Most college students can agree one of the hardest parts about this time in life, aside from the obvious education-aspect, is the financial strain we have to deal with.
Most college students can agree one of the hardest parts about this time in life, aside from the obvious education-aspect, is the financial strain we have to deal with.
If you are fortunate enough to come from an affluent family who funds your room and board as well as your tuition, then you are golden. There are some families who can even afford to shell out ‘spending money’ as an allowance of sorts for their children in college.
But for a large portion of young adults, seeking higher education bares the weight of lofty bills.
No one can argue the fact that college is hard. Some try, but ultimately fail. Attending full-time or even part time classes and doing all the required work outside of class in addition to holding down a job that provides enough hours for you to pay for you to live somewhat comfortably is no easy task.
Despite the fact that almost everyone needs a job, it seems to be unreasonably difficult to obtain one. Seeing as Richmond is both a decent sized city and the capital of Virginia, there are ample establishments that one would assume needed employees.
While the rate of unemployment for college students is dropping, down to 4.5%(8/15) from 5.4%(8/14) for those with ‘some college’ or an associates degreeaccording to the US Department of labor, its still a struggle for folks in school to find work.
Luckily, VCU’s career center recognizes that this is a collective issue, and hosts general career fairs for students every semester. Several vendors set up stations in the upstairs salons of VCU’s Student Commons, ready to talk to eager student about open positions within their companies.
Ashley Wells, a senior studying Psychology with a media studies minor, went to one such a fair earlier this week with the hopes to find a job that would prove her that her efforts in school have not been in vain.
“I went to college with hopes of finding a good job after graduation,” She said. Wells hopes to find work in the field of journalism, and has searched for weeks on different websites and VCU blogs in hopes of finding a position that was writing centered.
The prospect of future financial success seems to be a trend, as fellow senior Jasmyn Snipes sought out the fair for the same reasons. “I feel like I need a job to gain experience as well as for financial reasons,” Snipes said. “Also, because I am graduating [soon] I want to have money saved up so I can afford somewhere to live.”
Snipes is a mass communication major with a concentration in public relations, and she is seeking out a job that would allow her to work with social media.
Though Snipes and Wells both expressed interest in landing jobs that would benefit them in the long run, they found themselves in a position to take what they could find for the time being.
Though the vendors at the fair did not quite match up to what she was seeking, Wells opted to speak with a couple of them anyway.
“My main concern is paying off my student loans, and also being able to maintain the life I’m accustomed to once I’m completely on my own.” she said.
Snipes said that she has looked within VCU for positions, as well as local Richmond businesses to see if anyone needed promotional help- but to no avail.
“I spoke to some people in the food industry and some people from hotels in the hospitality industry, but I didn’t really find what I was looking for,” She said. “They had some decent jobs but nothing related to what I want to do after I graduate.”
There will be another part-time job fair next semester with some new vendors ready to find prospective new employees. Though these two current students did not find exactly what they were looking for this time around, they both hope they’ll have better opportunities next year.
