Student Employment Services Blog

What is the LCS Program?

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Leaders in Community Services, better known as the LCS program is a registered student organization dedicated to serving the Springfield community that is headquartered within the Student Employment Office. Today we’ll talk about what LCS is, How to apply, and why it’s such a great program. 

Quick View:

  • LCS runs through the Student Employment Office.
  • LCS members work at non-profit organizations within the Springfield Community.
  • Applications close March 12th, 2021!
For more information, Keep reading…
What is LCS? 

Leaders in community service is a registered student organization run by the Student Employment Office that is dedicated to serving the Springfield community. It was established in 1994 as a complement to the Federal Work-Study program. LCS is a unique program that allows students to serve an average of 10-12 hours a week with an area non-profit agency for the fall and spring semesters of the academic year as their work-study assignment. Through their participation, LCS members broaden their educational experience and awareness of community needs along with providing valuable services, insights, and energy to the Springfield community. In addition to serving a non-profit agency, the students also participate in at least one service project in the community each semester. Overall the LCS program is a great opportunity for students looking for meaningful work. 

If I became a part of LCS, what would I do?

LCS students work with an area non-profit agency for the academic year, August-May, as their work-study assignment. LCS members are paid by Missouri State through the Federal Work-Study program, at $11.90 per hour for approximately 10-12 hours per week (excluding University holidays). This includes service in the community, participation in all training sessions, attendance at all scheduled meetings, and other planned events.

How do I apply to be a part of the LCS program? 

If you’re looking to be a part of the LCS program, we have great news! At the time of this being posted, the application to join the program (2021-2022) is now open! Hurry and apply because applications close on March 12th. Listed below are a few reminders to determine your eligibility for the program. Keep in mind that LCS members are a select group of Missouri State University work-study students who are chosen through a comprehensive application and interview process.

Leaders in Community Services Qualifications:
  • Must complete the application and interview process
  • Must maintain a minimum of a 2.5 GPA
  • Be enrolled in and complete 12 credit hours per semester
  • Must be eligible for the amount of Federal Work-Study needed for the LCS year.
Is LCS Worth it?

While of course, we think the LCS program is awesome, we’re not the only ones! Watch this testimonial video to hear past LCS members talk about their experiences. Many LCS members feel that they are doing meaningful work that is really helping to prepare them for their future careers. For more information about the LCS program, visit our Leaders in Community Services webpage, and feel free to contact our Graduate Assistant who runs the program, Marli Sims. 

 

Looking for a job? 

Visit our website to find the right job for you, and apply today!

 

3 Tips for Managing your Finances as a College Student

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How are things going for you financially? Don’t worry, we won’t judge, we know it’s not easy! Are you doing well with your finances? That’s great! This blog post probably isn’t for you. However, if you think you could use some extra help with managing your money or are just interested in the topic, keep reading! Today we’ll be discussing 3 ways to better manage your finances as a college student.

Quick View:

  • Set a budget & track your spending
  • Open a savings account
  • Get a part-time job
For more information, Keep reading…
Set a Budget & Track your Spending

This is the easiest step any college student can take to help manage their finances. Setting a budget can help you to avoid those tough decisions between a Saturday night out or whether you get to eat dinner on Wednesday night. While it may seem like a pointless thing to do when you have exams, homework, extracurriculars, and Tik Tok to focus on, setting a budget is a great skill to develop early on in your college career. The fact of the matter is, there aren’t classes that teach you how to set a budget and yet it’s likely something you will do in some capacity for the majority of the rest of your life. It may sound scary, but setting a budget can be really simple with a couple of tools. What tools your ask? A computer with Excel and a calculator (or phone) will work perfectly! Open up an excel workbook and begin listing out all of your monthly expenses. Rent, tuition, books, utilities, groceries, car payments, gas, or anything else you spend your money on each month. 

Once you’ve listed out these items, it’s a good idea to organize your excel sheet as best as you can. Depending on your skills with excel, you can get pretty creative with this or you can keep it as a simple list. Then, in a separate area, input your monthly income and see how the numbers equate out. How much money do you have leftover? Are you in the red for this month? If so, take a look at your spending and see where you can make adjustments. Having your spending laid out in an excel sheet allows you to track your spending and make adjustments accordingly so that you can go out on that Saturday night and not feel guilty about it! We recommend doing this each month to see the change over time. 

