Where to Work as a First-Year Student

Ooh, a job. For some of you, it might be a scary, new prospect that just a reminder of the incoming doom of life after school. For others, it’s something you’ve known for years. Whether you’re looking to get a job to help pay for this expensive (but worth it) school or just so you can get bopngrill every week, let me tell you about the state of jobs and Loyola, both on and off campus.

Even if you live just down the block from Loyola, things change when you get here. In the job quest, you might qualify for work-study – or you might not. Luckily, no matter your needs, Loyola is here to help! We have job fairs every single semester that host companies looking to hire college students and RamblerLink, a website that also connects prospective employers to potential employees.

Of course, there’s more than that, too. That’s mainly off-campus. Near-campus opportunities include working at The Coffee Shop, Subway, Insomnia Cookies, and so on, and so on. Businesses hire, and you don’t have to take the CTA to get to work! There’s also online freelance jobs perfect for students, like writing for The Odyssey.

It’s Chicago. There’s lots of job opportunities, if you’re willing to go out and get ’em! And if you’re not comfortable leaving the campus or your schedule won’t allow for a thirty-minute commute, then on-campus is for you!

On-campus has a lot, a lot of opportunities. Unlike other schools, our dining halls are run entirely by Aramark employees, so you don’t have to resign yourself to working to feed your peers. Instead, you can work at the Undergraduate Admission Office, like me! Or you could become a Desk Attendant, an RA, a lab assistant, or a tutor. You can work at the Phonathon, or with Campus Reservations, or even Conference Services. There’s also Orientation Leaders, Welcome Week Leaders, College Coaches, and on and on and on. You could be a security guard at LUMA if you wanted to give that a try. If you can dream that Loyola has a need, then there’s a job.

So where will you work? There’s so many choices, it’s really up to you, your circumstances, and your need.  Trust me when I say that the job market isn’t something you have to worry about being too small here in Chicago and on campus. Happy hunting!