Macalester College Student Employment Handbook
Student Employment Handbook
77 Mac, 2nd floor | 651-696-6835 | studentemployment@macalester.edu macalester.edu/employmentservices/studentemployment/
Table of Contents
Macalester College Student Employment Program
Refusing a Student Employment Award
Job Assignments for Incoming First-Year Students
Job Search and Hiring Process for Returning Students
Student Work Awards Assigned to Departments
Off-Campus Student Employment Program
Direct Payments to Students Via Direct Deposit
Direct Payments to Students Via Paper Checks in Their SPOs
Earnings Credited to a Student’s Account
International Student Employment Regulations
Study Away Student Employment Policy
Disabilities Which Interfere with a Student’s Ability to Perform a Job
Student Employment During January
Criteria for employing students during January
Student Employment Between May Final Exams and June 1
Student Employee Disciplinary Procedures
Worker’s Compensation for Student Employees
How To Get the Most Out of Your Student Employment Experience
Positive Attitude, Customer Service, Professionalism
Administrative/Project Management Skills
Communication Skills (Written and Verbal)
The Macalester College experience offers its students a wide range of opportunities. From the time they arrive on campus through graduation, both inside the classroom and out, students encounter challenges that test and expand their abilities. These purposeful and carefully planned obstacles are designed with the goal of preparing students for post-graduation success in whatever future endeavors they might pursue. It is often during the pursuit of these endeavors that graduates recognize the significance of their study abroad experience, relationships formed and maintained with faculty, staff and classmates, and their student employment experiences while a student at Macalester.
These and other experiences work together in a complementary fashion, each enhancing the overall learning experience for the student. The contribution of the student employment program is multidimensional, affording students the opportunity to develop personal and work-related skills. Recent studies have demonstrated that students who work while attending college are more likely to graduate in four years than those who don’t work. It also affords students an opportunity to develop real-world work skill sets and experiences which will benefit them as they apply for graduate school or jobs in the years after graduation. For this reason, a close working relationship exists between the Student Employment Office and the Career Development Center at Macalester to assure a student’s work experience will prepare them for whatever path they choose to take after graduation.
For Macalester, the student employment program provides a highly desirable pool of employees who play a critical role in the College’s operation. Offices and departments come to rely on students to carry out a substantial portion of the work completed each business day.
Finally, the Off-Campus Student Employment Program, administered by the Civic Engagement Center, provides benefits to local non-profit organizations within the Twin Cities community where students work in a variety of positions. Preparing students for engaged citizenship and effective civic leadership is a critical part of Macalester's mission. Students who work in these off-campus community organizations have experiences which enrich not only themselves, but the community as a whole.
Because student positions are funded by federal, state and institutional financial aid dollars, priority must always to be given to need-based aid students when filling any position. To assure all financial aid students have knowledge of and access to these jobs, all open positions must be posted on the student employment web site. Hiring of financial aid students must be done online, with the exception of first-year students who are assigned to their campus jobs.
Macalester's online job search process parallels the outside work world by offering students an opportunity to discover the variety of campus positions available, to compare and apply for jobs which interest them, and to participate in interviews, if requested to do so. It also creates an opportunity for students and departments to meet their needs for the academic year in a competitive manner by becoming directly involved in the placement process.
Students who wish to remain in their present positions should re-apply and be re-hired online each year. Because the job search is web-based, students who are off-campus during Spring Semester are able to apply and be hired for jobs for the next academic year in exactly the same manner as students who are on campus.
Jobs which any student can be easily trained to perform are graded Tier I and are intended for financial aid students only. No-need students cannot be hired for these positions until October 1 of Fall Semester, or until the third week of classes of Spring Semester. In addition, the position must have been posted for a minimum of one week prior to the hiring, and there must be no financial aid students available to fill the position. All students who are hired for a Tier I position will only be assigned to the position for the remainder of the semester in which they were hired. At the end of the semester, the job must be re-posted and, if possible, filled by a financial aid student for the following semester.
