Students studying away face unemployment upon their return

Emily Hoppler-Treichler - hoppleeb@plu.edu

mast news reporter

For students who decide to study away during their education at PLU, the trip abroad comes with an unexpected price: fewer jobs to choose from on campus. Many of the largest on-campus employers are reluctant to hire students if they are planning on studying away in the near future, particularly those employers who hire on a yearly or even semester basis.

Sophomore Chelsea Linsley, who has studied abroad previously and plans to study away again for spring 2009 semester, has encountered multiple problems with on-campus employment due to her plans abroad.

“Some positions do hire at the semester, and I applied for quite a few upon returning from Norway,” Linsley said. Linsley was unable to get a job on campus because she couldn’t do interviews during J-term for a job spring semester.

“I had commitments at home, in the Midwest,” Linsley said. “That situation was kind of exceptional.”

However, Linsley ran into more trouble this semester while trying to get a job next year at the Wang Center.

“Even when I was a prospective student I thought that would be the best job ever to have on campus—working at the study abroad office,” Linsley said.

Linsley said the Wang Center declined to hire her because she was unable to commit to working there for a year.

“Of course, the people who want to work there would be the avid sojourners like me, but having that job means no study abroad for a year,” Linsley said, adding that “it does seem a bit counterintuitive.”

Linsley also said that she does think it is reasonable to expect employers to take into consideration when considering applications whether an employee may not be able to commit to the job, especially due to expensive and time-consuming issues like employee turnover and training.

“I certainly understand the reasoning behind it, but when I found out I couldn’t do it, I was pretty disappointed,” Linsley said.

While Kristin Labs, the Study Away Advisor for the Wang Center, did not directly address Linsley’s situation, she did note that the Sojourner Advocate position is more tailored to a junior or senior student.

“One of the eligibility criteria for the position is to have spent a semester studying away,” Labs said. “We also look for students with a rather high level of maturity, self-awareness, and of course, a passion for study away.”

Although multiple study away experiences certainly enhance capabilities for the Sojourner Advocate position, the Wang Center only hires once a year, and thus looks for students who plan to be on campus for the entirety of that year.

Multimedia Services coordinator, Amy Robbins, said that most of the student employees who study away have already worked at Multimedia Services for a year or more.

“They always have their job waiting for them to when they return,” Robbins said.

Diane Harris, director of Circulation and Building Services at Mortvedt Library, agrees that students don’t have to worry about losing their jobs if they decide to study away.

“We don’t care if a student plans to study abroad, it is actually encouraged by the university so we support the program as well,” Harris said. “We will guarantee that the student has their job when they return, especially if it is during J-Term.”

Harris added that if a student decides to study away, especially for long amounts of time, such as a year or semester program, employment positions may be lost.

“If they were originally a desk worker, they may have to begin as a shelver depending on the hours available since we would have had to hire additional staff to cover while they were away,” Harris said. Students are generally able to recover both the original duties and hours they had before they left over time.

Robbins also noted that although students studying away can create stress at their student jobs, Multimedia Services firmly supports studying away as a part of a student education.

“The student’s education comes first no matter what,” Robbins said. “If [students] have an opportunity to study somewhere else, they should take advantage of it.”

Students studying away do have one employer option that particularly advocates studying away for its employees without loss of hours.

“Dining and Culinary Services is always willing to hire student workers and at any given time, we employ around 150 student workers,” JJ Stolz, Dining and Culinary Services’ marketing manager said.

Stolz noted that Dining and Culinary Services hires continually throughout the year and schedules on a semester basis, with J-term separate.

“If a student is studying away in fall, they are very likely to still find a job opening with us in J-Term and spring,” Stolz said. “If a student works with us during fall and studies away in J-Term, we generally work to fill our spring schedules before Christmas break and they could have a schedule written and ready for when they return in February.”

Dining and Culinary Services is currently hiring for fall semester and accepts online applications for positions at any of its locations including Old Main Market, the Commons, and Tahoma Bakery at www.plu.edu/~stuemp.

Linsley advised students who plan on studying abroad, particularly for a semester to prepare in advance for employment upon return.

“You have to be OK with the fact that you might not have a job during that year,” Linsley said.

Although not having a job comes with an additional loss of money on top of the cost of studying abroad, Linsley doesn’t regret the decision.

“I’d rather study abroad, though I doubt if a lot of others would say the same,” Linsley said