For senior Audrey Buffington, working on-campus was never something she thought would give her the opportunity to work with Broadway actors.
Starting by working for the shop department through theatre, Buffington worked her way up, adding suggestions and improvements to her department until she was offered the position of social media manager.
“I started out in the shop, and then in the beginning of my sophomore year, I said, ‘I think this is what could be done to improve the department,’ and part of that was the social media, and the head of the department (suggested), ‘Okay, we’ll just make that your job,” Buffington said.
This offered Buffington opportunities to build up her resume outside of Wofford’s campus.
“And (being social media manager) opened up other opportunities for me,” Buffington said. “Not only have I gotten better at what I do, but I’m the social media manager and content creator for the South Carolina New Play Festival, so I’m getting to work with Broadway talent.”
Buffington is not an exception to a rule, as Wofford offers many different opportunities through on-campus jobs for students to get more involved with their interests.
The Career Center offers several ways for students to find jobs and internships, one of which is the use of Handshake.
Handshake is an online platform that takes student’s interests, majors and talents to match them with potential internships or jobs.
One of the ways that Wofford uses Handshake is to notify students about on-campus job opportunities.
On-campus jobs can take many forms, ranging from Buffington’s work within the theatre department to working with student athletics or culinary services.
Wofford’s on-campus job opportunities are not only offered through the Career Center though.
“Whether (a student finds a job])through Handshake, through individual appointments, whether it’s through different campus involvement … there’s not one place on campus to find all (available) jobs, because everyone has their own thing going on as well, and caters to a totally different type of student,” Lee Smith, a career specialist with Wofford, said.
On-campus jobs are aimed to help students find passions, hone work ethics and earn a bit of money while they do so.
These jobs are designed to work for and with students, and oftentimes can help work around student schedules.
For Buffington, this was a draw to working on campus instead of elsewhere; she could do what she loved, while still in an academic environment.
“(Theatre is) what I’m trying to do, but (I can also work) in that academic, learning focused area,” Buffington said. “I like that safety net and that exploration. It’s a great way to work, but also be a student, which I think is rare and nice.”
Working on campus comes in many different forms, and this means that there is a fit for many different types of students.
“If there are campus jobs for students, it is really best for them to kind of search out what they may know how to do and what they’re seeing,” Smith said.