The only exceptions to this policy are Tier II and Tier III positions which require a higher or specific skill level. An example of an approved no-need position is a preceptor. A preceptor has to have taken and received a specific grade in the course they are precepting, and must also carry a specific GPA. Therefore this type of position could be filled by either a financial aid or no-need student. However, given equally qualified candidates, the position should always go to the financial aid student based on the fact that they have a known need.
Students who apply for financial aid and qualify for work study will be offered a student employment work award. However, a student has the option of refusing their work award if they so desire. To refuse a work award, a letter or email from the student stating their intent should be sent to both the Financial Aid and Student Employment Offices. A student’s decision not to work on campus one year will not affect his/her eligibility to work on campus the following year.
Incoming students with work as part of their financial aid award are assigned to a job for their first year at Macalester. If for any reason a student’s schedule does not permit them to work all their hours in one department, they may be released from those unfilled hours to work in another department. Prior to assigning jobs, each first-year financial aid student is asked to complete and return a Student Employment Application form indicating their previous work experience and skills, as well as in which departments or offices they would prefer to work. Supervisors are then able to select their student workers based on the application forms received. Because returning students are hired first, it is usually the case that most first-year students are not able to work in their preferred jobs and are placed instead in the departments hiring the largest number of students, namely Facilities Services, Café Mac, Athletics and the library.
If a First Year student chooses not to work, they should notify their assigned employer, the Student Employment Office and the Financial Aid Office of their decision as soon as possible. If they decline their work assignment, they are not guaranteed a job for the academic year.
If they decide to work 2nd semester, they will need to notify the Financial Aid Office and the Student Employment Office. Half of their original work award will be reinstated for second semester and it will be the student’s responsibility to find a job. Most jobs will be filled at that time and employment is not guaranteed.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, as amended by the Immigration Act of 1990, requires all employers to verify the identity and employment eligibility of their employees—including students—before they begin working.
All students working on campus for the first time must report to the Student Employment Office, 77 Mac, and complete their I-9 Form before the end of their first day of work. It is important that supervisors not allow students to begin working without a valid I-9 Form on file.
To prove eligibility for employment, students are required to provide original documentation as outlined on the List of Acceptable Documents (PDF). Photocopies and faxes of documents are not allowed; only original documents can be used as proof of eligibility for employment.
All students should file a W-4 Form (PDF) prior to beginning work at Macalester. The completed form should be delivered to the Student Employment Office. Once completed, the W-4 Form does not need to be redone unless the student wishes to make changes to the number of allowances they are claiming.
All student wages are taxable income and therefore subject to both state and federal withholding, whether paid directly to the student or applied to their student account. During breaks, student earnings are also subject to FICA and Medicare tax withholdings.
The amount of taxes which are withheld is determined by the amount of the pay check and the number of withholdings a student claims. If a student claims 1 allowance, they will be able to earn more money before tax withholdings kick in than will a student who has claimed 0 allowances.
By law, anyone who has not completed a W-4 Form will be considered to have claimed 0 allowances and taxes will be withheld based on 0 allowances.
Returning students are responsible for finding their own jobs. Macalester’s online job search and hiring process intentionally parallels job searches in the real world by affording these students the opportunity to look for and find an interesting job, apply for it, and possibly submit a resume and have an interview. It also creates an opportunity for both students and departments to fill their positions in a competitive manner by becoming directly involved in the hiring process and finding the best possible fit between students’ interests and capabilities, and job requirements.
Supervisors begin posting jobs for the following academic year on the student employment web site during Spring Semester, and all hiring should be completed before students leave campus in May.
Students can view online job postings and apply for jobs which interest them. There is no limit to the number of positions for which a student can apply. However, students should only apply for positions in which they actually want to work. The first supervisor to hire a student online will receive the student’s entire work award. Only one hire per student, per academic year is allowed on-line. All additional hires must be processed on an award release form.
