Upon admission into graduate school, the first thing that came to mind is how am I going to pay for tuition and living expenses. One option I thought I would explore was getting an on-campus job. 

Having an on-campus job comes with perks like flexibility, job and physical security. It also provides students and parents relief from the high cost of tuition. Thus, schools should consider easing the employment process to allow more students on board, especially international students. 

“In an academic year we have roughly 4,000 student employees and roughly 6,000 jobs posted,” said Fatima Mohammad, assistant director of student employment initiative. “The reason that there are more positions in comparison to student employees is due to students being able to hold more than one job, if they are within their work hour limits.”

This number includes international students as well. 

“We at the office of Student Employment make sure that every job we post is inclusive to all work hour limits,” Mohammad said. 

As an international student, I was very excited to start my education at DePaul, however, I found it difficult to get an on-campus job. During my first quarter in fall of 2022, I applied for an open library position. Days later, the position was filled by someone else. I noticed that my application was not reviewed at all during the hiring process.

The same thing continued to happen whenever I applied for other job openings.

Later, in response to my follow up, they told me that the employer would contact me if he finds my profile suitable. 

Therefore, I realized that there are no options for me except for waiting for my Curricular Practical Training (CPT) which becomes available after one academic year. This program allows students the opportunity to gain work experience through paid internships, off-campus employment or by doing odd jobs at their own risk.

I am always worried that if I get caught, I will be deported as it violates the student visa status. 

The two things that international students have to keep in mind is that they cannot work off-campus during the first year but may work on-campus 20 hours per week during school and 40 hours in the off session, according to the United States Citizens and Immigration Services. If this is the case, the only option left to first year students is to do odd jobs. 

Some benefits to on-campus employment for international students is the ability to get a social security number, which then helps students get a driver license, open a bank account and even rent an apartment on their own.

Some on-campus jobs, like being a professor’s assistant, come with the advantage of getting an additional course fee waived. 

Some students luckily get their jobs as freshmen and jump to other jobs or get promoted in the same job during their study years. DePaul sophomore and international student Erick Mauricio Rodriguez Ruiz is an office assistant at ACE Lounge and said it is important for him to always have a second source of income as a student.

“I got this job last winter quarter by mid-February,” Ruiz said. “For me, it is important to have a job [because] if I wouldn’t have one, then I wouldn’t have a source of income because I cannot have outside jobs.”

Eito Kawaski, a DePaul sophomore and international student from Japan, said he currently works as a Japanese language tutor at the SAC.

“I started working this winter quarter as a Japanese language tutor at SAC,” said Kawaski. 

Kawasaki said he wished that more jobs were available for international students to teach languages from their native countries. 

For Krishna Asoka Kumar Sajitha, a DePaul sophomore from India, on-campus jobs are much more flexible in terms of hours and commitments because all the positions are filled by current students. 

“I work three days per week so that I can attend classes the other days,” Sajitha said. “Most importantly, because of the job I was able to get a SSN number which is very vital for everything here.”

Ruiz also mentioned that his on-campus job was lenient about employees working on homework while they worked.

When I asked Michael Guda, a hiring assistant in the Office of Student Employment, if they typically hire more international than domestic students, he said, “I don’t think it is feasible to employ more international students than national students as it really depends on who meets the criteria. But it is a good idea and we can probably get the topic to panel discussions.”

Apart from this, going to work on the days you do not have classes can keep one  occupied. Moreover, having on-campus jobs can enable one to manage assignments easily as they do not have to travel elsewhere for work.

Since the college factual online portal — which recommends U.S. colleges based on their popularity to prospective students — ranked DePaul at 120th for popularity with international students in 2020, I hope the employment board will consider increasing the acceptance rate of international students for the job postings. 

Every application must be reviewed and training can be given to applicants who do not meet the criteria. I believe this will add more positive reviews to the school.