By Lily Sperber
With tuition and other college costs on the rise, many students need jobs to help pay their bills. When students’ jobs are close to their college, or better yet, a five minute walk to a campus dining area, the balance between getting and affording an education is made easier.
At Purchase, students have the option of applying for jobs in any of the five dining areas.
“There’s a website called altogethergreat.com and that’s where all of our jobs for our whole company are posted,” said Andrew Castellon, senior director of Purchase dining services.
Once on the website, students, just like any regular applicant, can do a search for positions at this location or other locations that match what they’re looking for.
“You’re going to type in the town or the area code, it’ll populate, and all types of positions that are available, whether it’s a baker, barista, cashier, utility position, will all be listed there,” Castellon said. “Once you type that in and apply, it starts the process and goes to those who operate it. Once it comes to us, we receive that person’s name, and that’s when we start to reach out to you.”
Additionally, students who apply are limited to hourly positions due to their student status and class schedule.
“For students, generally speaking, we can’t offer you a 40-hour position because the school doesn’t want you working that many hours; you’re not here for that,” Castellon said.
In terms of how many jobs are available every year, it varies.
“There’s a lot of turnover,” said the marketing director of Purchase dining services, Laurie DiTocco. “A lot of students graduate and leave. There’s some that one year they can do certain hours and the next semester they’re crazy busy with senior projects and can’t maintain those hours anymore. So, it’s always good to keep checking those positions.”
Jobs in dining areas on campus are not currently promoted through JobScore or via email, but students are encouraged to apply through the website and speak to those who work in dining.
“We have a lot of students who come and reach out to us,” DiTocco said. “We basically tell them, this is the site, if there’s anything that fits your availability and criteria that you’re looking for, apply. We’re always open to interviewing and meeting with students.”
Besides jobs in the dining areas, students can also apply for jobs as a student assistant or through the work-study program, if they are awarded work-study as part of their financial aid package.
Federal Work-Study is a form of financial aid awarded to students with a financial need indicated by their FAFSA application. It allows part and full-time students to work part-time, usually at a campus office, alongside their studies.
Students are awarded a certain amount of money that they can earn through their work-study job, depending on how high their financial need is and how much funding the government provides in a given year.
According to the Sallie Mae report, “How America Pays for College,” in 2017, the average work-study award for a student with an eligible job was $2,353.
At Purchase, work-study jobs are available at multiple offices across campus and can be found by contacting Student Financial Services, checking JobScore, or reaching out to offices directly.
If a student does not qualify for work-study, they can also apply for a student assistant position.
These jobs are funded by the college and are also offered at a variety of college offices. They can be found through the same process of finding a work-study job.
If students need help finding a part-time job on campus, they should reach out to Student Financial Services, check out the dining company website altogethergreat.com or contact a campus office they would like to work for and see if they currently have jobs available.