While I was at TCU, I had three on-campus jobs.
It was a great way for me to network with people in administration and put a little cash in your back pocket.
My parents never let me have a job in high school, so I came in with only volunteer work on my resume. While at TCU, I worked at the Office of Admissions, TCU 360 and Housing and Residence Life.
These tips will not only help you gain an on-campus job but also are the basics to land a real-world job years later.
Contact your career services department
You need to find out what positions are even open and what departments are available on campus. You career services department will help you not only polish up your resume but can take your interests and or major and match you up with a job that you’ll love and possibly learn a lot from.
Go to career fairs
I landed my first job while visiting a career fair. I was checking out some booths, picking up some free TCU gear and I dropped something on the ground. A guy behind me picked it up and started talking with me. He was an admissions counselor at TCU and we chatted about where I was from and what I was interested in. He gave me his business card and told me to let him know if I was interested in working in his department. I went back to me room and immediately sent a thank you email. He now says that was one of the most impressive things I could have done because he had all of my information, documents and passion in one email before he even headed back to the office. You never know what you’ll find at career fairs, usual set-ups or just the luck of the draw!
Visit offices that interest you
It’s very easy to send out generic emails to 30 offices in one sitting, but what about getting off your butt and introducing yourself before you send the email? Employers know how lazy students can get and I think they’d really appreciate the time you take to go in and talk, even if there aren’t any openings available.
Use buzzwords
So, you got the interview! Awesome. Now, you need to prepare. Have your printed resume and cover letter ready in a folder that you can leave for them. Also, before I interview at any job, I look up their website and find their mission statement. Within that, I pick out those buzzwords to use during the interview and my cover letter. For example, I noticed on the Residence and Housing that they used the word passion and passionate over and over again. So, I made sure to tell them about my passions and why it would work in the specific job. But, be honest. I’m not passionate about, let’s say cooking, so I could never pretend that I was, but I would say I’m passionate about trying new things and learning how to be a better professional.
