Benefits of Hiring Student Workers

By Kaitlin Hurtado on March 7, 2020

College students are definitely not off the table when it comes to potential hires. It’s not just about school for them, many college students are actively looking for ways they can add to their resume and build up their resume. Whether it’s during long breaks like summer vacation or during the academic, it’s never the wrong time to hire student workers.

If you are still on the fence on why you should hire student workers, here are three benefits of hiring student workers.

benefits or hiring student workers

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They’re okay with part-time status

Many employees want the full benefits that often come with being a full-time employee. With college students, they are often looking for part-time work to pair with being a full-time student. Meaning, they are often prepared for limited hours and lack of extensive benefits (health insurance, vacation time, etc.).  For them, school comes first and foremost so they won’t be hounding and finding time to get that overtime pay.

The big benefit of hiring student workers for part-time work is making sure work is getting done without exhausting your current roster of employees or make them work overtime.

Students are also more likely to understand that their current position is not forever. Whether they were hired solely because of their student status or just to fill a staffing need, student workers will understand that they aren’t going to work with the company forever.

Untapped Skills

For college students, they have yet to spend extensive time in the field they are pursuing. While they’ve taken classes to help them navigate and build a clearer path for their career, their knowledge and skills are often left untested. While many may think this is a bad thing — a gamble of sorts if you hire them — it can be quite the opposite. If you’re hiring student workers in a primarily older office or work setting, bringing them into your team can help bring in a breath of fresh air.

Your current set of workers may be stuck in a routine. While efficient, that routine may lack the energy you need. There’s not much growth or there could be a lack of innovation and creativity. This is where student workers come in to shake things up, whether it be a brand new perspective on a campaign or the ability to be more tech-savvy than your current employees. This can especially help if your work has to do with working with a younger audience. Student workers are more likely to understand the wants and needs of a younger audience and their perspective can help move your company’s projects forward when you least expect it.

Likewise, you won’t know much about what your student workers can bring to your specific career field as they have not experienced much themselves. They may be as unsure of their skills as you are. Giving them a chance to test out skills in a career they are looking to pursue will give them the experience they need and make sure the work you need to get done, done.

Willingness to Learn 

Student workers will apply for your job not only for a steady source of income but a way for them to get hands-on experience and learn. Thus, a large benefit of hiring student workers is their willingness to learn.

Yes, they’re not going to have an extensive resume and built up experience you are often looking for with new hires, but their potential can outweigh that. Depending on the industry you are working in, they will be open to learning anything from ordinary filing tasks to taking on larger projects. Their willingness to complete smaller tasks can also benefit your other full-time employees that often don’t have enough time to do such tasks — they won’t be complaining and your employees can complete projects only they can.

They are looking to build their experience up, so they’ll probably look to you in the future to provide a reference for future employment. This means they know that they will have to work to impress to earn a good recommendation and have a good relationship with you and fellow employees.

While student workers may not have the availability nor the experience you would usually ask of new hires, there’s still plenty of benefits to hiring student workers for your business. Don’t be afraid to take a chance on an inexperienced student worker, you’ll never know what they can bring to the table.

If you’re looking to hire student workers, check out these helpful articles:

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