4 Ways Your Business Can Help Out Local College Students
With this whole push of hustle culture and the whole “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality that’s been going on in work and general corporate culture, it’s something that needs to go away. Now, more than ever, it’s tougher for students to get into college, stay in college, and to get even a job after graduating. The barrier to entry to get into colleges has become high, and so many can’t afford tuition or even living expenses.
But it doesn’t end there, as nowadays, so many businesses in a wide array of industries now expect entry-level to be one to three years of experience; now that’s not very entry-level, is it? In general, if you’re a business owner, you could help make a change for students. Chances are, you probably remember some of the trials and struggles. So, here are some different ways you can help out college students!
Consider Offering Discounts for Your Products or Services
This doesn’t need to be directed only towards the students, but this could even be for the colleges too, as in the end, the students will still benefit. It could be anything from managed IT for universities to even giving out discounts for food if the university is holding an event. But you can still help students too and directly offer discounts to them. It’s pretty common for local businesses to give students a 10% or even 20% discount if they show their student ID or even give out special promo codes. College students are often price-conscious and spend a lot of time looking for deals. Businesses that make an effort to cater to this audience can often reap the benefits of loyalty and referrals. So in a way, they’re helping your business while you help them out too.
Help Them Learn and Get Involved
Depending on what your business is, this could actually help students out. Why not host a workshop? This alone could garner interest in people working in your industry or even working for you!
Team Up with the University
It always helps small businesses to collaborate with universities. Some universities will make it a requirement that all of their student's intern or do job foreshadowing, so this could be something you could try out. Sometimes, the university will pay the students directly, but you could even offer something like a temporary unpaid internship too. But universities tend to reach out directly to local businesses, especially those with a physical address within the locality. So offering to have students intern under you or even do some job foreshadowing could be great.
Consider Giving Them a Job
Don’t feel pressure to do this, especially if your business is literally one person, you. Some businesses need more people, while others literally thrive just fine with one person. Depending on whether you need help or not, you could always consider hiring a student. Many students need to work to help pay for tuition and living expenses. They also need to save for future careers and build character by learning responsibility. Working part-time during college is an excellent way to do this. They, of course, need to be paid a living wage, so if you literally can’t afford it, then don’t force yourself.
