Senior geography major Paul Matthews, a cook at Restaurant 4580, adds oil to a salad bowl during his shift Wednesday night. Restaurant 4580 is located on N. Broadway and Yarmouth. (CU Independent/Patrick Ghidossi)
There comes a time in every student’s life when eating ramen loses the delight it once possessed. At this point, most students resolve to find some means of supplementary income.
Traditionally, most college students will find a job at local businesses. Unfortunately, in recent times, student employment has been hard to come by.
“Independent business people are struggling, so they don’t have the excess income to hire extra employees,” said Andy Schneidkraut, 57-year-old owner of Albums on the Hill. “It’s not unusual for me to see twenty to thirty résumés a month.”
Small business owners tend to agree with Schneidkraut’s sentiments.
“We have an over flooded workforce, and it’s not just students—it’s everyone,” said Luke Zautke, 36-year-old chef at the Sushi Spot.
Although both Schneidkraut and Zautke cite the economy as a source of student unemployment, Qdoba manager Natasha Hummel, 24, said that the lack of student availability is the main issue.
“We’re looking for open availability and for students that’s hard. That’s the main thing for us—the availability factor,” Hummel said.
Schneidkraut, Zautke and Hummel all had differing points of view on what makes an application competitive.
“I’m looking for someone who is open to expanding their knowledge. What’s important is that they come with a desire to expand their knowledge,” Schneidkraut said. “Student employees expect to be off when school is on. The job tends to be low on the totem pole. Hanging with the bros or brahs tends to be more important.”
Zautke said differently.
“Someone who has all their ducks in order. Someone who has everything right as far as grammar and spelling,” Zautke said. “I don’t think there’s anyone here that’s worked in the restaurant business less than ten years.”
Experience is a key factor in finding a job for today’s student—a point Schneidkraut, Zautke and Hummel said they agree upon.
“It’s very important to have previous work experience and employers I can talk to, but it doesn’t matter what they did,” Schneidkraut said.
Hummel expressed similar sentiments, and said that experience is one of the major deciding factors of the hiring process.
“The majority of [employees] have had some experience working in kitchens,” Hummel said. “We’d like to see that they’ve had experience in customer service or food.”
Some students, however, think that it takes more than just experience and a résumé to get a job.
“You gotta have connections,” said Ben Klecker, a 23-year-old senior political science and ethnic studies double major.
With that in mind, there are a few things that are extraneous to employers.
Schneidkraut said that he believes people put too much information in their résumés. He said he thinks that a résumé should be like a first introduction.
On the other hand, Zautke said he believes that education is the least important distinguishing factor.
“Education is the least important. I know some spot on winners that went to South Illinois Jr. College,” Zautke said. “You are what you make of yourself.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Sherveen Shingu at Sherveen.shingu@colorado.edu.
