Job Recommendations For Seminary Students

[Brother John]

Any recommendations for jobs to have during seminary for a married father of two? Also should I consider trying to have a job that would be "tent making" after graduation? I am currently in outside sales in an industry that has been decimated by the economy, it's great to have the flexible schedule but not the lower pay right now. Lord willing I will be attending GPTS via distance. I have been looking at everything from fire and police to fundraising through Student Ministries, Inc. - while interning at a local church. Money and time is so tight it is down right scary. My wife and I are confident that the Lord will provide for our family. But at the same time we want to maximize with the best type of job or jobs for me to be working during this time. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Marrow Man]

When I was in seminary, I worked at a local (privately-owned) tutoring center. Because we tutored students after school, I only had to work late afternoons and evenings. Also, they essentially let me set my own schedule. I had a teaching degree, but some centers (like Huntington Learning Centers) don't require that -- a bachelor degree would be just fine. It doesn't usually pay a lot, but it could help with the bills.

 

[Dearly Bought]

Night shift security guard. You'll most likely have a good majority of your shift available for reading.

 

[MLCOPE2]

Cutco and Kirby

 

[Marrow Man]

Night shift security guard. You'll most likely have a good majority of your shift available for reading.

This is a good suggestion. Along those same lines, a job at the front desk of a hotel might be something you would want to look into. Lots of time for reading then as well. The only with both of these is that you might be asked to work on Sundays quite a bit.

 

[Brother John]

Thanks for the posts. A police officer friend actually recommended morning shift police (10:30pm - 6:30am). He has three fellow officers that in-between calls studied and between the three of them graduated college, seminary and one got a phd. I don't know if I could handle being up all night every night then sleep during the day. I have considered being a fireman since you would work 24 hrs then get 48 hrs off to study. But no departments are hiring right now. Anyone have some more ideas?

 

[Brother John]

From reading other threads on the time commitment that is required do y'all think it is crazy to be self employed during seminary?

 

[jjraby]

My wife and I don't have kids so i don't know if my advice can help. But I work a work study in the Library and my wife works full time as a children director at a church. How we pay the bills is simply a gift from our Lord. I don't know how the married with Kids do it, but i knew someone recently with four kids and his wife was a stay at home mom and their kids were home schooled. So, If they can do it, so can you!

 

[Brandon1]

If you have a propensity for sports, officiate. You can make upwards of $20 an hour with a very flexible schedule. I've found this to be the most lucrative option. Especially if you're not going to stay in the area year round (and keep that job year round).

Part of it depends on the economy in your area, but I found trying to find part-time employment is VERY hard. With officiating on the other hand, you are assured work.

 

[Willem van Oranje]

Anything that pays the bills, brother.

 

[SemperEruditio]

My wife and I don't have kids so i don't know if my advice can help. But I work a work study in the Library and my wife works full time as a children director at a church. How we pay the bills is simply a gift from our Lord. I don't know how the married with Kids do it, but i knew someone recently with four kids and his wife was a stay at home mom and their kids were home schooled. So, If they can do it, so can you!

I would be cautious in this kind of "if they can do it" advice. I know a guy in the same situation you describe and not only did he save close to a million dollars before he quit his ridiculously high paying job and went to seminary he also has wealthy parents and inlaws. I once used the "if he can do it" line and he was quick to cut me off and explain that unless you truly know someone's situation be leery in saying that. Ran into one guy who "did it" and how he did it was massive amounts of debt that now he and his wife have to work to payoff an MDiv that will never be worth what they borrowed. He cannot even think about ministry because he cannot afford it and it's his own fault.

 

[Brother John]

My wife and I don't have kids so i don't know if my advice can help. But I work a work study in the Library and my wife works full time as a children director at a church. How we pay the bills is simply a gift from our Lord. I don't know how the married with Kids do it, but i knew someone recently with four kids and his wife was a stay at home mom and their kids were home schooled. So, If they can do it, so can you!

I would be cautious in this kind of "if they can do it" advice. I know a guy in the same situation you describe and not only did he save close to a million dollars before he quit his ridiculously high paying job and went to seminary he also has wealthy parents and inlaws. I once used the "if he can do it" line and he was quick to cut me off and explain that unless you truly know someone's situation be leery in saying that. Ran into one guy who "did it" and how he did it was massive amounts of debt that now he and his wife have to work to payoff an MDiv that will never be worth what they borrowed. He cannot even think about ministry because he cannot afford it and it's his own fault.

I have found this to be true in life also. We rarely ever know some one elses true situation. Maybe your friend can help me get his old job and I can save up a million dollars to take to seminary

 

[greenbaggins]

I waited tables and taught music lessons. Either one is fairly flexible as to time if you are firm with the restaurant before you begin. Waiting tables can be very excellent money if you are good at short-term memory and have fast reflexes. If not, then I wouldn't recommend it. I worked at Cracker Barrel.

