Hooray! I have no job! [LONG, slight language], Advice Requested

[MMATM]

Oh, I don't mind dealing with people. It's sucky people that are the problem.
Granted, any job with people will have sucky people, but I'm looking for a lower-than-average concentration of suckitude.

[ToasterQueen]

It all depends on the college you're going to. I went to a very conservative college - seperate girls and boys wings, you couldn't have the door to your room closed when there was a member of the opposite sex present, completely dry campus.

My suggestion is the mailroom, if you don't like dealing with people. Decent pay, and very, very few SCs.

[MMATM]

To clarify:
Sex is allowed. RA's are supposed to provide condoms (no questions asked) to any of the residents (other students) under their watch. The alcohol thing, being the USA, is harder to pull off as students because the drinking age is 21. If you are 21 or over, you are allowed to have a certain amount of alcohol in your room (don't know exactly what amount) and if your roommate is likewise 21 or over, they can have the same amount. No drinking is to be done in any "dry" rooms (rooms in which neither roommate is 21 or over) and no minor is to be served alcohol or EVEN PRESENT when alcohol is being consumed.
The RA's job is to basically write up the offenders and supply condoms, as well as counsel fellow students (usually younger), mediate disputes, arrange for roommate changes, and know everything about everything. Some RA's are strict (will write you up for noise complaints even if it's not really you making the noise, or for carrying an open cup of water or soda down the hall) while others are not (will not only drink with you, but will supply the alcohol). RA's that are too relaxed with the rules can lose their jobs but RA's that are too strict (e.g. unfair) can likewise lose their jobs. Residents rate their RA's so the RA has to balance between enforcing the rules and not being a dick.
Some universities have different rules regarding sex and alcohol (drugs, other than cigarettes, are not allowed noway nohow) but those seem to be the standards. Oh, and weed is often overlooked if you aren't being conspicuous or causing a disturbance (they wouldn't know you had it anyway in that case).
RA's are also not allowed into residents' rooms without identifying themselves as an RA and asking to come in. Only the cops can force their way into students' rooms and then only with probable cause.
Sorry for the spiel that covers the RA's most basic, resident-oriented tasks (though there are others).

~Mark

[SongsOfDragons]

Ok, I talked to a few people about how you wanted to be an RA or work in a student bookstore and this is what I got:

RA

Pros

Meet new people
Free room and board
Conduct activities to your liking
Bust students (As long as you don't go overboard but this is my friend)

Now the cons

Students can be the worst SCs ever, I think thegiraffe had a few posts about some loud roomates.
Students having sex in their rooms. My friend had to deal with these types of things constantly.
Busting alcohol and drugs if students have them. A huge thing at my school.

Eh? What level of schooling is this? I always assumed things that had a proper campus and called a 'college' was the equivilent of Sixth-form or more likely University in England...the ppl are over sixteen, and at Uni over eighteen; no sex and no alcohol in their rooms? We'd all have been bused last year on the latter of those, not to mention soooo many hallmates of ours for the former... Confused me much?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

At least I didn't suggest porty potty cleaner, you get some really shitty deals with that kind of a job.

Don't quit your day job. That pun was horrible!

[zzapp the witch]

Become a butcher. Customers don't give you shit when you have a knife in your hand. (Seriously, that was the best job I ever had). You wouldn't really be a butcher though, meat wrapping is easy and takes no prior experience, and there's plenty of part time slots (depending on location or course). (Plus you'll learn to spot a good cut of steak).

What? There's a lot of off the wall jobs out there that don't have a lot of SCs. At least I didn't suggest porty potty cleaner, you get some really shitty deals with that kind of a job.

[MMATM]

Thanks, ArenaBoy. It appears that there are a lot of us (students) on CS. Just not all from the US or even the Northern Hemisphere...

We're worldly.

[ArenaBoy]

Ok, I talked to a few people about how you wanted to be an RA or work in a student bookstore and this is what I got:

RA

Pros

Meet new people
Free room and board
Conduct activities to your liking
Bust students (As long as you don't go overboard but this is my friend)

Now the cons

Students can be the worst SCs ever, I think thegiraffe had a few posts about some loud roomates.
Students having sex in their rooms. My friend had to deal with these types of things constantly.
Busting alcohol and drugs if students have them. A huge thing at my school.

That's the gist of it for RA.

As for working in a student bookstore, BY ALL MEANS APPLY!!!!!!! As a fellow student, I know what you mean. I have another friend who works there. Pros are the employee discount of course and you are dealing with students and professors mostly.

Cons are pissed off students who are whining about their book that they need and is never there. A lot of hard work of course and the start of semester rush and end of semester rush.

As for working food service, that is another good choice. Like Jester said, tips are great especially if you happen to be a student. If you happen to do well at being a server you can rake in some serious dough. Just consider your options, and good luck.

