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Archive (2003-2004)

Student Employment

Have you ever been frustrated with a customer service representative in the bookstore? Or perhaps have been sent on a wild goose chase throughout the ASB?

Well you are not alone. Both students and non-students have experienced the quality of student employees.

Don't get me wrong, I have been a student employee in different divisions and offices here on campus, and think that the university is providing students with an excellent means to pay for college life.

My concern is with the quality of people that are hired.

Although there are jobs you need skills for at BYU, the majority of the people acquire employment through a sibling, or friend, regardless of skill. My qualm actually lies in jobs that require customer service.

I don't expect everyone to know everything, but I do expect someone to either tell me 'I don't know' instead of making up an answer, or 'Let me find someone who can better help you'.

There are some good employees here on campus, but there are those who just expect to get paid for doing their homework or surfing the internet, and are perturbed when a customer so rudely interrupts their time to do their job. I am not sure if there is any incentive to perform your job well at BYU since it is near impossible to get fired and everyone gets the same campus-wide raise each year.

Perhaps better training or incentives are needed to help improve the quality of customer service here on campus. For now, I would like to praise those employees who do their job well; your performance is not unnoticed.

And for those who are sitting around reading this article on the pay clock, take it upon yourself to improve and make someone's day by providing good customer service.

Jared Lees
Redding, CA