By Sarah Doiron and Paul Brosnan

Regina Leonard, a recruiter who oversees student employment, has advice for prospective students searching for work study employment.

“The more proactive you are with looking for a work study, the better chance you will have finding one,” Leonard, said.

This semester, there are currently 600 students employed through work study. There were 1200 at the end of the 2014 spring semester, according to Leonard.

Leonard said the numbers are lower this semester because the school year has just started and there are still many more prospective students looking for jobs.

Leonard recommends students who have been accepted for a work study through financial aid apply to as many jobs as possible.

“It’s the students responsibility to be aggressive when looking for a work study,” Leonard said. “Supervisors are flooded with emails, especially at the beginning of the year. The earlier you begin the search the easier it will be to find a position.”

Once a student has been awarded work study through financial aid, he or she can apply for positions on the student employment website on MyQ.

Leonard works with departments on campus to make sure they hire students with work study before any other potential student employees.

Students who work enough hours can receive their work study award through financial aid. In order to receive that award from financial aid, the student must work a set number of hours that varies between which job he or she is employed at.

“Student employment is responsible in helping with employment so they–the student[s]–can get paid,” Leonard said.

Sophomore Stephanie Montoya and junior Shannon Hernandez both enjoy their work study positions at the post office.

Montoya said having connections can help students get an on-campus job.

“I heard nothing about working at the post office until my roommate said something to me,” Montoya said. “But you can access a lot of work study jobs through MyQ, it just depends on how hard you look and how hard you try.”

Hernandez said she wishes there was more advertising around campus to help students find work study jobs that are not found on MyQ.

“Not everyone explores MyQ and it would be nice if there were posters or other ways to get the word out,” Hernandez said. “If there was advertising around campus, especially for work studies not found on the website, then I think there would be more students accepting their work study.”

Senior Aliya Clark said student employment does not always reach out to students who are struggling to find a work study job.

“I feel like [the work study program] makes it so it is up to you to find a work study, which is how it is supposed to be, but it is hard to find one unless you know people,” Clark said.

Freshman Kaitlyn Bates works at the fitness center and said she found out about the job through a friend who is an upperclassman.

Bates believes that it is easy to find a work study on campus even if you don’t know someone on campus who can help you get one.

“I feel like [the university] advertises well on how to apply for a work study,” Bates said. “A lot of people who have work study have asked the questions they need to in order to find one.”

Leonard believes the most informed students are those who attend freshman orientation and ask questions about work study.

“Students who are uninformed generally are not paying attention at the beginning of the year,” Leonard said. “There can be a number of reasons for this, but the one I commonly see is because there is too much being thrown at them at once.”

Leonard said there are a variety of work study jobs available on campus, but students should not limit themselves to one type of job.

“Sending an email to one supervisor and waiting for a response is not good enough,” Leonard said. “You need to be available to work and also try not to limit yourself in looking at positions.”

Leonard said Student Employment is always available to answer questions and help students in the search.

“We are here to help and support and guide as much as we can, students should not be afraid to come to us,” Leonard said.