Because these processes are web-based, students who are studying away or on leave during Spring Semester are able to apply and be hired for a campus job in the same way as on-campus students. Both applicants and supervisors are notified via email as hiring requests are approved.
The first department to hire a student for the upcoming academic year receives the student’s full financial aid work award. Any changes to a student’s work assignment after their initial hire must be done on paper via an Award Release Form (PDF) or a Request for Employment Increase Form (PDF). Students should plan to earn half of their work award during Fall Semester and the other half during Spring Semester. Any unearned award from Fall Semester may be earned during January or Spring Semester. Students may not overwork their financial aid work award for the year.
If a student is not going to earn their entire year’s award in the department that hired them, part or all of those funds can be released so the student can earn those dollars in another department. This is done using an Award Release Form (PDF).
When a department hires a student employee, the department is expected to provide enough hours of work for that student so they will be able to earn their full award in that department. On occasion, due to scheduling conflicts or other extenuating circumstances, it may not always be possible for a department to provide a student with enough work to earn his/her full award. In these cases, the supervisor is required to release the portion of the student’s work award s/he will not be able to earn in that department so the student has the opportunity to earn that money elsewhere on campus. If students have trouble obtaining enough hours to meet their award amounts, they should contact the Student Employment Office for assistance.
On occasion, a student and his/her supervisor mutually agree to terminate their employment relationship. This may be referred to as a no-fault release, or a full release. The most common reason for such releases are scheduling conflicts or obtaining a job elsewhere. These releases should happen as early in the semester as possible so the positions can be filled by other financial aid students needing to find a job.
No-fault (or full) releases must be:
Completed Award Release Forms (PDF) should be forwarded to the Student Employment Office for processing.
A partial release may also be approved under certain circumstances. A partial release allows a student to work in two or more departments simultaneously. The same guidelines apply to partial releases as to full releases.
Off-Campus Student Employment (OCSE) is an opportunity for students to earn their financial aid work study awards while working at a local nonprofit organization or elementary school. The program is designed to create institutional partnerships between Macalester and local community organizations. The focus of the program is to encourage students to serve as a bridge between local organizations and Macalester, enabling both to build on the varied resources of the other.
Community organizations receive assistance from a college student approximately 8-10 hours per week. The College pays the student’s entire wage.
The program provides an opportunity for students to contribute to community change by dedicating a significant amount of time to a local project. Students in the program learn about community issues and develop new skills while providing a needed service. All students in the program are required to attend a monthly training workshop on nonprofit issues, models of social change, and skill-building techniques. Workshops are held on the second Monday of each month from 5:00 – 7:00 PM.
In order to be part of the program, students must apply and submit a resume. Only sophomores, juniors and seniors who have been granted a student employment award are eligible to participate. Preference will be given to students who can articulate how they will serve as a bridge between Macalester and the nonprofit they work with. Work awards cannot be split between off-campus and on-campus positions. The entire award must be earned off-campus.
Once approved by the Civic Engagement Center, students are eligible to interview with any of the approved organizations. Students are responsible for their own transportation to the sites, and are encouraged to think through the logistics of transportation before applying to the program.
For the purpose of calculating the average number of hours/week a student should work to earn their entire work award, divide the total award by the hourly pay rate the student will receive. Then divide that number by the total number of weeks the student anticipates working during the academic year. That number will be approximately 29 weeks. This excludes the days of mid-term breaks, Thanksgiving break, January and Spring Break. Students who choose to work during January will need to reduce the number of hours they work during Fall and/or Spring Semester in order to not exceed their total financial aid award.
For your reference, the Pay Rates and Job Classifications (PDF) has an hourly calculation chart displaying this information for the various pay rates and award amounts.