 

[Austin]

I would suggest a seminary with low tuition, cheap on-campus housing, & good on-campus workstudy programs. It also doesn't hurt to live in an area where churches are committed to your seminary. On these counts I reflect my experience at RTS Jackson. It meets all the criteria I listed. When I was at RTS, we were able to live on my wife's income as a teacher in local Christian schools. The schools she worked at were Mt. Salus Christian School (Presbyterian/PCA) and Hillcrest Christian School (Baptist). Mississippi has a track for parochial school accreditation for teachers that doesn;t require a teaching certificate. (My wife has a B.A in English w/ a minor-- almost a major-- in Spanish. With this degree she was able to teach English lit & Spanish in Mississippi.) The side benefit to working at a Christian day school is that your kids could go to a school where your wife is a teacher. (Tuition is lower for teachers' kids.) Of course, if your wife doesn't work, etc, then you have a problem taking my advice. Other students at RTS made it by working at local churches while accruing some debt. But the PCA & EPC churches in the Jackson area are very supportive of their seminarians. Just a thought...

 

[O'GodHowGreatThouArt]

This may seem unorthodox, but have you considered any freelance work?

 

[Brother John]

This may seem unorthodox, but have you considered any freelance work?

Maybe this is revealing my ignorance but what is "freelance work"?

 

[BenjaminBurton]

I know a lot of guys here in Louisville that have been able to work for various cell phone companies. I myself work for AT&T and they are quite understanding and flexible with my class schedules. There are also some guys at my church that work for Verizon's third party dealers. They have a lot more flexibility because each guy is his own boss so to speak. The money is good and you have the opportunity to build relationships with a lot of people because of the intimate work environment. Not sure if this is an option for you or even anything you're interested in but your sales experience will help

 

[fishingpipe]

If you have a decent sized hospital (150+ beds typically) in your area you can often pick up "PRN" work in various departments. 9, 10, 11 bucks an hour working when they need you adds up. I have a guy working for me in my department who is normally scheduled to work 16 hours a week, but due to open positions and FMLA leave I have worked him 40-hours or more every week since mid-April. The tasks I need him for can be done any time between 6:00 PM and 6:00 AM, and he normally works 7p to 4:30 a.

If you have no clinical certification then departments to inquire about would be: Environmental Services, Food & Nutrition, Patient Transport, Facilities, Materials Management, Central Processing, Laundry, Security. Once you're on the payroll you can often work for several departments. In this economy and working within budgetary guidelines managers typically like to have 1-2 dependable PRN's to cover vacations, sick calls, leaves of absence, etc.

On another note, those who look for work in hospitals but find nothing available should consider volunteering a day or two a week at the hospital. I have hired several folks that I have gotten to know as volunteers due to observing their work ethic and believing it would translate well to what I need.

 

[O'GodHowGreatThouArt]

This may seem unorthodox, but have you considered any freelance work?

Maybe this is revealing my ignorance but what is "freelance work"?

Dictionary.com puts it best (and far better than anything I could've ever said to you).

freelancer: a person who works as a writer, designer, performer, or the like, selling work or services by the hour, day, job, etc., rather than working on a regular salary basis for one employer.

They are found and done almost exclusively online, but it is probably the most flexible option for paid work, as you can set your own hours and your own workload.

There is a catch though, you have to have work to get money, and you have to be pretty good at what you do to keep that money coming in.

It's a risk, and in my opinion should be supplemented with part time work if it were to be pursued (at least initially), but if you are really good at things like web design, writing, etc., and can produce solid work really quickly, it won't be too difficult to get a customer base going.

Like I said, it's unorthodox, and may only work for a select few. I just thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[Brother John]

The City Of Atlanta is accepting applications till the end of the month for Fire Fighting positions. The begining pay is around 35K a year, they work 24 hours then take off 48 hours. Basically giving you a rolling one day on two day off schedule. From a time perspective this seems great for study but the down side is that you would have one to two Sundays at the Fire House a month. Do you think that this would be a bad job for a seminary student to hold due to the act of mercy working on some Sundays. I am interested to see what yall have to say.

 

[AThornquist]

That's difficult, John. Personally, I wouldn't take that. I hate missing Sundays, first of all, but there is also something sad and ironic about missing Sundays to pay for seminary.

 

[Zenas]

I heard drug dealing is lucrative.

 

[Austin]

Generally speaking, I would recommend working at a church on Sundays for seminarians. (It is, in my mind, almost an imperative to be in active ministry while in seminary-- that way what you're learning is put into immediate, practical use.)

That said, firefighting is most definitely a work of necessity & mercy. Perhaps piety, too, depending upon how you see the vocation. Therefore, it meets with the requirements of the 4th Commandment. So if it works for your family, school schedule, and so on, I would say, "Go for it."

But regardless of what you do, make a point to be plugged in to active ministry at your local church while in seminary. Ask the session to let you preach, teach Sunday School, a midweek study, volunteer with the deacons to do ministry (assuming they are active), etc.

And Andrew: yes, the drug dealers I know do make a lot of cash. (It might also parlay into a nice residential prison ministry, too!) As an added bonus, the gov't could then help with the costs of completing seminary by providing "three hots & a cot."