South Dakota State University

Finance and Budget Intern

May 2024 • Brookings, SD

What I liked

The good working environment with supportive colleagues. I felt valued working at Finance and Budget Department. Good opportunities were created for interns to learn different processes in the department. Professional Career Development meetings to explore career pathways.

What I wish was different

Advice

South Dakota State University is a very good institution to work.

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Meat Lab Employee

June 2020 • Brookings, SD

What I liked

What I wish was different

Advice

If you are interesting in any job or kind of work and don't feel qualified, apply anyways. There is always the opportunity to grow and learn.

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Agricultural Engineering Intern

February 2019 • Brookings, SD

What I liked

The flexible hours and the staff

What I wish was different

Paid more

Advice

Work with professors they know alot and want you to succeed

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Undergraduate Research Assistant

July 2020 • Brookings, SD

What I liked

I love this job. It is rewarding to start a project and be able to determine the results by the end of the working day. I love searching for answers and questioning why things work the way they do, so working in ADRDL at SDSU has been a fantastic experience.

What I wish was different

I wish I would have started sooner than July

Advice

Lab experience is useful regardless of your specific career aspirations, so my one piece of advice is to not be discouraged if when looking for laboratories none fit your specific interests. Scientific thinking and the experimental process are utilized in all labs, so no matter what one you end up in, you'll still be getting loads of applicable experience.

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Museum Intern

August - December 2019 • Brookings, SD

What I liked

I thoroughly enjoyed the variety of different jobs and activities that the museum had me do for them. Everyday was extremely different and kept me on my toes.

What I wish was different

I wish that the environment would have been a little more uplifting. I was stationed in the basement where it was very dark, so it often was dreary. I also wish that I would have been more involved with the historical aspect of the museum.

Advice

You never truly appreciate workers or a place until you are able to work there. After my time at the museum, I gained a great appreciation for all of the workers that keep the place up and running.

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Swine Technician

June - August 2020 • Brookings, SD

What I liked

I liked being able to have one on one interaction with the animals.

What I wish was different

More interaction with doing farrowing.

Advice

If you don’t know much about swine this is definitely a great way to learn at a smaller scale.

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Office Assistant

May 2018 • Brookings, SD

What I liked

It gives me good office experience.

What I wish was different

Nothing, the people and work is great!

Advice

Always make sure to meet deadlines to help the department you are working in, especially when being a student trying to find a job after graduation. This will be great for employer references in the future.

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Camps and Conferences Assistant

May - August 2019 • Brookings, SD

What I liked

I liked being able to work with different groups of people that came to campus. I enjoyed welcoming the groups that stayed on campus and being able to help them in any way.

What I wish was different

I wish we held our front desk in a different, more convenient building like Caldwell instead of Spencer for ease to get to and from the building for people who are not familiar with campus.

Advice

Never be afraid to ask for help.

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Residential life and faci

May - August 2019 • Brookings, SD

What I liked

The workers were extremely friendly and welcoming. The job was demanding physically but spread out enough to make it doable.

What I wish was different

The organization of the leaders was a little difficult to work around, and the leadership had favoritism.

Advice

Worth a summer but not worth a career.

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Camps and Conferences Assistant

May - August 2019 • Brookings, SD

What I liked

I liked being able to work closer with the central staff of the Housing and Residential Life department. It was nice being on campus all summer and seeing what the different residential halls were all like.

What I wish was different

I had a few co-workers that did not do much of any kind of work and that was frustrating. It was the few of us hard-workers that got burned out quickly with the more labor-intensive tasks.

Advice

Listen to the Residential Hall Directors and the Graduate Assistants. They try to communicate things as best they can, but double check a lot.

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Undergraduate Research Assistant

February 2019 • Brookings, SD

What I liked

The job itself is great. It's refreshing to finally be using the knowledge and skills I've been developing over the years I've spent in college.

What I wish was different

I suppose I would have liked it if positions like this were advertised better. I had to go out of my way a little to get this job. Though I suppose that's an excellent way to separate the wheat from the chaff, as it were.

Advice

Always keep an eye out for opportunity, and don't be afraid to put yourself out there.

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Orientation leader

February 2018 • Brookings, SD

What I liked

Everything The people The values The focus is on learning about people including coworkers

What I wish was different

More hours

Advice

Try it at least one summer. If not my others do it for yourself because you learn so much that you missed your freshman year that you can still take advantage of.

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Barn Worker

May - August 2019 • Brookings, SD

What I liked

I worked at the SDSU Equestrian Center. It was a great experience for someone with so little knowledge of equestrian sports. I really enjoyed spending time with the horses. The manager is very organized, and the scheduling was flexible. I also enjoyed the fact that I was always on my feet.

What I wish was different

We only worked shifts for a couple hours a time multiple times a day. I would have preferred to work longer shifts. For example, we started at 7 AM and did chores until around noon, and we had a break until chores at either 2:30 or 4. It would have been nice to start at 7 AM and work a long shift with an hour lunch break finishing anywhere between 5 PM and 8 PM. I think that would have been nice if you are looking for this to be a full-time job. If you plan to hold this as a part-time job, the short shifts will work just fine.

Advice

Be ready for physical labor. You are often lifting hay bales, carrying heavy loads, and performing other physical tasks. It is great to be on your feet, but you must be physically able to complete the tasks in any weather!

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Research Tech

September 2018 - August 2019 • Rapid City, SD

What I liked

Great Flexibility, awesome people to work with, large variety of tasks and projects.

What I wish was different

The position was great, wish there was a cleaner, not messy work environment.

Advice

Great position for a college student looking for experience in Research farming and soil science.

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University Bookstore Sale Person

May 2019 • Brookings, SD

What I liked

The co-workers were friendly and the work environment was really interesting also the flexibility in the schedule made it better for when I had to go for vacations.

What I wish was different

I wish i would have enjoyed it more because I was a little bit shy at the beginning and was not that open to my coworkers due to my previous jobs where people would just be with people they already knew or by themselves.

Advice

Learn as much as you can and do not be afraid of making mistakes because it helps you grow as a person and you learn from it. Do not be afraid to talk to people or even ask for help when you need it, there is nothing really to be afraid of, rejection is usually just in our heads.

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Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center Staff

April 2019 • Brookings, SD

What I liked

Hours were extremely flexible, I got to meet a lot of semi-famous people because the PAC is a venue. I enjoyed the projects that were given to me where I got to work at my own pace.

What I wish was different

Scheduling was extremely disorganized. I was expected to come into work almost every day without any idea on what I had to do that day. I wish there was a scheduling system or a list of work to do around the PAC.