In college and need help finding a good paying part-time job

[Sam _]

Trying to find a part-time job with a good pay so I can continue going to college while paying off my bills. I'm stuck in menial retail jobs where the pay is minimum wage and despite having almost 6 years of experience. Does anyone have any advice on where I should look when it comes to a job that actually pays enough for me to live on my own?

 

All I have is a high school education and this is my first year of college.

[Ivory_Tower]

Unfortunately, I'm in your shoes and I'm about to graduate. It seems like you may have to bite the bullet for a little while because w/o a degree you don't get paid all that much. Could you get promoted to be a retail manager? Where do you work?

[Sam _]

I work in a convenience store now that has little to no business. Worked in Rack Room Shoes and never got a raise until minimum wage was bumped up so I went from minimum wage to minimum wage only because it was law now, even though I worked there for 3 years.

 

Then I worked in a movie theatre and, despite being an associate basically dealing with customer disputes while the floor manager reads a book in the middle of the lobby, I never got a raise there either.

 

Then I started working at Dollar General for minimum wage for a year where the manager relied completely on me and the assistant manager to run the store because everyone else was lazy or fired and he just sat in the back doing essentially nothing for 8 hours every day. First job I got fired from and it was because they thought I was stealing from the register....Why would I only steal $3? Especially if there is a camera looking directly down at the register? He says it's the DM saying it was either him or me and that he didn't want to fire me. Said he would give me a good recomendation to who ever I referenced him to.

 

Now I'm working at a convenience store for $7.80 an hour but still, I need about $10 to actually pay my rent and everything. And I can't take a second job due to college. Every time I mention being considered for a promotion at any job I've had, I get blown off or just have smoke blown up my a**.

[Hurting85]

There might be a student employment/work study program at your school. Mine hired students in the library, student union, bookstore. I had a friend who worked the print station at the library and he could sit there and do homework/study until someone came up, and then he just swiped his card, selected the document to print, took the money, and went back to studying. I don't remember how much he got, though...

[Sam _]

I'm in a 2-year college at the moment rather than a university. I've already looked and they don't have any jobs.

[sweetpea03]

Like what Hurting85 said, look on campus. Usually they have a career center or somewhere to help with getting work.

[Edmund Exley]

Banks. They hire part time tellers.

[Sam _]

A friend said maybe I should try to become a mystery shopper or secret shopper because I always talk about how this or that should or could have been done and basically already grade stores in a sense. Should I try and apply for a job doing that part-time? I already looked it up and it says it can be done part-time easily.

[Jetta]

Have you looked into internships? You gain experience in your field and often get paid above minimum wage. Plus they're usually flexible with your school schedule. It's really a great gig if you can get it. Not sure what year you are but my college recommends two internships and I'm trying for my 2nd one as a senior.

[Sam _]

This is my first year in college. Unfortunately, I might wind up losing my Pell Grant and if I lose that then my chances to be in college are pretty much shot because I cannot afford it otherwise.