Dear Answers,

This is my second semester at DVC and I like going to school here, thing is, I’m always broke.  I hadn’t planned on working, since my parents pay for my rent, school and give me a little bit extra to live on, but it really sucks that I can’t  afford to buy clothes or go out with my friends. I don’t have a lot of work experience, and I definitely want school to be my first priority. What should I do?

-Stuck at Home

Dear Stuck,

Your dilemma is a common one for college students, you want to be successful in school, yet it would also be nice to make a little dough so you can have fun with your friends.  It is absolutely possible to be successful at school and work part-time, you just need to practice good time management.

Keep a calendar or white board handy where you record all of your assignments, when they are due, and when you are going to buckle down and work on each assignment, especially the larger papers that are assigned well in advance of their due dates. So we’ve addressed how to keep school a top priority, but it seems the meat of your question is really how to find a job, especially if you don’t have much in the way of employment history.

The first thing I recommend is visiting our career and transfer services, which is exactly what I did, to make sure I had the best information to pass along to you.  Their office is located on the top floor of the Student Services Building, right next to the counseling department. They are open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and again from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

I spoke with Sarah Boland, who had a lot of great advice for student job seekers.  She stressed that the most important thing you should know as a DVC student is: “your reputation precedes you. The employers that recruit with us are coming here because they already know that you are smart, skilled and extremely employable.”

This is surely the most important thing for you to remember while job hunting, our school does have a great reputation, and that alone will open doors for you.

The cool thing about DVC is our proximity to many small businesses and retail outlets.  If you are looking for a job that is walking distance from school, there are a lot of options such as Ross, TJ Maxx, Target, Toys ‘R’ Us, Safeway and an entire mall of retailers always needing employees.

If you are really concerned about work history there are two things you can do.  The first is to really think about different things you have done like volunteer work, camp experience, leadership roles, or even helping your parents at the office.  All of those things likely developed useful and applicable skills, and if you are having trouble recognizing what those skills are, career services can definitely help you with that.

The second way to get some work experience under your belt would be to start with volunteer work or a local internship.

The American Red Cross, Monument Crisis Center and the Rainbow Community Center are just a few of the local agencies that would be thrilled to help you gain some work experience which will help you get a job and will also look good on transfer applications.  Internships are also a great way to get career specific experience, and while some don’t pay, they may qualify you for better paying jobs after just a short investment of your time.

My last recommendation is for you is to attend the Career and Employment Services Job Fair on Wednesday, March 5, from 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. in the DVC Cafeteria and Trophy room. There will be over 50 employers with ongoing, summer and internship opportunities.  Bon Appetit (a Google cafe), Pleasant Hill Parks and Recreation District, Play-Well (an organization which teaches kids engineering concepts using Lego’s), Wells Fargo and Home Depot are just a few of the companies that will be scouting for employees just like you.

Happy job hunting!

Here to answer your pressing questions.  Relationship issues? Family tension? Wondering how to get involved on campus? If you ask, I will do my best to answer. Submit questions to [email protected], with “Asking for Answers” in the subject line.