The Human Resource website is not the best way of finding a job on campus, though it may seem efficient.

Human Resources uses a simple application that asks for your availability and GPA, but there’s no way for your application to stand out over other students’ as the form doesn’t allow the applicant the opportunity to explain his or her personality.

You can go about finding a job the old-fashioned way and ask if offices are hiring or you can use the handy-dandy Human Resource website, hr.niu.edu, to apply for one of 28 campus positions for students — including box office seller, museum floor staff or an office worker — with one application.

But, students should be more proactive about speaking to hiring managers by giving them paper resumes and personally introducing themselves to office staff.

“Definitely feel out the application online because that is where [they] process the applications,” said senior accounting major Shanna Metzger. “But also go down [and] talk to the person that will be reviewing your application because it will give you an advantage. Seeing that on a piece of paper, everyone looks the same.”

You have to make yourself stand out to employers and it’s difficult to do that without being able to showcase your work ethic and characteristics. There are specific things the Box Office will be asking for that an office job would not require. There’s no way a one-for-all application can summarize the requirements for each job.

Picking up specific applications from each office will allow you to answer questions pertaining to the job.

Specific questions “will help you stand out and when you get to the job interview, [hiring managers] can see if you really meant what you said,” said junior speech language pathology major Jordan Jones.

There is no way you can show on a piece of paper that you are good with people and have a friendly personality. The only way an employer is going to believe you is if they can actually see it in person.

If you are trying to get a job on campus you have to make yourself stand out anyway you can, whether that is by attaching a resume along with your application or going in and turning in your application face to face.