Student takes advantage of work-study program
The University of Indianapolis offers opportunities for students to work on campus and take advantage of work study offerings. Sophomore international business and marketing major Julianne Turner has taken advantage of these opportunities.
Turner has worked three different jobs on campus. She has held a custodial job through the Physical Plant, served as an office assistant in Residence Life and worked on the phone-a-thon.
“It’s just nice to be able to work on campus, and that way I get associated with the different offices and the different departments of the school,” Turner said.
Turner said she qualified for federal work study money and pursued job hunting during her freshman year. After not being able to land a job in the Residence Life office, she started to ask other people who worked on campus. Her job with the Physical Plant required her to work from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. However, Turner said she enjoyed the flexibility that her employer gave her.
“They [the Physical Plant] definitely wanted school to come first,” she said.
Assistant Director or Career Services Libby Davis who has worked with Turner, said that she shows many positive character traits that students should have when pursuing employment.
“Julianne is very proactive,” Davis said. “It’s important for students to be proactive, to not give up, to persevere. Julianne was willing to do something that wasn’t particularly pleasant.”
After working with the Physical Plant, Turner decided to pursue an on-campus job that could offer day hours and more time for her to do schoolwork at night. She eventually received a job at Residence Life to serve as an office assistant.
“With the residence life job, I was working during the day. So, it was no different then having a class at that time,” Turner said. “I still had my nights open. With the custodian job, it was kind of hard because I didn’t have my nights available. They were [spent] working and sleeping.”
Turner moved from the office assistant position to a position on the phone-a-thon. She enjoys this job and credits it with sparking her interest in picking up marketing as one of her majors.
“I realized I like having a relationship with the person before making a transaction, and that [the phone-a-thon] brought out that side of me,” Turner said.
Davis said that Turner was a good match for the phone-a-thon position because Turner’s personality helps her excel.
“I knew Julianne would be great,” Davis said. “She just has a wonderful personality, and she already has wonderful people skills. So it was easy for me to see Julianne in a position at the phone-a-thon. She’s definitely using her dynamic personality on the phone. People, I think, even on the phone can sense her energy and passion.”
Turner enjoys the chance that the phone-a-thon gives her to talk to alumni and listen to their stories.
“I hear a lot of really good stories when we call the older alumni, because we ask them what the school was like,” Turner said.
Davis is pleased with the work that Turner has put into making money and providing for herself. Davis said that many of the skills Turner has acquired through her involvement with jobs, will boost her marketability to her future employers.
“The other thing about Julianne is that she has a variety of work experiences on campus that can be a good way to market her skills,” Davis said. “And also a prospective employer can look at that and say, ‘Wow, this student did what it took to earn money for school.”
