Having “real world” experience is just as important as having an education.

Taking relevant courses, volunteering, and interning can help you to gain that experience, but there are also a number of part-time jobs you can have as a student that will provide you with those transferrable skills. Think about skills like time management and organization – these can definitely help when applying to an entry-level position.

So in this article, we outline part-time jobs you can have as a college or university student that can help you build skills to prepare you for the real world.

1. Research Assistant
Not only do you gain valuable skills in the research process, but you can also gain specific skills like how to conduct research in a lab or create surveys in fields like sociology and psychology. It also helps you to gain problem-solving skills, which is a huge skill employers look for.

2. College/University Tour Guide
Working in a position like this can give you public speaking skills, as you welcome and present facts about your school through various campus tours. It can also help you gain marketing skills – delivering the right message to prospective students to try and get them to come study at your school.

3. Social Media Assistant
You can find yourself doing various things in a position like this – writing blogs, creating social media posts, or tracking analytics. While this job can be helpful if you are specifically looking to get into the field of communication and marketing, the skills you learn from a job like this can help you across many industries. Having some knowledge about different social media platforms and digital tools available to help create the content can give you an edge.

4. Sales Associate
As a sales associate, you are constantly on the move talking to various customers about finding items for them, explaining products, and processing payments. Having a job like this can help you gain a lot of customer service experience – helping you in industries such as business, sales, or a product expert.

5. Tutor
Being a tutor can help you build the skills you need to break down and explain complex topics and concepts to another person. Not only can this help if you want to be a teacher, but it can also help if you want to get into an industry like journalism, technical writing, or copywriting.

6. Barista
In addition to the customer service skills you will gain, you will also be learning to follow instructions (when making complex lattes) in a high-pressure environment (think of the morning rush for coffee). In any industry, having the ability to work under pressure and follow through is a huge skill to have.

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