By Zacalinh Elizondo
SAN MARCOS–Though the world has longed moved past the days of six-foot social distancing, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic can still be felt in the inflated cost of living. In 2024, more students are increasingly having to work part-time jobs while also attending school full-time to help pay rent and tuition fees. And with the holidays coming up for many, extra money for gifts and festivities is looking tight and many students will be starting their hunt for a part-time position.
These part-time positions at fast-food and retail places are called entry-level jobs, which are positions that require little to no experience. Now while this concept of competition among such jobs is nothing new, it’s become increasingly more difficult to not just pay bills as prices continue to rise, but to secure a job to pay those bills since the long-term effects of the pandemic have led many businesses, especially small ones, to either exit the market or cut down on costs as much as possible.
In San Marcos, this problem is even more evident. While there seems to be endless expansion to San Marcos’ small business scene, the rate at which this is happening and the number of positions being offered by these businesses is not enough to balance out the continuous growth of the small town’s population. San Marcos’ population has increased by 6.55% since the 2020 Census, which for a small town with a population sitting just above 72,000 people, is quite the increase in such a short amount of time.
Out of those people, over half the population consists of Texas State students with little to no job experience looking for work. With the success of the San Marcos’ economy being built on the employment of these student workers, this leaves students at a disadvantage while hiring managers are left to choose from a hungry population of undergraduate students competing not just against each other, but also graduates who haven’t had luck finding work in their respective fields and other residents for jobs with lacking pay, limited hours, and even slimmer chances for promotion than before.
“School is something that is a luxury and a big risk for many people with how expensive it’s become,” freshman Alex Garcia said. “As much as I love film and I’m thankful that I have the opportunity to pursue it, the hiring process is brutal and even with all my growth, I’m still unsure I’ll be able to find a job after graduation.”
Prior to attending university, Garcia was forced to take a gap year after graduating high school because he’d be financing his education alone. During his gap year, he looked for work to help save up and was ultimately unsuccessful in securing a position despite his experience at the three jobs he had prior.
Several times throughout the hiring process, there was so many different steps to securing positions he felt oftentimes overqualified for and even his hefty resume, which included working his way up to a manager position at Office Depot and working there over a year, didn’t seem to be any help.
He now works with his dad doing landscaping to help pay rent and the remainder of his tuition costs after FAFSA. Garcia says that though the experience has been frustrating, it’s really opened his eyes to just how important it is to build up connections and be consistent when applying for jobs.
Though he may not have gotten the internship or the job he had planned for, he has focused on pouring his energy into building up his portfolio and doing small film gigs here and there to form meaningful connections that could help him down the road.
When speaking to restaurant hiring manager Madison Buchanan and sophomore Evelyn Rodriguez, they added onto that conversation, giving more clarity to the employee and employer perspectives of what the hiring process looks like in San Marcos’ entry-level job market.
“San Marcos has a lot of fast-food places and restaurants, so it’s really important here at Blue Dahlia that we can find people that not only are fast learners, but understand the importance of building up those guest relationships and getting people to come back,” Buchanan said.
Continuing on, Buchanan shared that while Blue Dahlia Bistro, a brunch restaurant located on the Square, looks for personality and interpersonal skills, every job values a different set of core skills. Many small businesses in the area have established a brand for themselves and are looking to hire people with those clear-cut qualities, so doing some research on the places you apply to could really make all the difference in whether or not you’re able to secure a position over other candidates.
She also added that many applicants are applying during the peak of hiring season and this is why they often get overlooked. While early spring and summer are when she receives the most applications, Buchanan suggests that students start looking for jobs earlier, opting for the fall and early winter timeframe since many small businesses in the area are based around the university’s schedule.
With many people going and coming once the fall semester starts and football season (which she names as the most busy time for most San Marcos businesses) kicks into full gear, this is the most ideal time to try and fill in those position gaps. Around winter break time is also ideal because many people will be looking for temporal or part-time employees to cover people on leave, which for many, could potentially turn into a long-term job position.
