<p>I’m a college freshman and I don’t have work study. I think my classes are going to be really challenging, and I don’t need to have a job this semester, but I’d still like to work maybe ten hours a week. My school had an on-campus job fair today, but most of the jobs were for work-study students and I probably won’t be able to get any of the two or three that weren’t.</p>
<p>So now I’m wondering if I should start applying to fast food jobs that aren’t advertised at my school. Would it be possible to find a flexible job at somewhere like Subway? Would it be okay to wait a month or so until I find out how hard my classes are?</p>
<p>If you don’t need a paying job right now, I would suggest looking into non-paid opportunities on-campus related to your intended major. Nothing against fast food, but I would think relationship building would be more important at this stage.</p>
<p>Certainly to the above poster. Unless you desperately need money, you should aim for jobs that at least look good on a resume. As you gain experience / further your education, you will move onto internships that are closer to what you want to do with your major after you graduate. </p>
<p>But… Of course, the opportunities are limited anyways for starting college students–a certain amount of units / minimum requirements might be set before a better than fast-food job can be found. I just wouldn’t recommend pursuing the fast food job after your first year is over. You have the option to get at least something on that resume because customer service is valuable often when it comes to lower end internships or to simply enjoy your freshman year. I did the latter because I didn’t want to go as far as fast food and eventually got hired as a learning assistant for the physics department… Not exactly my major, but I want something that looks decent by the time I qualify for engineering internships.</p>
<p>I suggest asking-around on your campus about non-work study jobs. There might have only been 2 or 3 at the fair, but there could be countless others that weren’t represented. I’d suggest either finding something on campus (campus jobs are typically student-friendly in that you can spend down-time studying) or do what the post above said and find something that will look good on a resume (even if it’s unpaid). Even with a crammed schedule, 10 hours a week is quite manageable.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I suggest waiting and then using your on-campus job placement services to get a good internship next year. If you need money try waiting until summer and work full time then. If you can get an engineering internship, you will likely get paid anywhere around $18 which is more than double what most regular college jobs will offer and is worth waiting for. You can also get paid to assist a professor with research for around $12-15 an hour.</p>
<p>My freshman year I was in a similar position. I didn’t need a job, but I wanted one. I ended up finding a job as event staff at a local arena that did concerts and hockey games. With that job I was able to choose my own schedule which was perfect! I was able to earn some extra cash while still focusing on school. Try and see if you can find a position like that with flexible scheduling. </p>
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<p>I made this mistake at MIT and it was a big one. I almost left in October of freshman year. I got behind and I was pretty distraught about not being able to keep the job and keep up with my schoolwork. I couldn’t imagine how much time it would take to my schoolwork well. My upperclassman friends talked me down and I got tutoring to catch up. </p>
<p>I would just chill and see how things go. It wouldn’t kill you to put off looking for a job until you know how much effort you need to put in to do well. The return on the time investment that you make to do well will pay you much more than any job you can get now. </p>