[MMATM]

You're right, Jester, I have no bartender experience. Serving I have done and can do so I might as well start there. I'm still intrigued by the bookstore idea, though, as you pay out the anus when buying textbooks and the buyback rate is quite crap. An employee discount would work well.
But I still think it'd be worth working as a server and maybe eventually move up to bartender, as that's something I'm interested in as I love to cook on an individual level (rather than doing 4 steaks at once that are all only different by doneness, or general cook stuff) and am fairly decent at it. Why serving/bartending? Because I won't be stuck in a hot kitchen the whole time. And, of course, tips.
Thanks for setting me straight on that one.
~Mark

[Jester]

No, I was actually talking about tips. Since tips are, for all intents and purposes, your real pay, you DO get paid every shift.

[tollbaby]

Good pay. Far more than at most retail stores. The pay itself sucks, but the tips, your real pay, rocks. And a good news/bad news thing: you don't have to wait for your pay....you get paid nightly. This is bad news if you have trouble budgeting, of course.

Unless you're talking about tips, that sounds an awful lot like being paid under the table, which is against the law.

[Jester]

Most places will hire bartenders from within. As in, you have to start as a server first. There are exceptions, but usually only if your experienced. Sounds like you aren't. Sorry.

As for gay bars, I have never worked at one, but I have interviewed for a position at one. The interviewer seemed to have a (fair and reasonable) issue with hiring straight men to work there. Apparently many of them did not work out for various reasons, one major one being that many of them went out of their way to tell the clientele that they were straight. Not always the best idea for that situation.

[MMATM]

A little side note here: sounds like the place you worked for was run by a bunch of idiots. I wonder if it was the same company that ran the hotel I just recently resigned from?

Worse. It was a privately-owned business in smalltown MA. The owner was also one of the bosses (his wife was the other), as well as the head baker. He knew next to nothing about running the store successfully, and relied heavily on his managers to do most of the "let's not f**k something up today" work.
On the other hand, they allowed employees to eat some things for free (bagels, cream cheese, bread, Nutella , coffee) but had the worst habits of giving away free stuff to certain customers that they knew from wherever... in front of other customers who got nothing. They also relied on employees to train the new people while everyone involved was on the clock. Which in my case worked out fine, since my trainer was one of my best friends and he and I (until 6:30pm) have more seniority there than anyone other than one of the managers, one of the bakers, and the dishwasher (the baker and dishwasher are the Men, by the way

But the food industry seems to be the place to go, especially around campus. Aside from competing with 10,000 other people who want the job, how hard is it to get a job as a bartender? I've heard that it's a lot of OJT initially but that's also from my uncle who has been out of school for about thirty years...
I got a hot tip that working at a gay bar (whether you are straight or not) is actually an easier job to get and that the customers are nicer. Anyone that's worked at a gay bar have any input?
~Mark

[Jester]

Maybe try a hotel? You get your share of SC's...but they weren't as bad in comparison to the others.

I dare say that many of the posters on CS.com would have something to say about the suckiness of hotel SC's!

but the closest bookstores to campus of course focus on textbooks... Which might be an advantage, come to think of it.

Two words: employee discount. Very useful for texts when you are a student.


I know I am a food service ho, so I am biased, but I would like to point out the advantages of working in the restaurant/bar industry:

Flexible scheduling. They are used to people having other jobs and/or being students, and they can work around those schedules more often than not. And most restaurants will NOT schedule you in conflict with your classes, period.
Good pay. Far more than at most retail stores. The pay itself sucks, but the tips, your real pay, rocks. And a good news/bad news thing: you don't have to wait for your pay....you get paid nightly. This is bad news if you have trouble budgeting, of course.
Variety. No day is ever the same.
Exercise. You will get plenty of it waiting on tables, I guarantee.
Food. Always in short supply as a student. The vast majority of restaurants offer discounts on their food to employees, sometimes even free food.
Socializing. Most of your coworkers will probably also be students....great way to meet people. Ditto with customers.

Yes, there are many, many, many SC's in this biz. I won't lie to you. But they are generally outnumbered by the cool people, and more importantly, the good tippers, especially if you are any good at the job.

A little side note here: sounds like the place you worked for was run by a bunch of idiots. I wonder if it was the same company that ran the hotel I just recently resigned from?

[MMATM]

There's a hotel on campus, but I'm pretty sure only Hotel Management majors and the like have any hope of being employed there. As an ME, I don't think I'd have much chance. The RA job's biggest perk is that I would not have to pay for room and board (which is more expensive than renting an off-campus apartment) but from the sound of it, other students could be the suckiest customers.
I like the bookstore idea. I used to read a lot more than was probably healthy (read: Angels and Demons and one of the old Star Wars novels in a day). I suppose there are many worse opportunities than getting a job that offers access to the newest books... but the closest bookstores to campus of course focus on textbooks... Which might be an advantage, come to think of it.
Thanks again to everyone who's left input.
~Mark