In terms of the employee side, Rodriguez shares that the most important quality many employers are looking for is determination and commitment. Prior to working at Jack and the Box, she had applied to numerous fast-food and retail stores with no luck. Tied down to job possibilities close to campus since she was living in the dorms at the time, she had a hard time actually finding people in need of work since many of these places were already overemployed or had a steady number of employees.
It was only after Rodriguez stumbled upon Jack and the Box’s posting that she finally got a call back from the employers. The catch was though that they needed her to work night shifts. After some contemplation, she agreed and has been employed there ever since.
“There are a lot of jobs that people don’t necessarily want to do,” Rodriguez said. “They go apply to places with a lot of application traffic instead of looking for overlooked positions and often times, those are the ones that need you just as much as you need them.”
Despite being happy that she was able to secure a position, the balance between work and school has become very stressful, especially around finals season. While many students are quick to apply to off-campus jobs, Rodriguez says that many people aren’t aware of the increased competition and pressure that comes with actually having to juggle that responsibility. She recommends for those that may have a heavy load or a busy schedule to start working an on-campus job at the university to build up that experience, routine, and those connections before entering the off-campus job market where jobs will be much more demanding and much less accommodating about your school schedule.
She also talked about the importance of taking breaks and making sure to do things to balance out the academic and financial pressures many undergraduate students face as they enter adulthood. For many students, a cost-efficient and accessible activity to blow off steam is visiting Sewell Park.
“Students don’t always have the money or time to go do activities with their friends,” freshman Lauren Rett said. “So it’s nice that we have Sewell Park and everyone can just get together and have a good time without having to worry about how much you’ll have to budget for an activity or having enough time to get to and from the designated hangout since the river runs right through campus.”
Although doing proper research to maximize your chances while applying for jobs and starting off at smaller on-campus jobs to build up your credibility are both equally effective ways to try and combat this issue, the fact still remains that this inflated cost of living doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
Even in the most recent election, Hays County residents voted to pass both Prop A, a construction bond planning to improve roads and highways in the Central Texas area, and San Marcos CISD Prop A to generate more revenue and help offset some of the school’s district debt. Both of these things will raise the tax rates and the cost of rent in the San Marcos area, which according to Best Places, already averages around $1,280 for a two bedroom apartment.
However, in the grand scheme of things, this may be more helpful than anything to students looking for work. With renovations to the roads and highways, Texas State students may have more access to nearby towns like Kyle, Buda, Wimberley, and perhaps even Austin for work. The increased infrastructure may also bring in more businesses and expand onto San Marcos’ hopes to continue expanding its small business scene and stimulate job growth and opportunity.
The City of San Marcos website has endless resources that support and encourage entrepreneurship. Sites like the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce provide business owners with coverage and tips for boosting their success as well as a forum to express their concerns and informs San Marcos locals on why our support is so vital to these unique businesses and provides exposure to them by encouraging residents to go to their events since community and connection plays a key role in small towns like San Marcos.
Even expanding out past San Marcos, the Hays and Caldwell EDP website provides all kind of links, groups, and resources for entrepreneurs, directing them to places that can provide funding to help with their start-up or to groups like the Small Business Development Council and the Small Business Administration to help develop their business plans. While small businesses are at the core of the Hays County economy, HCEDP also shares some of the bigger companies like San Marcos’ Amazon Fulfillment Center and Noveon Magnetics that both contribute jobs and help profit the economy, and their plans to continue expanding on that through projects like the pending San Marcos Bu-cee’s.
Though the effects of inflation on the entry-level job market are very complex and there is not one simple answer to the problem, it seems that both the market’s employers and employees are already adapting to its newfound hardships. These efforts in collaboration with the city and the county’s plan to build up the small businesses market will hopefully lead to an economy that will benefit people on all sides.
