Walk through an Iowa residence hall and you’ll note that employees seem to be quite young...about the age of your student. That’s no coincidence. Residence Services is a major employer on campus, hiring more than 500 students each year as resident assistants, food service staff, maintenance workers, clerks, or monitors in fitness centers and computer labs.

Students work 10 to 12 hours a week for most jobs, and they don’t need to qualify for financial aid in order to be hired, as some other campus positions require. Wages are competitive with other campus work.

Student custodians, who are hired only in the summer, receive one of the highest pay rates in Residence Services jobs–$8.42 per hour. They clean student rooms and public areas, unload trucks, move furniture, and perform miscellaneous custodial work in the residence halls.

Ask current employees why they chose to work in a residence hall, and the answer is likely to be the same. As Joe Dunnwald, a junior from Waterloo who lives in Burge Hall, puts it, "Because I just roll out of bed and go downstairs to be at work."

Dunnwald is a clerk at Burge Hall’s 24-hour information desk. He and another student were preparing a mailing to parents from Residence Services when he was interviewed. Desk employees also sort mail, answer questions, receive packages for students, provide support for residents, and do miscellaneous office and desk work.

"It’s usually easy to schedule work around your classes," he says. "That’s a big advantage of these jobs."

Convenience is the factor that lures new employees, but veteran Residence Services employees mention others, too.

"There’s a lot more flexibility here," says Angie Lellig, who coordinates students on some shifts at Burge Hall’s Food Service. Lellig, who received her degree in geology in May, plans to stay at Iowa another year to take some graduate courses.

"Last spring I had an off-campus job as well, and there was much less flexibility in that job," she adds. "It made it very difficult to plan. These jobs are much more flexible."

Lellig says she and her fellow workers have a good time while they work. "Most of my friends are here," she adds.

Robin Stricklin, a senior from Lincoln, Neb, works in food service at Burge. As a transfer student, she needed to work and a friend suggested she apply, she says.

"It’s great to be able to pretty much pick your hours," she says. For more information about residence hall jobs, check the residence services web site.

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