Professionalism on Campus: Student worker training

Santa Monica College has an abundance of students who take time to do their part for the increased efficiency on Campus.

Professionalism between students and student workers on Campus is just one of the things that makes SMC a prestigious institution, noteworthy.

SMC has always taken part in involving as many students to come and be a contributing part to the beautification of the school. Some students have been involved with making SMC a cleaner place to come and learn, whereas other students have been a part of tutoring courses that strive to make many achieve much more in school.

Darlene Patino, EOPS advisor, mentions that students are given the opportunity to make a difference in the school or particularly with students themselves. "It takes a while for you to get the hang of the job," she said. There are a variety of jobs that students are willing to take, particularly those that benefit the students in dire need of assistance. "We hired seven people in our offices," she said. She offered desk jobs for students that were willing to take them, which goes to show that there are a limit on the jobs that students can take.

Gabriel Wright is one of the student workers in charge of the Information Center at the Cayton Center, which is located above the cafeteria. It is his job to help students find housing and certain areas of the school that students have difficulty finding. "We have a lot of information people ask for like, housing listings," he said.

This job isn't very demanding, but that is pretty much the same of some of the other jobs that are provided to students at SMC. There are only a few days dedicated to training and the rest must be picked up along the way. "It takes a couple of days, but it takes a while to get the hang of the job," said Patino.

After training, a schedule is set for the job you are assigned to take, and usually students don't get more than a couple of hours of work, because of classes and studying.

If students are to be prepared for the real world, they should have a more rigorous job-training program, because jobs today require much training, and students should be well aware of how it is out there.

Nick Lennon, a SMC student worker at the SMC bookstore, who organizes the backpacks at the check in counter, feels that the job is rather easy and that it doesn't require much training.

Any student could do the jobs on campus without any strain or worry, but if they are to be considered for a future job to partake in, they should be given the opportunity to show their future employers that they are more that capable of handling the job by getting rigorous training at SMC. More importantly, to endure personal professionalism and to be confident in the way any job is preformed.