Students are paid biweekly. Once a student has been hired for a job and completed all required paperwork, there will be an electronic time card available at 1600grand.macalester.edu, located on the Employment/My Job tab, Time Reporting channel. Time cards should be filled in as the hours are worked. Time cards must be submitted to supervisors for approval by 4:30 pm on the Monday following the pay period end date. See Macalester College Bi-Weekly Payroll Calendar for specific dates. Supervisors must submit student time cards to the Payroll Office by 12:00 noon, on the Tuesday following the pay period end date.
Time cards from previous pay periods are not accessible. If a student has failed to be paid for hours from a previous pay period, those hours will need to be recorded on the current time card on the line “Hours from a Previous Pay Period”. It is also required that the exact dates during which those hours were worked, and the in and out times for those dates, be recorded in the “Comments” field. Any hours from a previous pay period submitted without the Comments field completed will not be paid. For detailed instructions, see the Time Sheet Guide for Student Employees.
Some student positions use the time-clock system to record their hours. Instructions are posted by each time clock. Student employees with a single job will record time by swiping their Macalester ID at the start and end of each shift. Student employees with more than one time-clock job will refer to the instruction sheet to locate the correct “F key and number combination” and enter it in the time clock before swiping their Macalester ID. A message will appear: “Department Transfer Successful”. To end the shift, the employee will use their Macalester ID to swipe out. If is not necessary to repeat the coding to punch out with multiple jobs. For detailed instructions, see Stromberg Time Clock Guide for Student Employees.
Students at Macalester have the option of either having their student employment earnings paid directly to them or applied to their student account. If the earnings are being paid directly to the student, it is preferred that the funds be electronically deposited into either their checking or savings account.
This is the preferred method of paying students, and Macalester encourages all students to seriously consider this option. With direct deposit, a student’s earnings will be electronically deposited into a checking or savings account of their choice and will be immediately available for their use at the start of each pay day. They will receive notification on 1600 grand of the amount deposited into their account each pay date. Deposits can be made to banks either in the Twin Cities area or any United States bank account; it is not necessary to open an account at a local bank in order to take part in direct deposit. Advantages of direct deposit are that the funds are immediately available for their use on pay day (no need to make a trip to the bank and wait for the check to clear the bank before funds can be withdrawn), and there will never be a charge incurred for having to have a pay check reissued.
Students have the option of receiving a paper check in their SPO if they do not want to take part in direct deposit. If a student chooses to receive a paper check and, for any reason, a check needs to be reissued, there will be a charge for this service, and the charge will be deducted from the student’s next pay check.
Rather than having their earnings paid directly to them, students may choose to have their earnings applied to their student account to help cover their tuition expenses. When students choose this option, the amount credited to their account is their net earnings, not their gross earnings.
Students desiring to have their earnings credited to their account must first complete a Student Employment Check Authorization form in the Student Accounts Office in 77 Mac. Without a signed form on file, the College cannot withhold a student’s earnings for this purpose.
Once a student’s bill has been paid in full, any excess funds credited to their account can be withdrawn and used for other purposes.
The student employment program’s policy is to pay students at least the minimum federal hourly wage. Jobs are classified into three tier system. Jobs for which no special skills or proficiencies are required and for which a student can be easily trained are classified as Tier I positions. Jobs which require advanced skill levels, certification or managerial capabilities, are classified as Tier II or III positions.
International students attending Macalester on an F-1 visa are usually permitted to work on campus.
However, F-1 regulations stipulate that international students are not permitted to work more than a maximum of 20 hours/week during the academic semesters. If a student has more than one job, total hours for all jobs combined cannot equal more than 20 hours in any given week.
When the College is not in session, such as summer break, international students can work up to a maximum of 40 hours/week (again, all jobs combined). International students are not permitted to work any overtime hours, as that would be in violation of visa regulations.
This regulation applies to each individual week of the semester, not an average of several weeks, so an international student cannot work more than 20 hours one week and then work less the next week to make up for it. Any week in which the student exceeds a total of 20 hours of work is a violation of their visa regulations.
