Jobs at and around the Div School

I'm back from my second family reunion in as many weeks, with an even deeper tan (to paraphrase my brother, if I get any darker I'm in serious danger of looking like I'm from Jersey) and lingering soreness from having my cousin drag me behind a boat on an inner tube. The sad truth of the matter is that soon school will start up again and we'll all have to abandon our trashy beach reads for trashy liturgical theology (I guess the later chapters are getting better, but I'm still not sold, Nathan). Most of us will also be trying to work while we're in school in an attempt to offset the costs of grad student life. I've had a request to post a little about finding jobs on campus, which is good, because I know very little about finding jobs on campus.

First of all: "on-campus" is a tricky phrase for us divvies. While our own campus is rather teeny, it does have a few opportunities for gainful employment. You can also expand your search to the wider Yale campus, with the understanding that, like me, your "on campus" job might involve a 30-minute hike downtown.

Here, then, my top ideas for getting a job, in geographically expanding order:

1. Ask. For real, the people who I know who work at the Divinity Library got employed by walking in and asking if they could work there. Do this early (during BTFO!) -- since the requirements for being a shelving serf are namely that you have a pulse and be able to recognize the alphabet, these jobs are kind of a first-come first-serve deal.

2. Follow Dale Mail. I know, I know, I sound like a broken record. Dale Mail won't solve all your problems (for example, if you're bleeding, you should probably go directly to the health plan). It is, however, the number one resource for finding out what's going on on campus, including things people will pay you for. Dale Mail job listings will include on- and off- campus postings, one-off and long-term assignments and, in March, BTFO 2010 Coordinators. Which I hope you all apply for; I need to do CPE and someone needs to keep up the awesome.

3. Check out yalestudentjobs.org. Actually, check out this link, to their various job databases. Things look a little slow over there, but should pick up as the semester starts. You can find just about anything there. This is how I ended up working for Yale's Lutheran Campus Ministry, despite 1) not being Lutheran and 2) not knowing anything about web design, which was allegedly what I was hired to do.

Other thoughts about jobs:

- If you can stand kids, you can sign up with the Yale Babysitting Service and have people pay you to stand their kids. Parents can search this directory and find a one-time or long-term childcare provider.

- As a second year in either M.Div or MAR programs, you're eligible to work an internship through Susan Olson's Office of Supervised Ministries. These work in conjunction with, not in addition to, your financial aid package, and pay you a lump sum of $1,500 per semester, and maybe if I keep writing boring things no one will know that I really don't get payment for these works. Watch Dale Mail (yes, again, sigh) for information sessions in the spring, which you must attend in order to start the interview process.

Let's end with:

Like any university campus, there are a lot of opportunities to do grunt work around Yale. Divvies make up a disproportionate number of the book shelving serfs at Sterling Memorial Library, particularly during the summer. I wouldn't hyperventilate over finding a job before you get to campus. Especially if you're a typical grad students, who's happy to take on something brainless for a few hours a week for pay and doesn't quite care about building a resume for future library gigs, you will find something to pay you $12.50/hr.

There are things other than book shelving available, that's just my prototypical student job (and how I spent two years of my college career... never again!).

(At right: a real thing. I love how careful they are to cite Creative Commons for the music rights.)

-Kate