Hooray! I have no job! [LONG, slight language], Advice Requested

[Jester]

No, I was actually talking about tips. Since tips are, for all intents and purposes, your real pay, you DO get paid every shift.

[MMATM]

You're right, Jester, I have no bartender experience. Serving I have done and can do so I might as well start there. I'm still intrigued by the bookstore idea, though, as you pay out the anus when buying textbooks and the buyback rate is quite crap. An employee discount would work well.
But I still think it'd be worth working as a server and maybe eventually move up to bartender, as that's something I'm interested in as I love to cook on an individual level (rather than doing 4 steaks at once that are all only different by doneness, or general cook stuff) and am fairly decent at it. Why serving/bartending? Because I won't be stuck in a hot kitchen the whole time. And, of course, tips.
Thanks for setting me straight on that one.
~Mark

[ArenaBoy]

Ok, I talked to a few people about how you wanted to be an RA or work in a student bookstore and this is what I got:

RA

Pros

Meet new people
Free room and board
Conduct activities to your liking
Bust students (As long as you don't go overboard but this is my friend)

Now the cons

Students can be the worst SCs ever, I think thegiraffe had a few posts about some loud roomates.
Students having sex in their rooms. My friend had to deal with these types of things constantly.
Busting alcohol and drugs if students have them. A huge thing at my school.

That's the gist of it for RA.

As for working in a student bookstore, BY ALL MEANS APPLY!!!!!!! As a fellow student, I know what you mean. I have another friend who works there. Pros are the employee discount of course and you are dealing with students and professors mostly.

Cons are pissed off students who are whining about their book that they need and is never there. A lot of hard work of course and the start of semester rush and end of semester rush.

As for working food service, that is another good choice. Like Jester said, tips are great especially if you happen to be a student. If you happen to do well at being a server you can rake in some serious dough. Just consider your options, and good luck.

[MMATM]

Thanks, ArenaBoy. It appears that there are a lot of us (students) on CS. Just not all from the US or even the Northern Hemisphere...

We're worldly.

[zzapp the witch]

Become a butcher. Customers don't give you shit when you have a knife in your hand. (Seriously, that was the best job I ever had). You wouldn't really be a butcher though, meat wrapping is easy and takes no prior experience, and there's plenty of part time slots (depending on location or course). (Plus you'll learn to spot a good cut of steak).

What? There's a lot of off the wall jobs out there that don't have a lot of SCs. At least I didn't suggest porty potty cleaner, you get some really shitty deals with that kind of a job.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

At least I didn't suggest porty potty cleaner, you get some really shitty deals with that kind of a job.

Don't quit your day job. That pun was horrible!

[SongsOfDragons]

Ok, I talked to a few people about how you wanted to be an RA or work in a student bookstore and this is what I got:

RA

Pros

Meet new people
Free room and board
Conduct activities to your liking
Bust students (As long as you don't go overboard but this is my friend)

Now the cons

Students can be the worst SCs ever, I think thegiraffe had a few posts about some loud roomates.
Students having sex in their rooms. My friend had to deal with these types of things constantly.
Busting alcohol and drugs if students have them. A huge thing at my school.

Eh? What level of schooling is this? I always assumed things that had a proper campus and called a 'college' was the equivilent of Sixth-form or more likely University in England...the ppl are over sixteen, and at Uni over eighteen; no sex and no alcohol in their rooms? We'd all have been bused last year on the latter of those, not to mention soooo many hallmates of ours for the former... Confused me much?

[MMATM]

To clarify:
Sex is allowed. RA's are supposed to provide condoms (no questions asked) to any of the residents (other students) under their watch. The alcohol thing, being the USA, is harder to pull off as students because the drinking age is 21. If you are 21 or over, you are allowed to have a certain amount of alcohol in your room (don't know exactly what amount) and if your roommate is likewise 21 or over, they can have the same amount. No drinking is to be done in any "dry" rooms (rooms in which neither roommate is 21 or over) and no minor is to be served alcohol or EVEN PRESENT when alcohol is being consumed.
The RA's job is to basically write up the offenders and supply condoms, as well as counsel fellow students (usually younger), mediate disputes, arrange for roommate changes, and know everything about everything. Some RA's are strict (will write you up for noise complaints even if it's not really you making the noise, or for carrying an open cup of water or soda down the hall) while others are not (will not only drink with you, but will supply the alcohol). RA's that are too relaxed with the rules can lose their jobs but RA's that are too strict (e.g. unfair) can likewise lose their jobs. Residents rate their RA's so the RA has to balance between enforcing the rules and not being a dick.
Some universities have different rules regarding sex and alcohol (drugs, other than cigarettes, are not allowed noway nohow) but those seem to be the standards. Oh, and weed is often overlooked if you aren't being conspicuous or causing a disturbance (they wouldn't know you had it anyway in that case).
RA's are also not allowed into residents' rooms without identifying themselves as an RA and asking to come in. Only the cops can force their way into students' rooms and then only with probable cause.
Sorry for the spiel that covers the RA's most basic, resident-oriented tasks (though there are others).

~Mark

[ToasterQueen]

It all depends on the college you're going to. I went to a very conservative college - seperate girls and boys wings, you couldn't have the door to your room closed when there was a member of the opposite sex present, completely dry campus.

My suggestion is the mailroom, if you don't like dealing with people. Decent pay, and very, very few SCs.

[MMATM]

Oh, I don't mind dealing with people. It's sucky people that are the problem.
Granted, any job with people will have sucky people, but I'm looking for a lower-than-average concentration of suckitude.