Working as a Tufts Student
Since I’ve come to Tufts I’ve been able to explore diverse options of on-campus and off-campus jobs. As someone who had never had a job in high school, I was surprised by how many opportunities were available to me to not only work a job, but to work a job that I actually enjoyed. As a history major and someone who is 100% devoted to the arts and humanities with no interest in STEM, a big insecurity of mine at college was the supposed “worthlessness” of my degree according to societal stigma. While I pragmatically know the flaws in this thinking, the constant negative reinforcement combined with my naivete of the work-force made me worried about finding work that I enjoyed.
While I clearly can’t speak to a career, I can tell you about my experience working as a student at Tufts. The way I’ve interacted with jobs on and off campus is through Handshake. Handshake is similar to services like Indeed, but is only available to college students with employers being able to post listings to colleges. A lot of on-campus jobs are also posted through Handshake and are only available to Tufts students. Examples of on-campus jobs that are currently posted as I write this are Orientation Coordinator, Writing Fellow, and Operations Intern. Jobs are constantly rotating, so the key is to always check in and see if something interests you.
In terms of off-campus jobs there is a wide array of offerings on Handshake for both STEM and the humanities. For those in the humanities, I’ve noticed many museum internships, journalism internships, and internships at publishing houses. Like with on-campus jobs, the key is to periodically check Handshake for a job that interests you and to just send out as many applications as possible.
Now, a listing obviously does not mean a job and most of these jobs, both on and off campus, are very competitive. I’ve applied for three on-campus jobs (to play films for a film class, to work at the library, and this blog) and only gotten one (this blog). What I’d recommend is to just keep sending out an application for a job that interests you and eventually you’ll get one you like. I’d also say that if you have a strong desire to work there is always something on-campus available, and my friends have enjoyed working in the dining halls and screening films for social events hosted by TUSC.
But it’s important that if you find a listing that looks interesting that you send in an application even if you think it’s way too competitive and you have no chance at getting it. Over winter break I saw a listing to help an author research an upcoming book on Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong. As a history major with a deep love for music (especially jazz), this job seemed like something I would love. However, I was convinced that as a freshman with little experience I’d have no hope of getting the job, which led to me almost not submitting an application.
I did put in an application though, thinking it would be a good experience for learning how to make a resume and put together a job application, but never expecting to actually get it. That being said, I’m glad I did because I got the job and since winter-break I’ve been working part-time helping this author on his book. Again, I can’t speak long-term, but as someone in the humanities it’s reassuring to have a job in history and writing within my first year, allowing me to develop valuable work experience and to get paid for work I genuinely enjoy.
I can’t speak to experiences at other colleges, but I do believe that Tufts offers a wide variety of on-campus jobs that I would enjoy doing and am able to learn from, and that Tufts’ reputation and status has given me resources and credibility to find work outside of Tufts that I enjoy.
Photo by Seohyun Shim