Any violation of this regulation puts an international student in jeopardy of deportation from the United States, so it’s extremely important that both supervisors and international students pay attention to and comply with these regulations.
When a student studies away, s/he is no longer eligible to earn the money that was originally awarded to them for that semester. Exceptions may be made on an individual basis, depending on the availability of funding and the employment status of other financial aid students seeking work. Contact the Financial Aid Office for more information.
If you are a Resident Assistant (RA), your position is your student employment award. RAs are not permitted to hold any other concurrent student employment position on campus. There are no exceptions to this policy for the following reasons:
This policy is jointly supported by Residential Life, Financial Aid and Student Employment, and no exceptions will be made.
If an incoming first-year student with work as part of their financial aid award has a disability which they feel might interfere with their ability to perform certain types of work, this information should be provided to the Student Employment Office on the employment application form. Disclosure of this information will assure it will be taken into consideration and the student will be assigned to a job which is appropriate and in which they will be able to succeed.
If a student experiences a physical, mental or emotional disability which makes it difficult or impossible to continue working in their current job, the student should contact his/her supervisor and together they should attempt to determine if another student job within the department or office would be more appropriate to and accommodating of the student’s disability. If so, the student should be assigned to the new position and the Student Employment Manager should be informed of the change. If there is no new position available within the department, the supervisor should complete an Award Release Form (PDF) for the student, and the student should contact the Student Employment Office for help in finding a job elsewhere on campus.
At times it may also be necessary for a student to provide the Student Employment Office with a written note from their attending health care professional stating it would be detrimental to the student’s well being to continue working in their current job and why. In those cases, the student would be immediately removed from that job, and, while it can’t be guaranteed a more suitable job would be available, every attempt will be made to help them find a more conducive place to work.
Students can work between the last day of finals in December and January 2 of each academic year on an as-needed basis. No on-campus housing or food service will be available during this time, so students will be responsible for making their own off-campus board and room arrangements if they are planning to work during this time. January employment starts on January 2 and ends on the day prior to the start of Spring Semester. Students living on-campus during January may not be able to move into their dorm room that early, so alternate room and board arrangements may need to be made between January 2 and the time the dorms and food service re-open. All housing arrangements must be made in advance with Residential Life.
December and January student employment are part of the overall academic year budget for both students and departments, and all money earned is part of their academic year financial aid work award.
Students may not work less than 10 or more than 20 hours per week.
Departments do not receive additional funding to employ students during the month of January.
Earnings will be deducted from the department’s current academic year student employment budget. Therefore, before a student is hired to work in January, supervisors need to make sure there is enough money in their Spring Semester allocation to cover all students assigned to the department. Students’ hours cannot be cut during Spring Semester because money originally allocated to them was used to cover other January workers.
Academic year student employment ends on the last day of final exams for Spring Semester. Since summer employment doesn’t start until June 1, only departments with unused funds remaining in their current fiscal year’s summer break budget can hire students to work between the last day of finals and May 31. If all a department’s summer break budget has been expended, then they will need to wait until June 1 to employ student workers. Departments with no summer break budgets will be unable to hire students.
All summer jobs, with the exception of departmental research grants and internships, should be listed on the student employment web site until filled. Hiring for these positions should be done online, with the exception of graduating seniors, incoming first-year students, and students not receiving need-based financial aid work awards during the academic year. Students in these categories will need to come to the Student Employment Office to complete any required paperwork and receive a paper Summer Employment Authorization Form.
Students are to be formally evaluated in writing by their supervisor at least once a year. Objective performance appraisals provide a counseling and coaching experience for both supervisors and their student employees. There are several other reasons for them to be done:
Supervisors and student employees should participate in these formal performance appraisals, and use the time for open and constructive discussions.