Open a Savings Account

I know that this may seem scary, but it’s a good idea to start a savings account early. While we may want to use our hard-earned cash on ourselves first, then our bills, and lastly, maybe save a little bit, that’s not a great strategy! It’s a good habit to get into, to pay your bills, contribute to your savings, and then use what’s leftover on yourself. Building these habits now will only benefit you further after graduation. Now that you have a budget in place, you can easily use it as a guide to see where you can limit your spending to contribute more to your savings. Spending a lot on gas? Try using a bike, public transportation, or the Bearline to get to class instead. Computer busted and need a new one? Look into refurbished ones rather than brand new ones. Grocery shopping? Try to avoid the higher-priced, name-brand items and opt for the cheaper ones. There are a lot of different ways to help contribute more money to your savings while attending college. 

Get a Part-Time Job

This is our personal favorite way to better manage your finances! There are so many benefits to working while attending college. Check out our blog post about The Top 5 Benefits of Working While in College to learn more about this! Having a part-time job while in school is not only a great boost to your wallet, but it can be a great resume builder. If you are able to find a job that pertains to your career, you can gain relevant work experience and some extra cash at the same time! What’s better than that? Over the summer months, it’s also a great idea to take advantage of that time (assuming you aren’t taking classes through the summer.) If you can land a paid internship opportunity that great! If not, any part-time or full-time job will be a great way to return to school with some extra cash. If you need assistance applying to or looking for jobs, visit our website or give a call! The Student Employment Office is here to assist you in any way we can in regards to employment while you are attending Missouri State University.

 

What is the Work-Study Program?

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Have you ever heard the term “Work-Study” thrown around by classmates or friends? Have you ever wondered what it is or how it works? Well, we’re going to clear up any confusion regarding the work-study program today!

Quick View:

  • If you qualify for the Pell Grant, you likely qualify for the Work-Study program. 
  • You can use our federal Work-Study calculator below to see how many hours per week you can work.
  • The Work-Study Waitlist opens on August 1st at 7:00 am. The waitlist works on a first-come, first-serve basis.
For more information, Keep reading…
What is the Work-Study Program and Do I Qualify?

The Work-Study program is a method of funding for student employees. On-Campus Jobs, located on our website can require two different types of student status. “Work-Study required” or “Work-Study optional”. Anybody can apply to and land a Work-Study optional position. On the other hand, only people that qualify for the Work-Study program can apply to and land the Work-Study required positions. So, how do you know if you qualify for work-study you ask? There are a few requirements you must meet. 

You must…

  • Have filed a FAFSA for the current academic year, so that we can ensure there is a financial need that has not been met.
  • You must be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours per semester in the Fall and Spring. During the summer you must be in a minimum of 3 credit hours.
  • You must maintain a 2.0 GPA.
  • Work-Study funds must be available, if they are unavailable at the time, you can sign up for our waitlist (see next section).
  • Unfortunately, Graduate students and International students are not eligible for Work-Study.

Another good thing to note is that your Work-Study eligibility is determined by your financial need from your FAFSA results. Students who qualify for a Pell Grant may qualify for the Work-Study program. So, if you’re reading this to figure out if you qualify, check your financial aid records and if you have qualified for, or received a Pell Grant and fulfill all the requirements above, then you likely qualify for Work-Study! Work-study students are paid through federal funding that is allocated to the university. With all of that being said, it is important to know that the Work-Study program does not work as a grant or a loan but rather as a regular job. You will be paid for the hours you work each pay period. While it’s, of course, an option, you are not required to use your earned money towards your tuition. You can use your earnings in any way you need to. Food, housing, gas, books, those jeans you’ve had your eye on that are finally on sale! 

Why Work-Study? 

You may be asking yourself, “why do some positions require work-study qualified students, while others don’t?” That’s because some departments on-campus don’t have the budget to pay a student employee out of their own pockets, but they have plenty of work to go around. This is where work-study comes into play. Work-Study allows the department to hire student employees and pay them without going outside of their departmental budget constraints. 

Let’s discuss the number of hours that Work-Study student employees are allowed to work. The student’s hours are limited by the amount of the work-study award and cannot exceed 1,000 hours in any given 12 month pay period. That means that depending on how much your work-study award is worth, you will be able to calculate how many hours a week you can work. You can find more information about this on our website but here is a simple breakdown. 

To find out how many hours per week you can work to fully maximize your work-study funding, use the formula below. 

