On Campus Jobs for International Students

International students are allowed to work on campus 20 hrs per week. However, don’t expect to land a job on campus the moment you get on the plane. It is actually quite difficult to get a job on campus but not impossible. The first thing you need to do is create a resume. If you don’t know how to create a resume, click here to here a sample.

Next start hunting for a job. Most on campus jobs are usually in dining services as dishwashers and food preparers. Go to the offices of the company that manages your school’s dining services and fill out an application form. Similarly, go to the Residential Life office, public safety, campus recreation and the library and submit forms. Remember to submit your resume along side, even if they don’t require one. The school Student Union should also hires a lot of students.

The trick to getting a job is persistence or your application will gather dust. Speak to the supervisor in charge of hiring. Follow up by email, phone or in person once you have submitted your application. I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep in touch with the people who are hiring. This is because often the number of applications is far more than the number of open positions. Since campus jobs require little skill, the thing employers are looking for most is enthusiasm. Show them that you really want the job.

On campus jobs usually pay $7.50/hr but this varies among different states.

If you absolutely need an on campus job while you are going to college, my suggestion is to apply for admission to bigger state universities. This is because bigger universities will have more job positions and therefore more job opportunities for international students. Smaller colleges have less job openings and those usually fill up with American students on federal work study grants. The trick to finding out whether a particular college is “international student friendly” is to look at their international student enrollment. For example, Saint Cloud State University has almost 1000 international students and the number keeps increasing every year. Click here to read the article on Saint Cloud State University.

If you can get a job as a Residential Advisor/Community Advisor, then the school will probably give you free room and board and a little bit of money. Residential advisors are responsible for students who live on their floor. However, you can only get this job once you have studied at the college for some time and have experience of on campus living.