Incoming freshmen have to struggle with the difficult decision of choosing whether or not they want to add a part-time job to their busy college schedules. Surrounded by so many favorite student hang-outs, it may seem easy to find employment in the city of Columbia. But with many employees returning to their jobs from the previous semester, this may not be the case.

“We don’t have a lot of turnover, actually,” Red Mango store manager Brittany Scott said.

The frozen yogurt store, which opened last December, retained most of its original staff.

According to a news release by the American Council on Education in 2005, 78 percent of all undergraduate students held at least one part-time job while they were enrolled in a college or university in 2003 to 2004.

“Most students work and most students work a lot,” according to the news release.

The part-time job search is a common activity for freshmen who are new to the area looking for work in many cases.

“I’ll get a job early in the second semester, to let me get the hang of things first,” freshman Alex Ayala said. “There’s a certain degree to which I need money, but it’s not pressing enough that I absolutely have to get a job.”

Many students think attempting to get a job as a freshman is futile, because all the high-paying ones are taken. However, persistent students should be able to find work somewhere.

Campus Bar and Grill owner Chris Flood said they have been hiring a lot of new employees lately, especially in the last couple weeks.

But the competition is still stiff.

“I just hired five new guys for the kitchen, but that was out of a pool of 40 applicants,” Flood said.

Other students are finding alternative means of employment. Freshman Ryan Struemph is a referee for soccer at Cosmo Park and basketball in Jefferson City.

“It’s nice because I send in my availability, and then choose when I want to work,” Struemph said. “The flexibility works with my college life.”

Shakespeare’s Pizza said they are constantly hiring new employees.