If you are studying at a university you might know how difficult and extravagant it is to manage your living expenses, tuition fees, and home rentals in cities like new York, Boston, Chicago, etc. Apart from managing your studies, you have to manage your time for work and other extracurricular activities.
It is a difficult task for international students who take it as a responsibility not to burden their families. Living away from home, and your family in a wholly new city in a foreign country is a tough row to hoe to manage everything on your own.
But part-time jobs for any college students who are studying at the university are important not only to pay for rent or fees but many studies by various journals and the National Center for Education show that students with part-time jobs hold good grades and of course, students with good grades who also have a few internships have higher chances of getting jobs after few months of their graduation.
So now let’s see what are the best part-time jobs that part-time college students can do to pay for their expenses and how much they make per day in how many working hours of a week.
What do students earn on a minimum wage?
When you look for jobs the first concern you have is how much money you will make. Is the money you going to make from the job enough for your rent, college fees, and other expenses?
The U.S. Department of Labour Wage and Hour Division has set the federal minimum wage at $7.25 per hour. But not all the states follow the same rules. In some states such as New York, California, and Ohio, the minimum wage is set up to $15 per hour which is higher than the federal minimum wage.
Although, for part-time students, spending 20 hours per week has been set as the maximum working limit, and working above that limit is being considered illegal in some states. Also, you get paid for the jobs depending on your previous working experience. If you have the right skills and years of experience you will be paid between $10 to $15 and if you are new in the field you will be paid between $8 to $10.
What jobs are best for part-time college students?
There are plenty of jobs for students to do in the world in their free time and you can choose any job depending upon your interest field, working capacity, and previous experience. So, let’s get to know about the jobs that are in demand and you can choose them as a part-time student.
- Campus Ambassador: The salary you get for this job is around $10.94 per hour. If you are a part-time student and good at communicating and like to be around different people then this job suits you best. All you have to do is promote your university by interacting with students who could join the university in the coming years.
You have to share your experience on why you joined the university, what you like the most at the university, and give a campus tour.
- Barista: Cities nowadays are full of students who love spending their free after-college time sitting in cafes and working or studying while drinking coffee. So, if you are a student and living in a city that has plenty of colleges in the vicinity would be a perfect place for you to work and interact with new people and you can get paid up to $11.59 per hour.
- Teaching Assistant: This on-campus job is a good option for you if you are good at guiding and instructing, and have years of experience in the field of monitoring the classroom and outside classroom activities and supervising the students who face various issues at the university. You will be paid up to $11.85 per hour.
- Library Assitant: If you love books, their smell, and being surrounded by bookshelves then this job suits you perfectly. This job pays you $13.24 per hour for assisting customers in the library by recommending them good and useful editions and other required material, making the bookshelves, or sometimes assisting the librarians with any event to be organized at the library.
- Receptionist: The on-campus job pays you around $13.31 per hour for being a university receptionist. This job includes the activities such as dealing with the students, authorities, office staff, and administration in person, on-call, or via emails.
- Research Study Assistant: This on-campus job is a better option for the ones who want to stay in touch with study-related activities even in their after-college time. You will be paid up to $15.48 for doing research not only in the field you are related to but also on projects related to other projects and for working as a lab assistant.
This job pays a fine amount of money if you got great skills in research.
- Department Assistant: This on-campus job can not only pay you a fine amount of money but can also help in improving your resume. You will deal with the departmental issues, and handle the matters and various projects at the department level. You will be paid up to $16.44 for the job if you have great interpersonal, and communication skills.
- Food Assistant: Being a caterer at the cafes in or around the university can be quite amazing in terms of money. This job pays around $16.81 per hour for working in cafes or restaurants.
- Sales Assistant: You can work as a sales assistant in a shop or a supermarket on the university campus or outside the university campus. This job will pay you big bucks if you have the right marketing skills. In this job, you can easily earn up to $20.00 per hour depending upon the sales you make.
- Tutor: This is a well-paid job where you can earn up to $21.31 per hour by assisting students with their course content and other materials.
A final word
Although, many jobs let you earn more than the minimum wage based on your skills and experience. But, if you have even much extra time left for yourself on the day after your classes at the university and you can spend more time outside your college working for extra hours then you can do various other jobs such as freelance or content writing, designing, blogging, making money through social media, fitness instructor and many more.
All you have to focus on is what you are best at, what is that one thing that you can do with ease and do not need to put extra effort into something because you are in the learning phase. Hence, chose jobs at your convenience keeping all the aspects in minds such as your time, your study, your interests outside the study, and your fun life outside your college.
Frequently asked questions (FAQS)
Q 1. Can a part-time college students earn more than the federal minimum wage?
Ans. Yes, a part-time student can earn more than the federal minimum wage. There are plenty of jobs such as freelancer, research assistant, food assistant, etc that let you earn more than the federal minimum wage. Though it depends upon which state you are studying in. Some states like New York and Ohio have set their minimum wage to more than $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum wage.
Q 2. For how many hours international students are allowed to work?
Ans. In general, all the students are given up to 20 hours per week for working in the state at the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
