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Student employment competitive, rewarding

By Max Pikras, For The Miami Student

At Miami, student employment plays a large role in keeping the campus running day-to-day.

Heidi Spencer, a personnel technician for the student employment office, said Miami employs around 4,000 students across campus and works hard to provide them with good job opportunities and flexible schedules.

"Student employment strives to make students happy because we need the students to work," said Spencer. "Miami doesn't run without its student employees."

Spencer explained that the students submit online applications for the positions they are interested in. She also said the Rec Center positions are the easiest to fill, while the Housing and Dining positions are more difficult.

Spencer said that Rec Center positions fill quickly in the summer, and that the high number of available Housing and Dining positions contributes to the vacant positions. Housing and Dining employees make up 90 percent of the student jobs on campus.

"People really love the Rec Center," Spencer said. "I think that students are more physically active at Miami, and simply enjoy being around the Rec Center."

Another perk of working at the Rec is most student employees get a free unlimited group fitness pass, valued at $270 per academic year. Any fitness or customer service employee is eligible for the pass.

Along with the Rec Center, Spencer said that many students enjoy working in the Armstrong Student Center because it is a newer building and many students walk through it daily.

Junior Maggie Boyer is a customer service representative at the Rec Center. She said she really enjoys her job, partly because it fits her schedule well.

"I like it because I get to see a lot of people, and I really like the personal interaction," Boyer said. "Miami works around my class schedule and they're also really flexible for when I'm really busy and need more time for classes."

Boyer said the Rec Center provided a great work experience as well.

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"The Rec Center gives you many opportunities to work in other departments," said Boyer. "For example, I am a marketing major, and am also able to work in the Marketing Department at the Rec Center."

Housing and Dining positions also provide student employees with the chance for personal interaction throughout the day.

Elizabeth Brown, a junior employee at Bell Tower Place, also said she enjoyed the student interaction throughout the day.

Brown said she works in various positions at Bell Tower, including cashiering, working in the bakery and serving pizza.

Brown said she also liked working in Bell Tower because of all the other people she was able to meet.

"One thing that is different about working in food service is that I get to meet the full-time workers, who I wouldn't have had the chance to meet and get to know if I hadn't worked here," Brown said.

Spencer said student jobs provide students with a great opportunity to have a unique college experience, and to help them later in life.

"We always tell our students that working at Miami will help them later in their careers because they get to experience the work environment and learn how to interact with their supervisors," said Spencer.