Students speak on the perks of working at UMD

BY HANNAH BROADBENT | The Statesman Class at 8 a.m, work at noon and a group project shortly after.This may sound like a familiar day in the life of the average college student. But imagine how much time could be saved and how much stress could be prevented if that job was on campus.

Or, just let these three students explain what it’s like.

“I would not work off-campus,” senior Trisha Rutter said.

Rutter has worked in the library since her freshman year. She is a work-study student and found the library gig on the UMD website. Four years later, she’s a team lead and convinced she has the best job on campus.

“There is a lot of leniency and perks at this job,” Rutter said.

Rutter recalls having barbecues and grilled cheeses during finals week and receiving grocery bags of food during student employee appreciation week.

Flexible hours and co-workers that are always willing to trade shifts is another perk of the job for Rutter. She gets to work when she can between classes and it is always understood when she needs a night off.

“They know you have school and they want to keep that priority,” Rutter said.

She said it’s a luxury compared to working eight hours somewhere like Target.

Convenient hours like Rutter’s are a perk noted by many student employees, including Kati Ruprecht who works at RSOP and Sarah Stark at the Kirby Info Desk. RSOP’s hours, like the library’s, end close to midnight. Ruprecht, a junior, said that there are some people who like working the late shifts, so she gets to keep her preferred daytime hours.

She also revels in the ability to go right from class to work, hassle free. Similar to other student workers, she has been working a on-campus job her whole college career.

“My Rockstar when I was a freshmen worked here and he knew I was looking for a job and got me to apply and he was the one that interviewed me,” Ruprecht said.

One upside she can see to working off-campus is that she could get out more, meet more people and also work more hours than on-campus jobs allow.

Though, Rubrecht does get to know a lot of people working at RSOP.

“I see someone who comes to work out all the time and I always swipe them in, then we just start a conversation,” Ruprecht said.

Another pattern of on-campus jobs is the ability to get them from people you know. Stark was in Student Association her freshman year. From people in SA, she was referred to the Kirby Info Desk.

According to these girls, the biggest perk of their on-campus job is the lack of stress.

“I think this job is really lucky, ‘cause you can do homework while you’re here,” Stark said.

“My friend works retail and she works 40 hours a week and that is just absolutely crazy, I wouldn’t be able to do that.”

 

Go to http://www.d.umn.edu/umdhr/studentjobs/ to look for a job opportunity.

 

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