Performance appraisal forms are available on the student employment web site under the heading, “Forms and Information.” Appraisals can be completed online and saved to the supervisor’s desktop or hard drive, or copies can be printed. A copy of each appraisal should to be sent either electronically (preferred method) or by campus mail to the Student Employment Manager.
Supervisors are encouraged to save a copy of each student’s appraisal for their own file, and to give the student a copy of the appraisal, as well.
Perhaps the most intricate and difficult personnel problems involve the handling of non-productive or ineffective employees. Be sure to detail your expectations for your student employees right from the beginning. Employers are encouraged to give positive feedback to students when warranted; however, there may be times when a student employee is not performing up to your expectations.
An important goal of the student employment program is to provide a work environment that will teach students about the responsibilities and opportunities associated with employment. Keep in mind that many students have either not worked at all, or not worked in these types of jobs before coming to Macalester. Some student employees will need helpful understanding and, sometimes, firm direction concerning their performance. Supervisors who do not administer helpful discipline are doing a disservice to the student employee. Grounds for progressive disciplinary action include, but are not limited to:
While it is highly preferred that an individual be subject to a disciplinary process of coaching and feedback, there may be cases where the employee’s conduct results in immediate termination. Examples of such situations include, but are not limited to:
When disciplining students, the following procedures should be followed:
If the Discipline Action Report is used, the following should happen:
This is a departmental process. Therefore, the written warning or Action Report does not need to be sent to the Student Employment Office at this time. A copy should be maintained by both the supervisor and the student. Regardless of the warning level, all warnings should contain the following elements:
If a termination occurs, the student may not work on campus again until the following semester, nor may they work additional hours at a second job they might hold in order to compensate for hours lost at the job from which they were terminated. However, they do not lose the remaining portion of their financial aid work award. The student is eligible to apply for any vacant positions for the following semester. Supervisors and student employees alike are encouraged to consult with the Student Employment Office about serious performance problems
Macalester College seeks to provide just and equitable treatment of all employees, and to protect their legal rights in matters of employment. Success in attaining and maintaining this goal depends upon the cooperation of all faculty, staff and student employees, and the availability of an adequate grievance procedure.
The College encourages its employees to seek informal resolution of differences and believes most problems can be solved if approached in a spirit of cooperation, trust and openness. However, if a solution cannot be found, the employee has a right to make a formal appeal to the Conduct Hearing Board.
As stated in the Student Handbook, “The Conduct Hearing Board provides a formal method of adjudicating disputes and grievances or behavior that is in violation of College policies. A pool of students, faculty and staff are appointed to hear the cases brought before the CHB and to determine findings, and, when appropriate, recommend sanctions. Each case is heard by a panel of four members of the CHB. The person(s) whom the complaint is filed against receives a copy of the complaint and the opportunity to provide a written response. Both parties are present at the hearing, may have an advisor present, and may call witnesses and provide evidence pertinent to the complaint. Both parties meet with the Dean of Students or Chair of the Conduct Hearing Board before the hearing to discuss the procedures involved.”
More information can be found in the Student Handbook Dispute Resolution Procedures section and in the Staff Handbook.
Occasionally students may be asked to help out during special events on campus. If students are working for pay at any of these events, this is still considered student employment, time cards need to be filled out and approved, and earnings are deducted from the student’s financial aid award.
Listings of off-campus job opportunities are located in the Career Development Center (CDC) Resource Library in Kagin Commons. You can access the CDC’s job database from their web site, macalester.edu/cdc. For internships, go to the Internship Program’s page at macalester.edu/internship. Listings are available to all Macalester students and alumni. The Career Development Center hours are 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM and drop-in hours are 2:00 to 4:00 PM Monday through Friday.
Career Development Center staff are also available to assist students and alumni in resume writing, interviewing, and job-seeking strategies.
