What job did you have in college?

I did work-study at the counseling center on campus, then worked retail in a small gift shop, then worked as an SAT tutor. The last was far and away the best because I could set my own hours and got paid reasonably well. Also it’s more my style to work independently; tutoring allowed me to do that.

I worked in the admissions office at college/worked weekends at an appliance repair store/worked nights at a florist.
Then I worked as a bank teller and took classes at night
Then I worked 30 hours a week in a law firm, took some day classes, some night classes
Then I worked for a title company 30 hours a week, took some day classes, some night classes

I am a full time 911 dispatcher. I think it’s a pretty good idea for college students because they pay well wherever you are. If you live in a small town it’s usually slow enough to get some studying in. The actual work is easy but it can be emontionally stressful. I hate my job and can’t wait to put in that two weeks notice memo.

@krose, you think it’s a good idea and you can’t wait to quit?

I worked at an architectural firm as a model builder (1 year).
Then I worked as an airbrush artist at one of those stands in a mall (3 years).
Then I worked as a collector going after doctors, lawyers and the like who didn’t pay back their student loans (1 year).

Worked about 20–30 hours a week through 5 years of college.
I wish I could have worked less and concentrate on my studies more, but I paid my own way through college.

I had so many jobs through college. My first year I worked as a cocktail waitress and a receptionist at the Student Union Admin. offices, at the same time, while taking 12 units. Then I moved up in the admin job; I worked in reservations and then moved to Human Resources. When I transferred to UCLA I worked as an Accounts Payable Clerk and as a Shift Lead at the Coffee Bean.

I never worked less than 30 hours while attending classes full-time. I also got a lot of experience. I think the best thing to do is to work in an area related to the career path you are on. If you don’t need the money, try interning or volunteering. You need skills, not just knowledge when you leave college.

I worked three part time jobs to pay my way through college, none glamorous, none high paying (I worked retail at a pet store afternoons, cleaned a veterinary hospital at night, and mucked out stalls in a horse barn on the weekends). It took me six years, but I came out with a degree and no debt.

1) Student manager of the Cafeteria
2) Pasta King counter person
3) Hertz Rent-a-Car “dirty shirt”

Sold Ladies’s shoes, been described elsewhere on Fluther.

Worked registration and other occasional administrative jobs.

During Graduate school, I worked for a shirt and pajama company for several years.

SRM

I did survey research phone calls for the sociology department at my school as a “refusal converter,” i.e. my job was to call all the people who refused to take a survey the first time they were asked and cajole them into doing so. Good times. :P

I’ve never done any sales, fundraising or any other phone work since.

I didn’t go to college, but started working at 14. For my first job, I worked at a Hallmark card store & a figurine store owned by the same people. In high school I was a receptionist at a dental office, a secretary for a hardware company, and a secretary for a glass company. I held down all 3 jobs at once, while attending 1/2 day of school, plus night school. Eventually I went full time at the hardware company.

Let’s see…during breaks, I was a UPS runner – Christmas time was torture! I was a tutor, a server and worked at an answering service. (calling doctors at 3am for emergencies…not fun)

Before college, I worked at McDonalds, I babysat – every child in Orlando, FL…I swear, I think I worked for every family, I tutored. Oh…I also did odd jobs for my Dad, too.

I worked as a gas jockey (one of the first female pump attendants in our town), I worked as a file clerk and as a proxy counter, I demonstrated Kodak’s “Handle” camera in Spanish, I transferred bank data from tape to microfiche and delivered the competed microfiche back to the bank, I was a receptionist at a law firm that handles a lot of divorces (Mondays were always awful), I taught introductory biology laboratories, and I worked as a dolphin trainer at Seaquarium.

I tended and managed a bar. The hours were perfect and I made lots o’ scratch in a short period of time. I also got free gourmet food, which was awesome.

In high school, I worked at a pizzeria as a counter girl/waitress, which was great. I also worked at a photographer’s studio as his assistant, which was a pretty good time, and great experience to boot (I’m in school for photography now). I haven’t had a job yet during school, but on breaks, I’m back at the pizzeria.

Museum gift-shop salesperson. Nude model. Secretary. Frame shop grunt. Typist. Muralist. Artist/sold my work. Charged other students to pick them up at home and drive them 50 miles to school and back (where I was going to school too) – taxi fare. Extorted money from my father on the grounds that while I was going to school and working, I was also supporting my (first) husband, who was going to school and not working.

@susanc- Nude model? Awesome. Does that pay well?
And… extortion, huh? I should try that too.

I’m in university now. I worked at a music store for about a year, an office for one summer, and Starbucks for the past year or so. I also am self-employed on the side with audio and video production.

College shouldn’t be about your part-time job, in my opinion. What you do outside of school should not distract you from your studies. If you’re lucky, you’ll find something related that you can combine with school (a lot of the video stuff I do is for school and work experience). Otherwise, someplace that won’t cause you too much stress is the best place to go.

I’m at art school and they pay our models very, very well. It’s a hard business to get into, however. You have to know all kinds of poses and you have to be able to hold very still.

-Nude modeling didn’t pay that well in my era, but it was easy because I drew all the time myself and I could understand what was needed. Pays well now, huh? Maybe I’ll get back to it. I have a whole new body to offer, heh heh.—

@irk- Yeah I know I contradict myself. I think it is a good idea because of the hours. I just hate the people I work which is why I am ready to leave!!

@susan: yeah, it now pays really well. I think the models for my three hour drawing classes are paid 30.00 an hour with 5 or 10 minute breaks every twenty minutes to half hour…

sign me up for that!! I wouldn’t even know where to go to get that job

If you’ve never done any kind of modeling, you should try to start at local community colleges and what not. They won’t pay as well, but if you get better, you can go to art schools and get paid better.