On the Work-Study Job

Aug 13, 2018

RISE — a new Career and Professional Development program — emphasizes the career skills that students learn through work-study positions.

work study jobs

Rhonda Gifford, director of the Career and Professional Development Center, speaks to work-study supervisors in a review of the RISE initiative.

 

Work-study positions at Cal U are important ways for students to make college affordable. 

They also can help students develop skills that employers find valuable, according to Rhonda Gifford, director of the Career and Professional Development Center. 

To emphasize the potential career benefits of a work-study position, the CPDC has implemented a Reflections in Student Employment program. RISE began at Cal U during the 2017-2018 academic year through a pilot group of supervisors who helped their work-study students get “career-ready.” 

The program is modeled after one at the University of Iowa, called Iowa GROW®, which uses brief, structured conversations between student employees and their supervisors to help students connect the skills and knowledge they are gaining in the classroom with the work they are doing. 

“Along with the academic classroom, learning takes place in a lot of places on campus including these positions,” said Gifford, who prefers “student employment” to “work-study.” 

“These student positions are important not just in terms of them earning money, but also in the professionalism and skills they learn such as problem-solving team work, dedication and communications. 

“It’s so important for the students to be able to articulate the skills they have gained through academics, student employment, and co-curricular activities and to connect those to what they will be doing in the job that employers will hire them for,” Gifford said. 

Bridgett Nobili, assistant director of the CPDC and career coach for the College of Education and Human Services, discussed RISE on Aug. 9, during a meeting of supervisors who participated in the pilot program — Dori Eichelberger and Carrie Schubert (Academic Success), Diane Hasbrouck (Student Affairs), Carol Jones (Manderino Library), and Debra Custer (Students with Disabilities). 

“We can help Cal U students be career ready by making student employment a high-impact activity through experiential education and professional development,” Nobili said. “This allows students to make connections, reflect, apply and integrate their learning into real-life employment opportunities.”   

Eichelberger, the director of Peer Mentoring, said many of the 21 student workers in her office are criminal justice or education majors who developed skills by assisting with programs such as First Year Seminar. 

“It’s a great program because it helps the students think about their future and use skills right now that they would do later in an internship,” she said. “This has fit really well in our office because we already have weekly meetings and were naturally able to incorporate the RISE program.” 

Hasbrouck, director for the Center for Volunteer Program and Service Learning, said she tries to match a student’s major with relevant aspects of event planning. 

English major Lindsey Rush did a summer internship with Philadelphia-based AmeriHealth Caritas focusing on editorial services and internal communications. 

“The RISE program created that connection for me between school and work,” said Rush, who will graduate this December. “Diane was able to tailor my job description in a way that focuses more on the written side of the office job. RISE has helped create a work-study position that, in return, helped me land an internship with potential for a full time position after graduation.” 

Hasbrouck said RISE produces positive results. 

“Students speak more about their transferable skills, which makes them more comfortable and confident when they apply and interview for jobs or internships,” she said. “You see it.” 

Gifford urged the supervisors to post work-study jobs on Handshake, a comprehensive online career and internship resource offering powerful search tools and alerts. 

Handshake allows students to build their personal profile so employers can find them and access job recommendations based on their major and interests. 

“We need to catch the students where they are, and that is where supervisors come into play,” she said. “When the student workers are on that stage in front of employers and are career-ready, they will succeed. 

“That shows us RISE is working.” 

Nobili will hold training sessions  for supervisors interested in joining the RISE program this fall at 10 a.m. Aug. 15 and 2 p.m. Aug. 16. Both sessions will be in Keystone Hall, Room 209. Email gifford@calu.edu or nobili@calu.edu to register.