as IBM, Dell and others offer student work programs. I am certain there are number of companies in NY who offers such position as well. Often these positions are summer only but there are saveral companies who have long term part time programs. Network with your friends, contacts, school, gupshup, etc and seek out such positions . These position gives you more real life experience than a work study jobs and they look much better on resumes.
You can't even like work at a department store? That's respectable. Apply at some stores in the mall..sometimes they have openings at departments like human resources (office work) in department stores. plus..tell ur mom that the whole family could get a discount..lol..thats how my mom relented. she's like, "20%???? itna badia discount??? kalse shoru hoja beta!! baad mein daddy ke saat baat karongi." it works yo..lol.
Last fall I finally got a job, yes on campus.. I did a pretty good job, and my supervisor said so as well. I’m in Pakistan right now, taking the semester off, and I’m planning on looking for a job when I return, this time in an office. I’ve been told it woudl be pretty easy for me to get a job in an office, but we’ll c
In my last (and first ) job, I had several differnet titles.. it was all under my college’s recreational/athletic department.. How exactly would I put it down on my resume? This is what I’ve put down so far (the updated resume is still in works)
Weight Room Supervisor, *** College
[list duties]
Reception Desk/Laundry Attendant, *** College
*[list duties]
Office Assistant, Hunter College
*[list duties]
Would this be acceptable? My main concern is that everything that’s worth putting on my resume was in school. How would seeing “*** College” over and over look to a prospective employee? Is this too repetitive?
No its not repetitive, infact it shows you are flexible and are able to adapt to meet the work situation, thats how you should market yourself. Try to look at the positive side.
The forum is not dead, the people who hangout here are extremely busy :)
Resumes are all about selling your skills to the hiring manager. What it means is that every time you will apply for a job, you will need to tweak the resume for that particular job posting. Each of the paragraphs that you will write will need to address at least one of the items that the hiring manager is looking for and usually you will find the requirements in their advert.
For an example you can highlight the following attributes in the jobs that you listed:
Weight Room Supervisor, *** College [list duties] Managing a team, team building skills, time management skills, customer service skills, etc.
Reception Desk/Laundry Attendant, ** College
*[list duties] Customer management skills, etc.
Office Assistant, Hunter College
*[list duties] excellent writing skills, computer skills, etc
The list of duties is not important, what is important is how you are highlighting the attributes that are necessary to succeed in the job you are applying for.
Sara - I knew i needed to have experience to land a good job after college. Considering the fact i was muslim and wore hijab it was extremly tough. I knew i had to show very hard that i am different and can offer alot to employer than any other graduate student.
By the time i graduated i had literally over 3 years of working fulltime experience Plus college experience so it worked out very well shukar hai.
Start now. Belle and Umar mentioned a good idea start working at your school. You will have less hours you will be able to concentrate more on your studies. I would also mention to do internship. Its hard to land a good job these days. Umar also mentioned good places you can start this also gives you a taste of how they do things. I worked in College library- it was really good for me. It gave me a lot of time to study while i was at there. No one usually bothered me *grin - I worked in Periodicals section of library what that gave me tons of research techniques. They always come in handy.
The major tip i will give you is this make sure you have some commonly used words in your resume. We usually search them by the words ex- Sales, College Grad, Communication, Accounts Payable, Accounts receivable, Language etc. Employers get tons of resumes BELIEVE ME they dont look at every single one of them. You must have something on it that will create attention. You will be shocked how people forget to put those words.
Go to your career center and speak with a professional there they help you build your resume. Plus 6 months before you graduate post it on monster and career.
:)
All the above replies are really good by the way..
alot of offices dont require prior experience. the work can be learned in a couple of days. make sure u have the basics like excel/word/powerpoint skills covered in your resume.
when you make the resume...since u dont have prior work experience...make it revolve more around your leadership/communication skills than work experience and include in there your work with student organizations at college and how that enhanced your communication skills. since every company has its own specific software/work routines...sometimes communication skills take precedence over technical skills (or a high GPA even)...so play up the extracurricular activities...
getting an internship, even if its unpaid, that will enhance your tech skills, is the best way to get your foot in the door since there is so much competition out there.stay with the internship for 6-7 months...and your prospects for getting a better job will improve.
I have hired ppl and for entry level positions its how they present themselves, if they seem intelligent, and its not always evident by the gpa, and if they have some experience.
I would rather hire a person with decent grades, with some experience that shows he had discipline, and some experience that showed he had abilities to deal with people and to be an effective team player. I would prefer him over someone who has great grades but little to show for social skills, student leadership etc, or even someone who had some job that did not show any parallels to what the person was supposed to do at my company. It varies by type pf job, I was looking for business analysts and consultants. it probbly is a little different for highly technical folks.
so really a campus job in an office where you are workign with many people and have to do some problem solving etc can be very good, compared to a receptionist, but whatever u do take, try to looka t it not just as a job but a learnign experience, and try to do things u like or what u could leverage when u try and get into your career.
and lastly..no matter what job you have, do not under estimate the value for yourself, and interest of your future employers if you do atleast one summer internship with a good company
Sara...there are many people who have parents who think like that....you are not alone in this ...but the jobs on campus are usually excepted by most parents as respectable....so enjoy your visit while you are there...
) job, I had several differnet titles.. it was all under my college’s recreational/athletic department.. How exactly would I put it down on my resume? This is what I’ve put down so far (the updated resume is still in works)