Follow these steps and move one step closer to your next job!
The first step to working on campus is to determine if you are a regular or work study student. This is important because some campus employment opportunities are funded by Federal Work Study funds and are only open to students who are work study eligible. If you are not work study eligible, keep scrolling to the Prepare Your Resume section!
To determine Federal Work Study Status, follow these steps:
- Login to UA Connect
- Click on Financial Aid and then select "Accept/Decline Awards"
- If you're eligible, you will see a Federal Work Study Award amount
- To obtain the awarded funds, find a job on-campus and work towards earning your work study funds
If you have specific questions about Federal Work Study, contact Erin Wooldridge (workstud@uark.edu) in Financial Aid who helps students with work study or visit UA Financial Aid.
Most jobs on campus will require a resume for applications, so if you don't have one, now is the time to get started. Your resume is your opportunity to share with hiring departments who you are and the experiences you have. Visit the Career Studio in the CORD for help preparing your resume!
Handshake is the UA student jobs board.
Handshake is UA's online career platform, connecting students to employers, job opportunities, career events, and career resources.
To access Handshake:
- You must be currently enrolled as a student
- Click on UA login and enter your UARK email and password
- Incoming students typically gain access before their first day of classes
- To view University part-time jobs, click "All filters" and select "On-Campus"
- "On-Campus" filter will list student employment opportunities on-campus
- To view UA off-campus student employment and external opportunities, click "All filters" and select "Job"
- To view jobs eligible for Federal Work Study, click "All filters" and select "Work Study"
- Scroll and apply to jobs through there!
After logging in to your Handshake, make sure you set up your profile to give yourself a boost in your job search!
Tips for building Handshake Profile:
- Add an appropriate photo.
- Upload a high-quality professional headshot of you alone, professionally dressed.
- Write a short bio.
- In the "My Journey" section, describe your goals and qualifications. This is a space for you to showcase your goals and personality that will not be mentioned in other sections. Keep it concise, no more than a paragraph.
- Maximize your work & volunteer experience.
- In the "Work & Volunteer Experience" section, list all work and volunteer experience. Use action verbs to describe your responsibilities and accomplishments that you achieved under the position.
- Include your engagement.
- In the "Organizations & Extracurriculars" section, list all relevant organizations that you are a member of or hold leaderships roles in. Describe the impact of your involvement or any skills gained.
- Showcase skills.
- In the "Skills" section, list hard and soft skills that you've gained through your work, volunteer, and organization experience.
- Keep it updated.
- Regularly update your profile with your latest work experience, volunteer activities, and newly acquired skills.
If you're not finding success in applying to positions on UA job boards, using your network can be a great way to find a job on-campus.
We recommend asking professors or staff members if they know of any job openings. Sending them your resume and notifying them of your interest in working in their department can lead to opportunities.
Some popular departments that hire a lot of students include University Recreation (UREC), Arkansas Union, U of A Libraries, University Housing, and Chartwells Dining. Many academic college hire students, so mention to your professors that you're looking for a job, as they might know of an opening.
