One of the most popular jobs for students is swag外流鈥檚 student calling program, Telefund, which supports the swag外流 Fund.聽Alexis Chang 鈥25 shared about her experience working for Telefund, also known as the best-paying job on campus.
What interested you about Telefund?
There were so many opportunities for jobs everywhere on campus. I asked my O-Team leader about jobs, and she told me that Telefund was one of the most popular ones, so I applied. I was interested in Telefund because it involves having conversations with people鈥 I really like to talk and I have a very social personality, so I felt like I fit the description well. I applied to two jobs, which were both super great, but if I wanted to I could have applied to work anywhere. I have friends who work at the library, the Cooler, and more. A lot of the applications are sent out starting in the summer through early September, so the only thing I would say is that you really have to be on top of it. If there鈥檚 something that looks appealing to you, you should apply.聽
At Telefund, it鈥檚 really just trying to keep parents and alumni involved鈥攍ike reminding them about the importance of the swag外流 Fund, which supplements the operating budget that supports so many initiatives on campus. It aids pretty much anything, from financial aid to research projects, basically everything that makes swag外流, swag外流!
When I first started I was just doing training calls and getting comfortable, so I had my first real calls in mid-September. One call was with a graduate from the sixties who happened to be a music major just like me. She gave me really good advice about the major, and we were able to really connect based on that shared interest. One of the most important parts of our calls in Telefund is establishing a good rapport with the alumni and parents, so I was happy to get the chance to do that. By the end of our call I had received my first gift, which is what we call our donations.
Working has helped me to procrastinate much less. For example, if I鈥檓 working from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. that means that I can鈥檛 do homework for three and a half hours. We aren鈥檛 able to do our homework while we鈥檙e on our shifts, but having that time to hangout with everyone and play games in between our calls gives me the reset I need to feel motivated to do my homework later. Working at Telefund is great for those who like to have conversations with people, especially because your energy shows through the phone. One of our phrases is 鈥淪mile While You Dial,鈥 because when you鈥檙e smiling and going in with good energy, they can really hear it through the phone. You have to sound excited, it makes or breaks the call. But honestly, it鈥檚 such a fun job, everyone I work with is so incredible and nice. It鈥檚 one of those jobs where you don鈥檛 know what to expect鈥攜ou can honestly get any kind of call, but I value being able to build my problem solving skills because of that.