What I Learned Looking for Part-Time Work as a Freshman in College – Some Practical Advice
Growing up, I was always able to find work, whether it be doing lawn care for the lady down the street or helping friends move. While I didn’t realize this at the time, having a job to provide yourself with an income is extremely important. Not having to worry about major expenses at a younger age, I could take my little earnings to the store and buy whatever I wanted. Entering my teenage years, I found more work and started to figure out what I wanted to do with my future. I began working as a high school intern for Blue Mountain Investment Management, LLC to help me earn experience in the financial industry as this is one of my fields of interest. While I was not very good at managing money and would spend a lot of the money I earned on things I wanted or thought I needed, I began to appreciate money more as I realized how quickly it can come and go and the work it takes to get more. During my junior year of high school, I joined the National Guard to help me pay for college and help better set me up for a job in the future.
After my senior year, I finished training and started my first term at Oregon State University. During my first term, I resumed my internship with Blue Mountain Investment Management, LLC to help me gain experience for my future. Recently, I have been searching for another job to help me save money for an apartment and have a little extra spending money. I had heard about LinkedIn before, so I made an account and set up a professional profile to help me network and begin building my profile for future job opportunities.
While researching part-time jobs I can have while going to college I started to notice an abundance of manual work and plenty of full-time jobs I couldn’t apply for. I came across a part-time job that fit my area of work and was flexible. I read into it more and started to suspect that it was too good to be true. It offered really good pay and had tremendously flexible hours, but it did not say too much about what you would be doing other than selling things door-to-door. After becoming suspicious, I started researching this company and figured out that the job was in fact real, but once you got the position, they wanted you to provide information about your contacts and email list so they could have ways to get into contact with potential new customers or employees. The cliche, “don’t believe everything you see,” is quite true.
Looking for work that you want to do is a lot harder than I expected. Being able to find any job is not as hard, but not all jobs fit your interests or align with your current schedule, especially while in school. Putting your name out there and finding out what you do and do not want as a job is a great way to explore the job market and learn. Networking through professors, friends, and clubs can be another great way to learn what you like as well as hear first-hand experiences from people who have worked in different positions.
