Part-time jobs are considered important by Nigerian students once they go abroad to study. There are various ways to earn that extra cash and interact with students from all over the world. In a sense, part-time jobs give you a complete experience of the student culture and life. According to the American students’ visa guidelines, you are allowed to work only 20 hours a week and can work only on campus.
It is not that difficult to find jobs on-campus at American universities. Also, these jobs are customized in such a manner that they will adhere to all the visa guidelines. By working while studying, you get a great job experience especially if you have plans of applying for PR (permanent residence) ultimately.
For example, on the Canadian student visa, you have the permission of working for 20 hours/week of a paid job. However this is the maximum number of hours, and you are free to work for a lesser number of hours. Usually, those students enrolled for difficult or intensive courses are recommended by the universities to work for a maximum of 12 hours a week.
This is because working for more than this number can affect a student’s performance in studies. So you can reduce the number of working hours if you feel you are unable to maintain a work-study-life balance. Usually, for part-time jobs, students are paid by hours.
The rate of pay is around $10 an hour, on average. If your aim is only to gain work experience, like helping your professor with research work, then you don’t need a work permit. This kind of work has to be on-campus and will be paid less; you can work beyond the stipulated number of hours. So with just the student visa, you can still engage in academic work on-campus.
If an international student wishes to work off-campus, he can do apply for an off-campus work permit after completing six months of study. That permit will allow the student to work for a maximum of 20 hours/week off-campus.
Here are 10 most popular on-campus jobs that you can take up
Library Monitor–
Responsibilities in this job include maintaining the decorum and quiet atmosphere in the college library and supervision of study places. This is a job that will offer you a lot of quiet time to catch up on your own studies or to prepare for an upcoming exam. So along with making some extra cash, you will be making time for your academics too, or if you’re an ardent reader this job offers you a great opportunity to explore new works.
Teaching Assistant–
If you are devoted to your academics, you can apply for these academic posts. There are two types of profiles – “teaching fellows” are usually graduate students, whereas, “teaching assistants” could be graduates too and they have less formal responsibilities like handing out and collecting assignments. There are almost no formal openings for this post, so ask your professor if you can help them out through the freshman year.
Tour Guide – Campus tours are a popular campus activity in the US among prospective students and applicants along with their parents. Since the American campuses are huge in size with a lot of historic architecture of importance, guided and paid tours are just a way to know the campus better.
You can take up this job in the second, third or fourth year when you are well acquainted with your campus. In this job, you will be directly reporting to the Admissions Department of your college. This job requires you to be outgoing and friendly in order to give group tours, personal tours, and talk to potential students about all that the college has to offer.
Peer Tutor –
Like in Nigeria, you can tutor your classmates or juniors to help them with the course. You can choose your own hours. If your university has an educational resource centre, there may be a formal tutoring position you can apply for. Universities/Colleges that place a lot of importance on athletic programs usually recruit tutors to work with athletes who don’t get enough time to devote to studies.
Academic Department Assistant –
This is primarily a clerical job where you will have to deal with paperwork sorting and filing. Ask your Head of Department for the opportunities available. Departments generally give priority to students within the field. If you work within your own department, it’s a good chance to make connections and network with professors, along with understanding the functioning of your department.
Campus Tech Support –
Check with your computer support department for assistant job openings. If you’re computer savvy or majoring in a technical field, look for a job at your Universities/College’s computer centre. All US universities offer tech support to libraries, classrooms, and laboratories so it becomes an important job position to hold. Plus you will be required to work only in case of emergencies, so during the downtime, you can focus on your academics.
Production Assistant –
American universities are known for the importance they place on extra-curricular activities like dances, concerts, comedy shows, and plays. All these events require a lot of backstage and technical work. So if you are interested in cultural performances, this is a great job which will get you paid and you will get to watch performances free of cost while you work.
University Book Store Assistant–
All universities have a bookstore on campus that sells course books, reference books, and works of fiction, along with school supplies. Not only does it come with the convenience of being on campus, but you may even get really useful employee discounts on books, stationery or other supplies. You can contact the bookstore manager directly to inquire about job openings.
Babysitter–
University employees, including professors and administrative staff, usually favour college students when choosing a babysitter, so if you like working with kids, check with your student employment office for openings available. Babysitters make good money (somewhere between $10-$15 per hour) and your hours will be used up differently on different days, depending on what age of kids you babysit.
Barista–
Most college students live off coffee as they consider sleep to be a luxury. With so many exciting things happening in their lives, coffee is the most in-demand drink on campuses. If you love coffee yourself, work as a barista and you will learn a lot about coffee, espresso, tea, and other drinks. You will be given employee discounts that will save a lot of your money on coffee cravings.
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