Where to find jobs on campus and what to expect

North Dakota State University has hundreds of jobs available to students that are right on campus. Students are able to find hundreds of job opportunities that will help them for their future career and to make money while at college. Work-studies, research and job opportunities can all be found at NDSU for students. 

Jobs can be found all over campus whether it is at the library, residence halls, with researchers or with university relations. Becky Bahe, the Director of the Career and Advising Center said, “Our two highest employed areas are dining and the wellness center.” They hire a large number of students that are needed in those areas.  

The dining center employs over 200 students and is the largest employer on NDSU campus. This allows students to work with other students, “I have met some of the best people through this job,” said Brianna Sutherland, a business administration major. Through the dining center students can make money, but also receive free meals when they work. “I love not worrying about grocery shopping or dishes,” said Sutherland. 

At the dining centers you can “work in the food court, the dining centers, the coffee shops or on the Catering team,”  said Tara Ferkinhoff, the Assistant Director of Marketing of NDSU Dining and Department of Residence Life. Dining center employees can also be promoted to student managers or student supervisors.

The Wallman Wellness Center also provides students with about 175 different job options during the school year. Some job options at the wellness center include facilities staff, customer service, climbing wall staff, lifeguarding, intramural officials, group fit instructors and personal trainers. 

The wellness center also works with students to help them achieve their goals as an employee. They help students complete online training in order to teach a class or become an official. “One of the conversations we always have with our staff is if there is something you are interested in doing, let us know because we want to give you that experience,” said Stephen Dahl, the Assistant Director of Membership and Marketing. 

The dining center and the wellness center also provide jobs during the summer. 

NDSU on-campus jobs are focused on flexibility around course schedules. “We recognize that you all are students first,” said Dahl. Employers first look at the students schedules and work around their time for class, other activities and interests. “We want to make sure you prioritize class and extracurriculars on campus,” said Ferkinhoff. 

University policies allow students to work up to 20 hours per week. Students work at least one shift a week, which allows them to work between 3 to 20 hours on campus per week, according to Ferkinhoff. On average students work 10-12 hours weekly. 

Campus jobs are helpful to students to continue in a future career. There are many opportunities for promotions and growth within the workplace which help give students valuable skills for a future career. Whether a job directly correlates to your career goal or not, they still gain “those skills that they can use and transfer over,” said Dahl. 

Employers “want to know that you have been in a place where you’ve learned how to communicate with people, that you learn how to work on a team, that you’ve learned what it means to be there on time and to fulfill your responsibilities,” said Bahe. 

Work-study is a program in which students can use their FAFSA to find jobs on campus. NDSU has a variety of options for students with work-study and prioritize them for hiring. Employers also benefit from this system and get subsidized for hiring students with work study. 

The Career and Advising Center is transitioning all jobs, whether on or off campus, to the resource Handshake. This source puts all of the opportunities in one location so students can easily see their options. “Not only will it have on-campus employment, but when students are ready to find an internship or graduate and find full time employment, that is definitely the place to go,” said Bahe. 

I would recommend working at the dining center “because of the several opportunities to advance and try new things,” said Sutherland. 

To visit the Handshake website and find a job click here.