Work-study jobs offer real world experience

Wanted: students to help analyze 5,000-year-old artifacts from an archeological site in Thailand; no experience necessary. Although hearing the words "work study" may bring to mind images of swiping PennCards or working for Dining Services, many of Penn's student employment offerings more closely resemble high-demand internships. "I've heard of the rush that takes place on the part of students to find an internship over the summer that will fill their resume and give hands-on experience in their field," Student Employment Manager John Rudolph said. "A lot of these jobs can be found in work study." Indeed, a version of that hard-to-get internship may sit right next to commissary work in the list of 1,462 jobs posted on the student employment World Wide Web site at http://www.upenn.edu/sfs/seo. The jobs range from photographing Thai artifacts to researching a method that might one day enable the body to better accept organ transplants. "It's unbelievable what's out there," said Malek Kamoun, director of Clinical Immunology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. "These jobs weren't available when I was studying in Paris, but I wish they were because I definitely would have taken one." Kamoun, who offers work-study positions in his laboratory, says the University's work-study program provides students with valuable experience and practical knowledge. "A student working for me would learn to grow white blood cells in a culture, stain them and use the most modern technological equipment available to analyze them," he said. College senior Lateef Jones, who holds a work-study job with Almanac, described the practical experience he gained from the job, stressing the software he has learned to use. "They trained me to use Pagemaker, Excel, Photo Shop," he said. "I feel like I've learned the skills so that I could go work for a publication right now." While some of the work-study positions require applicants who are majoring in specific disciplines such as biology or chemistry, others have no prerequisites. Joyce White, who has employed up to 10 students in the past to assist with her Thailand project, said she only requires students to have a willingness to work. White said she only offers the positions when she is not teaching in order to devote time to training students in analysis techniques. "A student working to analyze an artifact learns what to look for and how to distinguish between time periods," she said. White added that since everything her work-study students do is intended for publication, they have an opportunity to impress future employers. Alissa Hinckly, a 1991 College graduate, said working for White gave her the credentials to continue in the field and eventually get a job at the University. "I don't think the skills I learned there were taught in a classroom," she said.