Macalester College complies with federal and state OSHA regulations. Students who have an accident or are injured while on the job are covered by Worker’s Compensation, as are faculty and staff. Student employees are expected to comply with all safety laws, rules and regulations. Any unsafe working conditions, equipment or practices should be reported immediately to one’s supervisor. Students are expected to wear any and all required safety gear while on the job. Fire protection and prevention practices must be complied with at all times.
All on-the-job accidents or injuries, no matter how small, must be reported to the student’s supervisor and to Employment Services (X6280) within 24 hours of their occurrence in order for Worker’s Compensation coverage to take effect. Any injuries reported after the 24-hour deadline cannot be covered by Worker’s Compensation.
Supervisors are encouraged to give students a work break during each scheduled shift. As required by Minnesota law, in each four hours of work, employees are allowed adequate time to utilize the nearest convenient restroom. If a lunch break occurs during a shift, students may take the break with the supervisor’s permission, but the break will not be paid.
Students may only be paid for hours actually worked. If the College is closed for an official holiday, such as Labor Day, Good Friday or Memorial Day, students will not be paid for any work done on those days unless they have received prior approval from their supervisors. Students are not eligible for holiday pay or pay for days the College is officially closed. Likewise, if the College officially closes early and employees are sent home for any reason, students will not receive pay for the work missed, but do have the option of making up those hours at a later time, with the supervisor’s prior approval.
The State of Minnesota defines sexual harassment as follows:
Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, sexually motivated physical contact, or other verbal or physical conduct or communication of a sexual nature when:
Any time a student or supervisor feels they have been a victim of sexual harassment on campus, they should contact a member of the Macalester College Sexual Harassment Committee. View the list of current members of the College’s Sexual Harassment Committee.
Many college students struggle with the issue of sexual assault, and Macalester students are no exception. If supervisors find themselves in a situation where a student is disclosing his/her experience of having been sexually assaulted, you are encouraged to contact the Student Affairs Office for support, guidance, and referral information. Also available from the Student Affairs Office is a Sexual Assault Resource Guide (PDF) which can be given to a student who has experienced sexual assault. More information and guides are available for download at www.macalester.edu/sexualassault.
If a student reports harassment or assault, it is important to contact the Student Affairs Office, even if the student does not want to move forward with legal or judicial processes. You can keep the name of the student confidential. Tracking assaults that take place on campus is required by Federal law, and helps the College develop better strategies to respond to incidents in the future.
Student employment at Macalester can be a great way to develop skills and help you explore areas of interest. No matter what position you currently have, make sure you take full advantage of the training opportunities and support that your assigned area can provide. Remember, no matter what your student employment position, it is critical to realize the importance of taking initiative and building positive relationships with supervisors and staff. They can be important allies in making your experience much richer and may be able to provide additional responsibility based on your efforts.
While you might think of your student employment role as very specific to the area that you work, the skills that you are building are transferable beyond your current role and to those outside of Macalester. Each will be key indicators of your success no matter what your interests are currently at Macalester or after graduation. Some of those critical skills are listed below.
While in the past student employment may have been thought of as “work-study”, it is now a vital component to the success of the institution. Many departments and services would not be able to function without their student employees. Because your contribution is so important to Macalester’s success, there are expectations that apply to all student employment workers.
First, it is critical that you create a schedule that you can maintain. The ability to be a reliable employee demonstrates that you are serious about the position and feel a sense of ownership in the success of your assigned work area. Obviously, things come up such as illness or other unforeseen situations, but your commitment to your position can also be demonstrated by promptly calling your supervisor when you know you can’t make your shift.
This is a key attribute that is hard to measure, but people know it when they see it. Even though you might think others can’t perceive how you are feeling inside, it definitely shows. Try to come to work with a positive attitude and not let the outside factors impact your attitude. These may seem like basic skills everyone has already mastered, but that is definitely not the case. If you are in a position that has a lot of interaction with people on campus, alumni or the community outside of Macalester, your level of professionalism is critical to the image of not only the area in which you work, but also to the entire College. It may be as simple as what you say when you answer the phone or your non-verbal presence at the front desk. Even though your day-to-day tasks may not be very intellectually challenging, if you can maintain a positive attitude, you are much more likely to be selected to work on special projects that might be more interesting because of your attitude and professionalism.
