Not long ago, I packed my bags and flew out to Boston to attend a private college. Shortly after arriving, I realized I didn’t fit in the medium to upper socioeconomic class that most students came from. I found that I barely could afford required textbooks and supplies, often trying to find ways to stretch my dollar. Although I was a decent saver in high school, I knew that my savings wouldn’t last me until the end of my freshman year. It took me awhile to consult several of my college friends and figure out what worked best for me, but I found the three ways below to be the most practical and common for several college students.
1. Campus Jobs
Several schools often have campus job recruiting events. During these events, you can see all the various openings available from working in the school cafeteria to sorting books in the library. If you happen to miss these events, you can also walk into any department that you see other students working at and just ask to see if they are hiring. Campus jobs usually are part time given that most students have a full school workload and are only able to work around their class schedule. Most part time campus jobs offer around 20 hours a week. Assuming a minimum wage of $8 per hour, a whole week working a campus job can earn you $160 Pre-tax. Although it may not be enough to fund your entire college education, it certainly helps to have a source of income to pay for books or off-campus meals. During my freshman year, I worked as a library assistant which not only allowed me to pay for some of my textbooks, but also let me study or read when it wasn’t too busy.
2. Internships
Prior to looking for a full time role post-graduation, it helps to have some sort of relevant experience. For example, if you wanted to work for an architectural firm after graduation, you can stand out by having relevant internship experience. Throughout the school semester, it may be difficult to fit an internship between your classes, but it’s not unheard of. There will be several internships that will be unpaid to which you need to assess whether it is worth having that experience on your record with the hope of landing a full time after you graduate. However, in the case that you do land a paid internship during the school year, you can expect slightly higher wages compared to a campus job. In some cases, your internship can also lead to a full time offer. During my freshman year, I worked for a real estate agent for free and I ended up not putting the experience on my resume when applying to full time finance roles during my junior year given that I had other relevant experience. Although, some would look at that experience as a waste of time, I personally enjoyed learning the real estate industry and at that time, I didn’t have many options and I was desperate to start padding my resume.
3. Passion Projects
There is a large gray area to passion projects given that there is no guarantee that you would make any money pursuing something that you enjoy doing. On the flip side, passion projects can lead you to a career you never thought you would pursue and even lead you to opportunities to make pretty decent side income. The story of entrepreneurs dropping out of college to pursue a business is over played and often very drawn out. Unfortunately, not everyone has the luxury to drop out of college and many find ways to pursue their passion and their degree simultaneously. In college, I knew of several students that enjoyed photography that were decent enough to be invited to do work for large student events or local weddings. These events often netted them $100 to $200 per event. Pursuing passion projects require a little bit more reflection to see if you have anything that you truly enjoy that can be converted into something that can make you money. Some ideas include guitar lessons, videography, and website design.
College can both be an exciting and difficult experience especially if you are worried paying for the next semester. If you find yourself in these situation, finding a campus job, internship, and passion projects can help you fund your education and also allow you to get closer to the career you may want to pursue.
