Most students need to hold down at least a part-time job during their college years. Some do it via work study, others find jobs, either on- or off-campus, via the college career center listings, CraigsList, want ads or even those handy tear-away flyers on bulletin boards. But these jobs are more than a source of ready cash to cover books and food. They’re also a way to test drive career paths and start building a resume.
“If you need to get a job to help pay for college, then try to find a job that can help you figure out what you want to do with your life,” says syndicated columnist Harlan Cohen in his book, The Naked Roommate and 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College.
It was a part-time job at his college newspaper that launched Cohen’s advice column, but his counsel is pertinent for any career path. If your child is interested in medical school, he should consider working at the health center or university hospital. He can see first-hand if the environment is what he expected, what kinds of jobs exist there, and whether he can stomach the sight of blood. He may decide that four years of medical school and many more years of residency aren't as interesting to him as physical therapy, nursing, pharmacology, hospital administration or other career paths. Future chef or restaurateur? Work in food services. Law school? Work at the law school or in a law office.
“The best case scenario is that you’ll love what you do and find contacts who can help you get into grad school or get a job,” Cohen says. And the worst case scenario is that your child discovers he hates that career path – a revelation you’d both prefer he make sophomore year, rather than post-bar exam. As worst case scenarios go, it's a really important one.
