Emily Armstrong ’23, pictured, has a passion for global education that served her well in her role as student associate in SNC’s study-abroad office. As with many on-campus work opportunities, Armstrong's gave her legitimate pre-professional experience; in her case, in advocacy and office management.

Campus Jobs Can Pay Significant Pre-Professional Dividends

Many college students work during the academic year to pay bills and earn spending money, but their jobs also offer rich opportunities for learning and professional growth, especially when their employer is St. Norbert. Just ask Gia Minneci ’24, a graphic design major.

Minneci has been working in the office of communications under Nick Patton ’03, where her duties include designing posters and brochures, and sometimes helping with college publications. “This job is giving me great professional experience that’s really applicable to what I want to do in the future,” she says. “If I’d gotten a similar job at an outside company, I’d probably just be getting coffee or writing notes for the people in charge.”

At one point, she was recruited to create a logo for the physics department. Minneci incorporated the college’s Norby figure – created by Patton – into the logo. “It was a lot of fun, playing around with Norby in different positions with calculators, pencils, et cetera,” she says.

Recent grad Brianne DeLain ’23 agrees with Minneci’s assessment of the value of an on-campus job, noting that her former position as a marketing and event coordinator with Alumni & Community Engagement gave her a wealth of experience pertinent to her future career. “My boss, Chris Betcher, was such an amazing mentor ever since I started working here my freshman year.”

Carley Becker ’14 worked in the college’s human resources office for two years when she was a student at SNC, a field she pursued after graduation. Not too long ago, the college hired her as a senior human resources generalist, bringing her human resources journey full circle. “I credit my success as a young professional to my campus job,” Becker says. “The team did everything they could to give me a well-rounded foundation for what a career in HR could look like after graduation.”

While a student, Becker learned about administering benefits, wellness programming, payroll, recruitment and more. She also was included in meetings and the performance evaluation cycle, affording her additional insights. “The job allowed me to gain real-life experiences I could speak to when I started to interview for my first job after graduation,” she says.

Of course, not every campus job will be related to a student’s field of study. But that doesn’t mean it’s less valuable. All campus jobs offer the utmost in convenience, for example. If you’re working at SNC, there’s no need to hop in a car or on a bus to get to work. A short stroll across campus, and you’re there.

Students also don’t have to worry about employers pressing them to work more hours. SNC limits student employment to 20 hours per week during academic terms; overtime is not allowed. In addition, the college offers its student employees flexibility when it comes to work hours, as its main goal is student success.

“I never had as much flexibility with a job as I did with my on-campus job,” says Maya Leonardelli ’23, who served as a student supervisor with the conferences and catering department. “I could set how many hours I wanted in a week, and if I needed to study for an exam, I could easily request time off.”

In addition, Leonardelli says her job taught her numerous valuable job skills such as leadership, problem-solving, teamwork, communication, relationship-building and stress tolerance.

Find more information on on-campus positions open to any qualified student.

Last updated Sept. 11, 2023