The difficulty of finding on-campus jobs

Many students are finding it difficult to find a job on campus.

With more than 25,000 students attending classes, the chances of getting jobs are slimmer.

There are three main employers on campus: Associated Students Inc. (ASI), Cal Poly Pomona Foundation Inc. and the university itself.

The foundation is the largest employer of students on campus. Approximately 1,500 students are employed through the foundation for full-time, part-time or temporary positions in various fields, from culinary arts to research grants.

The months during summer and the month of December are the only times during the year that employment is less available because of academic break, as most buildings and places on campus are closed.

Francisco Zapata, a first-year landscape architecture student, said he was fortunate to find a job as a lifeguard at the Bronco Recreation and Intramural Complex on his first search, although he did not get the job because of requisites.

“Next semester I was thinking of applying to some jobs,” Zapata said. “Definitely considering that there are so many students applying and so many options for them to choose, I feel like there are so many qualified people so I guess there would be a difficulty to get a job.”

Dennis J. Miller, the foundation’s chief employment officer,  encouraged students to constantly apply and reapply to jobs because of the many students applying.

“It’s always prudent for students to apply as many times and as often as they want,” he said.

Diana Sanchez, a third-year Spanish student, is the lead/assistant manager for Bronco Student Center catering and has been working there since winter quarter of 2016.

“It was actually pretty simple to get a job [on campus], or maybe I just got lucky,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez and her coworkers cater food, which means they make deliveries to different locations on and off-campus.

“I like it so I am probably going to stick with it until I finish. It’s different from any other job on campus,” she said. “Every year we hire new people, I think that’s the hardest part, adjusting to change and having to train new people.”

Diana Sanchez, a third-year Spanish student, has been working for Bronco
Student Center catering for almost three years. (Michelle Quintero | The Poly Post)

Although there are students who stay at one campus job throughout their college life, there are also students who work for much shorter periods, Miller said. “We hire students almost every day throughout the year, I say almost every day because usually there are times when it’s more logical students are hired,” Miller said. “A lot of jobs become available very shortly after the beginning of the school year so there never is a bad time for students to look for jobs.”

There is no best time for students to apply, but it is also encouraged for students to introduce themselves to hiring managers when looking for a job, so chances of getting hired are higher.

“We wish we could employ more students. It’s usually a good opportunity for them to enhance whatever skills and knowledge they have for the work environment and it’s kind of a win-win situation when students work for us,” Miller said. “I frankly wish we could hire more; I’d love to be able to say ‘We hire 3,000 students every year’ but we don’t have a need for that, but I kind of wish we did. Other than that we are just thankful for their help, always are.”

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