Students struggle to find campus jobs despite largest employment budget in College history

Despite more than 200 on-campus departments with budgets to hire students, campus student employers reported a rise in the number of applicants per position, while students said landing a job has become more competitive.

Brad Lindberg, associate vice president of institutional initiatives and enrollment, wrote in an email to The S&B that 880 students—over 50 percent of the student body—currently work on campus with 40 percent of these students holding more than one job.

The College’s administration maintains that job opportunities remain steady. “The student employment budget for the year is the largest in the history of the College,” Lindberg wrote. 

However, students interviewed by The S&B report high strain and difficulty getting hired on campus. “When I was still a prospie [prospective student], I heard that it was quite easy to find jobs on campus, and coming here, I’m finding that that’s not quite the case,” Danielle Rogers `28 said. “I’ve probably applied to a handful of jobs. In a vast majority of them, I just haven’t heard back.”

Those concerns are not only coming from new students, but also returning ones.

“I have applied to a lot of on-campus jobs that I either haven’t heard back from at all, or I interview for, and then I don’t hear back again,” Regann Fishell `27 said. “I think a problem that I have been experiencing, and I know I’m not the only person that experiences this, is that the hours that they post on the job application, it’s never really consistently those hours.”

Fishell currently is a Vivero Fellow, serves on Grinnell College’s sustainability committee and works as an art editor for the Grinnell Review. In addition, she holds an off-campus job at McNally’s, averaging a total of 23 hours per week across her roles.

When asked if the number of job positions offered this semester was less than before, Lindberg wrote, “Even though jobs may shift or move, the number of students employed is remarkably similar over the course of the last few years. For example, 880 students are currently working on campus, compared to 877 at this same time last year.”

Increased difficulty finding jobs, however, does seem to correlate with higher volumes of applications. Campus employers said it is becoming increasingly difficult to choose between candidates.

Maure Benanti Smith, assistant vice president of student affairs and dean of inclusive initiatives, said in a statement to The S&B that there has been a noticeable rise in applications for roles she hires for, such as positions with the Student Government Association (SGA). “Recently I have found that supplemental questions work better than a cover letter as a screening tool when I have a larger applicant pool,” Smith wrote.

“The hardest part of my job is saying no to students,” David Stanley, global kitchen culinary coordinator, said. “I wish I could hire every single student that applies.”

At the start of the semester, service leadership work-study positions made up a significant portion of the roles listed on Handshake, the online platform commonly used by students to find on-campus jobs. Currently, the service leadership program partners with local organizations, such as the Mayflower Community and the Food Recovery Network, and employs over 50 students.

“The difficulty is ultimately, some students have more experience with job applications,” said Ryan Solomon, director of civic engagement and innovation. “My office is part of careers, life, and service, and we have these fantastic resources, especially for helping students learn how to write resumes and cover letters. But for campus positions, students don’t feel the same pressure to professionalize their materials as they do when applying for external jobs.”

Some campus employers said they believe the number of applications will stay high into the spring.

“I feel like if we did this [hiring] again next spring, it will be even more [students], so it’s definitely competitive,” Stanley said.

The Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers (UGSDW), which represents and advocates for student workers on campus, also expressed concern about the job search difficulties. In an email to The S&B, UGSDW addressed the disconnect between student experiences and administrative statements.

“We are sympathetic with people who cannot find a job on campus and encourage anyone with concerns to reach out to the Union,” UGSDW wrote. “We believe that all of this reveals a greater trend that the College’s administration saying that jobs have not decreased is disconnected from the lived experiences of students.”