College Life 101: Working Odd Jobs

During your college years, you will need to find a way to bring in some money. Sometimes making this money isn't the best or most honorable work, but it's a job and it pays cash. I have recommended in a previous post that the average college student should seek employment through the university. Typically these jobs are pretty laid back, and some will even allow you to do your homework when you’re not helping someone. But if you’re not working through the university, there are certain parameters you should look for when getting employment including hours working, pay rate, and schedule. 

Being in college and working is difficult because of the schedule you might have. Forget a full time job, this will wear you out. So what you’re really looking for is the highest pay for the least schedule impact.  A great college job is either bartending or waiting tables, both pay very nicely and typically are flexible with scheduling, but these jobs fill fast and there isn't always openings. 

So you can't do customers?   Or you don't want that steady consistent employment because school requires too much attention?

Well this is where you need to get creative, and think outside the box. But there are definitely options. 

-Temporary agencies-

I really am not a fan of temp agencies, but they definitely get you a job fast. The first thing you should do is apply with a few of these agencies, this is because they all have different employer contacts and will have a variety of positions available. This will give you some leeway when accepting jobs from them.  But then after you apply and sit down with an agent, you should explain to them that you’re a college student looking for 

Day-to-Day employment

Yes, this does exist!  I never thought it did until a couple years ago but it’s actually a good idea while in college. Many companies have odd jobs that don't require consistent employment and so they will have a temp come out for a couple hours or a full day or even a couple days until the job is complete. The pay isn't the greatest, but these day-to-day jobs are actually quite plentiful when you have multiple agencies you’re working with.

It's no joke, you can opt for them to send you text offers for short term assignments, and just reply to them if you’re interested in taking the assignment. This gives you complete control over where you want to work and how much you make because you will receive offers on a daily basis. Some of the work assignments can be odd and you would be surprised what some places will pay for people to do. I personally have done these:

-Sort golf balls at a driving range for 4hrs after class @ 11/hr.

-Move furniture from apartment building, $50 base and it took 2hrs.

-Install shelfing at tool shop for 5hrs @ 12/hr.

-Pick/pack on assembly line as a fill in for 4hrs @ 10/hr.

Many of the jobs aren’t a full 8 hrs, which is great for students looking to pick up some hours after classes. This is a great option for Full-time students as the time commitments are very minimal.

If you’re more interested in steady good paying work, your best bet is to look into a skilled trade like painting, flooring, concrete, plumbing, etc. 

Now you don't really need the skills, but expect the work you do to not be the best and/or labor intensive. These types of employers are typically smaller operations where you can be an on-call type guy, but with most small employers working with a trade, these companies can get extremely busy very fast. So even though your on-call, expect the boss to be calling you plenty trying to get you into work. This gives you great opportunity to control the hours you work while also making a decent pay when you do work.

Because I just started college again last week, I actually do a combination of being on-call doing carpet, while also working part-time at a warehouse, and in a week I will be starting part-time at the college. It sounds intense, but I have the luxury of saying "NO" when I don't feel like working while also not having to worry about "Loosing" my job. 

Here is my on-call assignment from today:   Carpet Removal

I had to remove 3 long hallways of this square carpeting. Some of it was easy, but in some spots they used too much glue, so I had to put in a bunch of effort.

The process is simple.

1. Scrape 

2. Peal

3. Next square

It kind of looks like a crappy job, but I really didn't mind it too much. I was doing this job alone, so I was able to listen to headphones and basically move at my own pace. At $150 base, this was actually a quality job for a Saturday and I was pretty happy to have got it.

If you’re in college, there are definitely benefits to working odd jobs and not having to fulfill the requirements of continuous employment. You can plan your own schedule and decide how much time you commit to working.

Thank you for reading and up voting. Comments are always welcomed.