Guide to Gtown jobs
It’s always nice to have some extra money in your pocket so that you can occasionally treat yourself – and your friends, if you’re feeling generous. Or maybe you’re the type who realised that the creature comforts of home come at a price, and that survival means having money on hand to get you through your first year.
Pub-hopping, club-bopping, BP runs and ordering fast food are among some of the things that require you to open your wallet. However, if that wallet is empty, default meals from the dining hall and many quiet nights at home may await you.
But there is a way for Rhodents to earn their cheddar, and that is to get a part-time job.
Whilst studying at Rhodes University, you have the opportunity to earn money by working part-time.
Many students work at the university or in the broader community. For first-years, the options are limited because the jobs available, such as tutoring, sub-wardening and administrative work, are usually reserved for senior students.
But working at local businesses or as a ‘stooge’ (a student helper who works in exchange for free board and lodging) at one of the private schools are viable alternatives.
A job application form is available to download from Rhodes’ website: some of the fields you will need to fill in include highlighting your skills, stating what you are intending to study, and indicating your preference and availability. If you’re an international student, note that you can only work up to 20 hours per week during term time.
Complete the form and send it, along with an updated version of your CV and your current timetable, to Jobs@ru.ac.za.
According to Nomaxabiso Yantolo, a Human Resources Administrator at Rhodes, there is no specific time frame with regards to your application being successful or not.
Rather, they collect the job applications and keep them in their database until one of the departments, when they start looking for student help, contacts them.
“We go through the criteria and the applications in our database,” Yantolo explains, “and we send out the relevant names of the students to those departments.”
When it comes to applying for part-time work outside of Rhodes – such as working as waitrons at Spur or as bartenders at the Rat & Parrot – it is up to the students themselves to approach these local businesses as the university does not contact them on the students’ behalf.
Students who are interested in stooging can contact the stooge coordinators at the various schools in Grahamstown, which include Kingswood College and Victoria Girls High School, or they can contact the Career Centre, which is situated at the Bantu Stephen Biko Building on campus.
Applications and covering letters must be submitted to the coordinator of the school you’re applying for.