1. Go Digital: Get paid to be a Twitter brand ambassador for your school while boosting your social media savviness — a major plus on the modern gals’ resume. Most schools and universities have a Twitter account nowadays — not to mention separate accounts by department, sport, club, etc — and they constantly need to be updated to keep students as well as huge alumni networks abreast of what’s going on. Bonus? Networking, baby! You never know who might send you a DM with future job prospects.
2. Go Shopping: Photoshopping, that is. If you painstakingly retouch your photos before posting them to Facebook, this one is for you. Offer your services to the student newspaper or college’s alumni magazine and make some cash by editing their photos, or making infographics. This is an important skill to have for students interested in media, graphic design, even fashion — and plus, you’ll always be the first to know of what’s going on on campus!
3. Get Crafty: Have a penchant for painting or woodworking? Apply for a job to build sets and furnish props for your school’s theater programs. These jobs demonstrate excellent time management (set or no set, the show must go on!) as well as the ability to work as a team. Take photos of your projects at various stages, and then compile a portfolio of your work. This will come in handy if you decide to apply to any fine arts programs or positions down the road.
4. Stretch it Out: Interested in sports medicine, or athletic management? A visit to the AD’s office might uncover a lucrative job as a sports team manager or trainer’s assistant. If you’re a sports fan, you’ll typically be given free passes to all athletic events to cheer your team on, er, we mean work, and in some cases, you’ll even get to travel with the team! If sideline action isn’t for you, apply for a job working the check-in desk at the athletic center. This looks great for sports management positions and will demonstrate your organization and people skills.
5. Reach Out: A position as a student/alumni liaison will pay dividends down the road. On campus, you can use your organizational and creative skills to organize events and panels for visiting alums. The position will also require a fair amount of cold-calling — which might seem daunting, but it’s a critical skill to have in pretty much any job down the road, from journalism to PR to marketing. Plus, you’ll have the “in” with your school’s extensive alumni network — never a bad thing for the job hunt to come.