Many times job descriptions will indicate a set role of responsibilities. Implicit in that list is that you will look for additional work/projects if all daily tasks have been completed. By doing this, you are able to differentiate yourself and make a great impression on the people for whom you are working. It can be very frustrating to those in your area if you are just waiting to be told what additional tasks need to completed instead of searching them out. Again, when more interesting projects surface, who do you think will be selected? It is almost always the person who has taken the initiative in the past.
Just like your academic work, your student employment experience allows you to work in teams. This might be with other students, staff, faculty, etc. In any case, you are now building a portfolio of experiences that can demonstrate how you can work with others, who many times are very different from you. There may be instances where you might not handle a team situation as well as you had liked, but if you can demonstrate how you learned from that experience, it still can be a positive. The main objective is that you can learn from a previous situation, change your behavior, and improve the outcome or result in the future.
No matter what role you are in, your problem solving skills are going to be critical to your success. Look to utilize the same skills you use in the classroom to identify the key issues causing the problem, analyze potential solutions and then develop a plan to execute the best solution. These solutions don’t have to have a huge campus-wide impact, they can seem very small, but can have a huge influence on the area in which you are working.
Your student employment role gives you the opportunity to develop a wide range of skills. Some may have more of an emphasis on a few of the skills listed below and others might touch on them all. It is up to you on how engaged you are in your role, but there is the chance to enhance many skills listed below. By no means is this an all encompassing list, but it can serve as a starting point on what activities you might be able to get involved to develop the skills listed.
While working in some offices, you may overhear or be asked to work with confidential information. If this is the case, remember that it is expected you will not share this information with others. You may be placed in this type of role once you leave Macalester, so the earlier you learn how to effectively have access to this information without abusing the privilege, the better. If you can earn the trust to be put in this type of role, you will have a greater likelihood of receiving other projects that may need a higher level of confidentiality.
Working in a student employment role may give you an opportunity to be exposed to a wider variety of applications/tools than you would in only an academic setting. This may include web design, database tools, laboratory techniques, research tools, etc. These skills will resonate with those outside of Macalester, and may give you an advantage when looking for internships, full- time positions, or graduate school applications and admission. Take advantage of any chance you get to be involved in additional projects that might give you exposure to these programs.
While gaining administrative experience does not seem that glamorous, all positions include some type of administrative duties. If you can demonstrate you have mastered those skills and have found improvements to processes, proven your ability to manage a large number of work/projects simultaneously, or have been able to take work direction from multiple people, you are at a distinct advantage. Once those organizational skills have been developed, you can move further into project management/event planning. There may be a chance for you to get involved in planning and/or executing various events/projects through your student employment experience. Once again, these experiences will be invaluable no matter what you choose to do within Macalester or after you graduate. These events/projects could include coordinating alumni panels, larger campus events, assisting in a professor’s research, or hosting others. The specific program might change, but the skills needed to complete the project remain the same.
Communication skills are critical during your time at Macalester and after graduation. In all fields, be it for-profit, non-profit, government or private sector, internship or full-time graduate school program, you need to demonstrate you have strong communication skills. It is one thing to say you have these skills and are a “Great Communicator”, but you will be a step ahead if you can call out actual experiences from your student employment experience. Work with your supervisor to see if there are opportunities to develop these skills in your student employment role.
This seems like a lot of work. What’s in it for you? The answer is, a lot!
Make sure you are taking full ownership of your student employment experience and making the most of it. It is a great opportunity to gain many of the skills listed above, as well as provide contacts for you to better determine what fields are of interest in the future. If you do, you will find your student employment experience can be a lot more than “work-study.”