Take the award amount and divide that by the number of weeks you plan on working during the academic year, and then divide that by your hourly pay rate. This will get you your allowable hours per week. Example below: 

Award Amount: $3,500 Weeks to Work: 33 Pay Rate: $10.30

$3,500 / 33 Weeks / $10.30 = 10 hours per week

Work-Study Waitlist? 

Have you heard of the ‘Work-Study Waitlist”? This is a question we often get in our office. If you qualify for work-study funding and you did not receive it on your financial aid awards, you can sign up for the work-study waiting list. The link to sign up is located on your My Missouri State menu under the financial aid section. Work-study waitlist funding is awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis as it becomes available. It’s important to take care of these items as soon as possible so that you can be near the top of the waitlist and get a job as soon as possible! The waitlist opens on August 1st at 7:00 am, if you qualify for Work-Study and want to get a job on-campus, be sure to be one of the first people to sign up for the waitlist. For more information about the Work-Study waitlist, visit our website! Image of the Work-Study Waitlist located on the Student section of the My Missouri State Webpage.

We hope this helped to clear up any confusion you had about the Work-Study program. We understand that it is a complicated system that not many students understand. We are always happy to help if you have questions. Feel free to visit our website, give us a call, or come by the office! (Shannon, room 113)

The Career Center vs The Student Employment Office

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Have you ever visited the Career Center but meant to visit the Student Employment Office? Maybe the other way around? Well, then you may find this very helpful. Today we’ll be discussing the difference between the Career Center and the Student Employment office. The best way to start is by saying that both offices are great at what they do. However, what the offices do is a little bit different. Let’s begin with the Student Employment Office. 

 

Quick View:

  • Student Employment Services is located in Shannon, room 113. While the Career Center is located in Carrington, room 309 as well as Glass 276
  • The Career Center helps you further explore your career and develop skills. While the Student Employment Office helps you become employed as a Student at Missouri State. 

 

For more information, Keep reading…
The Student Employment Office

The Student Employment Office is located in Shannon room 113. If you need extra guidance on how to locate our office, watch this video! So what do we do? The Student Employment Office’s purpose is to help students find employment opportunities while attending Missouri State University. Our mission statement is to “Cultivate tomorrow’s leaders, one student employee at a time”. Whether it’s on or off-campus employment, Work-Study or not, Full-time or Part-time, the student employment office is here to help you find a job that can help support your student lifestyle. By visiting our website you can click on the “Find a job” button at the top of the page, and it will take you to our jobs portal with all kinds of student jobs that are available.

Our website is also a great source for all kinds of Student Employment information. You can learn more about the Work-Study program, Student Employment Policies, and view the most frequently asked questions. We also host two events during the year. In the Fall we host the Student Job Fair, where representatives from different departments from around campus and businesses from off-campus set up tables in the PSU Ballroom. It’s an opportunity for students to meet with employers, give them their resumes, and even get interviewed on the spot! We also have National Student Employment Week which is the 2nd week of April and it’s a big deal for student employees. Departments from all around campus nominate a student employee from their office to be the student employee of the year. All of the nominees and nominators attend the MSU Student Employee of the Year Ceremony where they are entered in raffle giveaways and the student employee of the year finalists and winner are announced. Along with all of that amazing stuff, we also are the home base for the Leaders in Community Service Program. Leaders in Community Service is an extension of the federal work-study program that allows students to work part-time at non-profit agencies around Springfield. Visit this page for more information regarding LCS. Overall, the Student Employment Office is the place to visit if you are looking for employment as a student. That’s what we’re here for and that is what we will help you do! Now, let’s dive into the Career Center!

 

The Career Center

The main Career Center office is located on the 3rd floor of Carrington (Room 309). They also have another location in Glass Hall for College of Business students located in Glass 276. The Career Center is the place to go when you are trying to decide on a major, land an internship, polish your resume, practice your interviewing skills, and more!

 I had the opportunity to sit down with Career Center director, Kelly Rapp to get some more information about the Career Center so that we can better understand the difference between the Career Center and the Student Employment Office. Dr. Rapp explained that the Career Center has three core functions, as it’s represented on their website. The three main functions are exploring your career options, preparing for job opportunities, and connecting with employers. They have staff members that will help guide you down your path of finding the major and career path for you. By using different tests such as the Kuder Journey, Myers Brigs, and Strong Interest Inventory, they will sit down with you and try to help you find the right direction. 

