A fact is a fact: being a college student can get expensive. You have to buy a book for this class, a clicker for that class, and the odd Chipotle here and there for late night study sessions. One of the ways to earn some money to spend for school, or to save, is by working on campus at the numerous work-study and non work-study jobs. Here is a list of some of the best jobs sorted according to pay, workload, schedule, and environment—the jobs themselves are listed in no particular order:

Pay:

This is quite likely the most important factor to a job, are the hours spent working worth spending?

1. The highest paying position open is being a Student Assistant at the Freedman Center at Kelvin Smith Library (KSL). They pay $11.50. First-year Rahul Singh “[deals] with software, printers—specifically poster printing, scanning equipment and helping patrons out.” Singh also handles new orders of books and catalogs incoming government documents.
2. A job that pays $11 an hour is being a Student Instructor (SI) for a class. SIs observe almost every class and run review sessions weekly for many classes. Christie Tang, a BIOL 214 SI says “[she] really enjoy[s] helping students and being available to them as an academic resource.”
3. After $11.50, many jobs on campus pay $10 an hour. Some include being a Research Assistant at University Hospitals (UH) with an interest in psychological or psychiatric research, working at the Leonard Gelfand STEM Center as an office assistant, being a Lab Assistant in Dr. Nicole Ward’s laboratory of dermatology at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, an Audio-Visual (AV) Tech who helps to set up and break down equipment used for MediaVision and the filming of classes, an AV Classroom Tech who helps to clean up and maintain technology in classrooms and lastly as a Student Assistant in Government Documents at KSL.
4. The other high paying job is the position of Assistant at the Cleveland Museum of Art Library. This position is only available as work-study and pays $9.50 an hour. As an assistant, you unpack and receive documents and material for the museum and go through a very specific and detailed receiving process.

Work Load:

1. The Thwing Center doesn’t have a heavy workload because it is mostly sitting at the Customer Service Desk and helping people find their way around. You can also sell candy or popcorn, but other than that this position is not as work-heavy as some other on campus jobs.
2. Working for the Government Documents office at KSL is also a lighter workload, as it is mostly a desk job where you sort through papers and documents. “I handle new orders of books and catalog incoming government documents through the specific system we use there.” says Singh. “Gov Docs, it’s more of a desk job or a shelving books job.”
3. Being a security assistant at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA) does not have a heavy workload either. It is mostly seeing that patrons are following security guidelines within the museum, keeping everyone safe, and occasionally giving directions or help to people who need it.
4. The last job that does not have a lot of heavy work associated with it is being a Lab Assistant at the School of Medicine’s Dermatology Department under Dr. Nicole Ward. This position requires mostly pipetting and washing dishes and lab equipment.
5. One position that does not have a small workload is being an SI for a class. Tang says that she “spend[s] a lot of time thinking up a session plan or how to be a better SI leader or other learning techniques and activities to try out.” Being an SI also means that Tang tries “to facilitate a collaborative working environment” by “mak[ing] the sessions pretty ‘chill’ for the students.”

Schedule:

With classes and extracurricular activities, having a job whose workload is manageable is critical to success here at CWRU. Here are some jobs that help you do that:

1. Working as an assistant at the Thwing desk is perfect, as stated on CWRULink, their schedule is very flexible. Additionally you maintain the customer service desk, sell candy or popcorn, clean up and provide customer service.
2. Another flexible job is being a Computer Technology Assistant at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences (MSASS). This job description includes providing desktop support to any staff or faculty at MSASS.
3. Your work schedule as a lab assistant in Dr. Nicole Ward’s Dermatology Laboratory can be flexible, since most of your duties would be washing, pipetting and autoclaving as well as some basic lab tasks.
4. Working at DiSanto Field and Veale Center can be flexible because your times of work are usually during games and such, which are not always during class and can be on the weekends and breaks. According to first-year student Hersh Bhatt “the work hours depend on the schedule of the various sports. But it has never interfered with classes or other activities.” As to what he does at work, Bhatt says, “[I mostly] broadcast games, sometimes track stats and scores.”

Environment:

A work environment is very important if you are to enjoy your job. However one environment does not suit all, so here are some suggestions for different work environments that may or may not work for you.

1. If an active atmosphere and working around sports sounds exciting, jobs at the DiSanto Field and Veale Center may be a good choice. As Bhatt introduces, “[his position at DiSanto and Veale] related to sports and as a person who loves sports, being involved with them is super fun…. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys watching sports.”
2. If a laboratory setting seems interesting or you would like to be involved in scientific research, working as a Research or Lab Assistant at UH or the CWRU School of Medicine could be a good match.
3. If communication or people skills are your strong suits, then working at MOCA, KSL or at Thwing will allow you to use your talents.
4. Some people prefer desk jobs, and positions at Government Documents or working at the Cleveland Museum of Art can be a good option for those who like quiet work environments.
5. If you want to help other students and are willing to put in a little extra work, then a SI position in one of your favorite classes may be the job for you. As Tang says, “It’s not really the right job if you just need money because of all the work put into it, but if anyone is interested in becoming an SI leader I definitely encourage them to look into it; I’ve had a really valuable experience.”