Guide- Part time Jobs in USA
While choosing the best quality universities in the USA, the cost of living may be a little expensive in this developed country. So, looking for a Part-Time job is the need of hour. In this blog we shall know everything that is needed about Part time culture in the USA.
Part time work is a work chosen by a student to work in the times where there are no university lectures and work. They find these jobs more secure to meet their day to day needs while still being a student. These youngsters are brave and strategic in their decisions where they find it as a chance to make money and learn the required skills necessary.
Part-time jobs give the international students freedom of choice and peace of mind. They help them explore the new place with financially affordable means. Which indeed help them grow as a person individually and spiritually.
So, before applying for a part time job while studying in the USA, it is always better to know the country’s regulations on the particular aspects to the international students.
So, let us know about Job regulations of USA to international students first:
Part time job regulations of USA to international students:
With strict and complex rules, the USA government has come up with various work policies for international students. The students working on student visas must adhere to certain regulations, so serious actions might take place against the students if they fail to follow them. We shall not forget the proverb: “When in Rome, do as the Romans.” Similarly,
“When in America, do as the American.”
The certain rules set for Part time Job for students are:
Working Hours:
With an F1 student visa, one can take up a part time job and work for only 20 hours a week. The reason for this limit being, students must balance their studies along with work.
Get reference letter from university
It is advised to get a reference letter for various jobs, after consulting your Designated School Official(DSO). This will help you to find the prescribed job at ease.
Only On-Campus jobs are allowed
International Students can work for part-time employment on their college campus in the first one year of the course. To work at other locations, students must finish one year of their course and gain specific skills.
Minimum Wages for Part-Time Jobs in USA
According to the USA Government, the jobs offered to the students. The minimum wages usually range from $8 to $15, which vary from state to state between this range. So, the average University On-Campus job will help you earn between $650 and $1200 a month, considering you will be working for 20 hours a week.
How to find part time jobs in the USA?
It is advised to check for the jobs before leaving the country, so that once you arrive in the USA, it gets easier to know about the type of jobs available in the on-campus job vacancies. So, lets know the different ways to find a part time work:
First, check for the vacancies in the university career service portals and apply for them.
Second, reach out to the university student community online like on Facebook etc., and build connections. These networks which are informal in nature may help you to know about better job opportunities on campus.
Third, you can apply in the job portals after your first year of course. Some of the job portals in USA are:
- indeed
- Upwork
- FlexJobs
- CollegeGrad
- CoolWorks
Categories of Part time Jobs in USA
Usually, students work in three broad categories as part time employers with the minimum basic wages. They are
1. Practical training
This type of employment is most common among the international students. It allows the students to gain work experience directly by doing the work in a specified field of interest. In this type of employment all the guidelines of part time work under student visa are followed like minimum wage, working hours and reference letter.
2. Optional Practical Training (OPT)
Here the students work temporarily under a professor for 12 months and gain real world work experience in a specialized field. This is basically opted by the students in their final year of course.
3. STEM OPT
It is almost similar to OPT mentioned above, but here the students belonging to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) work temporarily for 12 months under a professor and gain required skills.
Types of Part time jobs
Working can be tiresome, but the chosen work must not make you tiresome, tricky right? I simply mean to say that the work you eventually choose must not make you mentally tiresome even though it can be physically tiresome because here our main goal to work is to make our cost of living friendly, so choose the work wisely where you can balance your studies with work effortlessly. The type of jobs most students opt for are:
- Servers in Barista
- Campus tech supporter
- University Bookstore Assistant
- Peer tutor
- Teaching Assistance
- Research Study Assistance
- Library Monitor
- Campus production assistant
- Babysitter for campus staff kids
Apart from these, there are online Part time jobs for Indian students in the USA. The income from these can add up alongside your physical part time jobs. They are:
- Online Tutor
- Video Editor
- Social Media Management
- Graphic Designer
- Web Developer
- Coder
- Translator
- Data entry assistant
- Blogger
- Content writer
Are Taxes charged on international students?
It is said that whoever the person is, if he is earning from US-source income, he will be charged an equal amount as non-residents citizens. So, every student working from file their tax based on that particular financial calendar. The students on F1 Student visa pay tax on following incomes:
- Wage/salary and compensation
- Interests and Dividends
- Scholarships/grants
- Awards/Prizes
Hope this information has helped you to clear all the questions regarding the part time jobs in the USA. Don’t forget to keep that balance between studies and work while abroad. I will come with a separate blog in future where you can plan this balance between the part time and studies in a structured manner.
Happy Job searching!
All the Best! 😊