Catalina Diaz
Staff Writer
Extra cash can be hard to come by for students with a full-time class schedule and heavy workload.
However, University of La Verne students are finding creative ways to work around their daily classes while still making money. The alternatives include shoe photography, telephone switchboards and GrubHub food delivery.
Job sites like Indeed.com list positions available in various industries, which is how junior photography major Cierra Boess found her current job working for Shoetopia.
“I was looking for something like this because this is the area that I would like to go into,” Boess said.
She added that she considers herself lucky because her boss is understanding of her school schedule.
Boess works for the online shoe company Shoetopia, where her daily job duties consist of photographing new shoes to be uploaded to the website as well as managing social media.
Although Boess said she finds her job fun and entertaining now, it did not start out as matter-of-fact as other job descriptions.
“It seemed pretty sketchy at first,” Boess said when explaining that there was little to no contact information on the Indeed.com job posting.
The only information stated in the ad was the address to Shoetopia’s main office, located in City of Industry.
Boess and her boyfriend drove to the office on a Friday and found that she had a job the very next Monday.
Odd jobs, however, are not always as discrete.
Sophomore psychology major Karma Marklund was told about her current position as an instructional tech from a friend who works alongside her.
Marklund said she was unaware about that position, but she had worked as a student worker for ULV before.
“I used to work at the call center – I basically called anyone and everyone who donated to the University once before and asked them to donate again,” Marklund said.
If you have ever called the university, looking for a specific faculty member or department, chances are you have spoken to Marklund before.
Marklund’s current position is in the Facilities and Information Technology building.
She said she starts off her work routine answering switchboard calls and later transitions to helping students, faculty and staff members with Blackboard support.
She also takes calls from students who are having difficulties with their dorm, and puts in work orders for other situations that may arise.
“I learn a lot about the University and computers in general,” Marklund said.
She added that she recommends positions like these because since they are with the University she attends, her bosses are happy to oblige with her school schedule, and many times she is able to do split shifts.
Finding jobs with open hours has its advantages and seems to work best for students with ever-changing schedules.
“I work whenever I want to, I don’t have to commit to any hours,” said sophomore radio broadcasting major Josue Arellano.
Arellano works as a GrubHub driver and said that with a little time and determination, he could potentially make a couple hundred dollars delivering food to his hungry customers.
“I need to focus on school, so it’s a good in-between type of a job because I don’t have to commit to a certain amount of hours,” Arellano said.
Arellano compares his GrubHub job to that of other driving based jobs like Uber and Lyft, except with food.
“Sometimes I’ll pick up my friends, and we listen to jams and just deliver food,” Arellano said.
When time permits, Arellano turns on his grid, which is a device used to find orders in his area, and he then drives to pick up and deliver.
Arellano said that he does not normally pick up orders that are $10 or less, because it would not be very cost-efficient for him.
The areas that Arellano frequents most are those between Chino and Ontario.
He said that one time, while waiting around Ontario for an order, he was surprised by a large order from a car sales company in the city’s auto center.
They ordered hundreds of dollars worth of Red Robin, which Arellano said he was more than happy to pick up.
After picking up the order that completely filled Arellano’s Toyota Yaris hatchback, he delivered it seven miles down the freeway, where a $130 tip awaited him.
Catalina Diaz can be reached at catalina.diaz@laverne.edu.
