Ben Smidt

One important choice many students face when choosing a job is whether to find one off campus or on campus.

The job fair, held Sept. 5 in Davies Center, gave students a sample of the local employers who are seeking student employees.

Sophomore Martha Hoversten went to the fair to browse for a job, but she wasn’t looking for anything specific. She wants a job that is closer to campus, but she said going off campus to work has its benefits, mainly higher pay.

The downside, Hoversten said, is that students need transportation to get there, and some students don’t have cars on campus.

“(Off-campus jobs) are a different environment – more ‘real-world’ than an on-campus job – which might be a benefit,” senior Lars Nelson said.

Strategic Telecommunications, 202 Eau Claire St., is an outbound telephone fund-raising company. Strategic not only offers a higher pay grade than on-campus jobs but also offers other benefits and incentives.

Leah Erickson, a staffing consultant for Strategic, said her company will pay students a base pay of $8 to $9 an hour, but students can make up to $15.50 an hour based on their job performance.

“Work a part-time job, but make the money you would at a full-time job,” Erickson said.

Students hired by Strategic are required to be tele-service representatives, she said. They are required to solicit pledges and take donations from a list of callers.

“If I’d have known about this job, I wouldn’t have been a bartender in college,” Erickson said.

Strategic handles telephone donations for organizations ranging from a Republican political organization to different children’s foundations, she said.

Aside from higher pay, Strategic gives students an advantage when entering the career market, Erickson said.

The position gives them experience in marketing, which she said looks good on a resum‚.

Some students have difficulties starting their career when they graduate because they have a lack of experience in a job setting.

“If you have nothing on your resum‚, it’s hard to get a job,” Erickson said. “The best jobs want someone who has experience.”

Besides the pay and the experience, off-campus employers are flexible with students” schedules.

“Working with school students is ideal for us,” said Shawn K. Senn, an assistant human resources manager for the McDonald’s restaurant chain. “(Students) can work in gaps between classes and work nights … they have such flexible hours.”

McDonald’s also has programs that are specifically targeted to benefit student employees.

The McScholars program puts 50 cents of every hour worked by a student into a bank account and McDonald’s will match up to $4,000 to help ease the financial burdens of tuition, books and other school expenses.

McDonald’s is also a good workplace because it is willing to transfer employees if they want to work at another location when they go home for the summer or move out of the area, Senn said.

Strategic and McDonald’s have a promote-from-within program that can help students when they graduate.

McDonald’s is a major global corporation that has positions ranging from interpreters, accountants, human resources, business management and many other specialists, Senn said.