They will also help you with different aspects of your professionalism such as your interview skills, resume or CV, and cover letters. The Career Center also has a lot of great opportunities for you to connect with employers. By utilizing the Handshake app, you can find internships and job opportunities right from your phone! The Handshake app also correlates with some of the events the Career Center puts on. They host a variety of events including career fairs, career fair prep workshops, Resume madness, Mock interview day, speed networking events, and more! Visit this page to see all of the events hosted by the career center. What if you want help polishing your resume for a student job? You could come to the student employment office and we would definitely help out, but the career center is where the experts are for all things resume building and polishing, even if it’s for a student job!

We hope that this helped to clear up any confusion between the Student Employment Office and the Career Center, or that you learned something new! If not, that’s ok, feel free to come into one of the offices and we are happy to help point you in the right direction! 

Step by Step Guide: Applying for a Job Through the Student Employment Website

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Have you ever applied for a job through the Student Employment Website? Have you ever tried but got confused and gave up? Well, you’re in luck because we’re about to break it down for you. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to apply for a job through the Missouri State Student Employment website. 

 

Quick View:

  • Visit: www.Missouristate.edu/Studentemp
  • Click the “Find a job button” 
  • Navigate the job portal 
  • Find your perfect job
  • Apply to the perfect job
  • Wait….
  • Get hired!

 

For more information, keep reading…

 

Step 1: Visit: www.Missouristate.edu/Studentemp 

This is step one. Open up a web browser of your choosing and type in www.Missouristate.edu/studentemp. Or if you would like, just go ahead and click that link. Once you are on our website, you should see the words “Student Employment Services” and a photo of a gentleman riding a bicycle across the brick bear head located on campus. If you see this then you’re in the right place. 

 

Step 2: Navigating the website

This just might be the easiest step. You will want to scroll down and click on the button that says “Find a Job”. Simple as that.

 

Step 3: Navigating the Jobs Portal

Once you click on “Find a Job” it will take you to the jobs portal. When this page is pulled up, you will see different filtering options. You can filter jobs for position type, department, location, keywords, and time posted. We would recommend using the “position type” filter and choosing students, as well as the “location” filter, and choose whether you’re interested in on-campus or off-campus employment. Be sure to select your campus. If you attend Missouri State in Springfield, choose the Springfield campus. If you attend Missouri State in West Plains or Mountain Grove, be sure to select the correct campus location. 

 

Step 4: Finding the right job for you

Now that you have your search narrowed, you can begin scrolling and look through the jobs that are currently available. Be sure to click on each listing that interests you to learn more about the position. You’ll find information such as hours, department, pay rate, qualifications, and more. Also, be sure to pay attention to the “Student Status” section of the job listing. Some jobs require students to qualify for the Work-Study program. To learn more about whether or not you qualify for work-study click here. Now that you found your dream student job, let’s apply!

 

Step 5: Applying to a job

Now that you’ve found a job that you want to apply to, let’s apply! In the top right corner of the job listing page, there will be a button that says “Apply for this job”. You’re going to click on that button. Once you click on that, it will bring up a screen asking you to log into your account. If this is the first job that you are applying to through our website, then you’ll want to go ahead and create an account. You can do this by clicking the “create an account” tab on the left-hand side. Please note, this is different from your My Missouri State login. Once you have your account created, you can then begin filling out the application! 

Most applications follow the same format but the required information may differ depending on the job that you’re applying to. The information that you’ll be asked to enter is Personal Information, which are basic things such as name, major, GPA, etc… The next page is applicant documents. This is where you will submit any documents requested from the employer such as a resume, cover letter, references, or certifications. After that, you’ll move onto the previous employment & skills section where you will submit your previous employment experiences and any skills you may have. The last 5 sections of the application process consist of submitting references, your availability and schedule, supplemental questions that the employer may have, and lastly the voluntary identification, disability, and veteran forms. Once you have completed these steps you can then review your application for errors and submit it!

 

Step 6: Now we wait…

Now that you have submitted your application, the ball is in the employer’s court. It usually takes anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks for employers to get back to potential candidates. That is a great time for you to prepare for an interview should you get called back. Learn about the department or business as well as the people that work there. Come up with questions you can ask and ideas you can present. Jobs are won and lost during interviews!

 

So now you know how to apply for a job through our website! Why don’t you go head on over to www.Missouristate.edu/studentemp and apply today!