By Haley Thierry
Youngstown State University offers jobs on campus for students.
Melanie Leonard, student employment specialist for the Division of Student Success, said students can apply for jobs on campus online through Handshake or directly with the department that’s hiring. Departments will start posting more job opportunities within several weeks as the semester closes.
“The student employment process is all done through the department. They post the jobs, they interview the students, they choose the students. Once they decide what students they’re going to hire for a job, they then send our office an appointment form and we process it from there,” Leonard said.
According to Leonard, there are a number of benefits for students if they were to work on campus, including learning to work with people, being in different environments and having jobs that go toward classes and careers, while still receiving a paycheck.
“Departments will work with the student, with their school schedules to make it easier for them to work. Student workers are able to register for classes sooner than other students once registration starts,” Leonard said.
Leonard said getting a job on campus is an opportunity for both international and domestic students to make extra money.
“When you’re talking about domestic students or international students, international students by law are not allowed to work in jobs off of campus. They can only work on-campus jobs,” Leonard said.
Claire Berardini, associate provost for Student Success, said having a job on campus allows students to branch out and develop new relationships within the community.
“It’s a way for students to form connections with staff and sometimes faculty outside of what they’d normally be able to do,” Berardini said. “Student employees get to be kind of part of their department family in many cases.”
Sierra Besser-Paul, an international graduate student from Canada studying athletic training, works at Guest Services and The Cove in Kilcawley Center. She explained why she decided to work on campus.
“With my Visa, the only place I could work is on campus,” Besser-Paul said.
Besser-Paul said she recommends any student looking for a job to seek one on campus.
“I don’t have to go far for work. I just walk to work, then I run straight to clinicals right after, so I like how everything’s in the same area, and you get to see students all the time. It’s like you’re more a part of the community,” Besser-Paul said.
To view available jobs on campus, visit Handshake through the Penguin Portal website.