It may not be the ideal college experience but it’s the reality for many: these days, students work eight-hour shifts for minimum wage, adding fatigue and swollen ankles to long lectures and heaps of homework.

About 85 percent of SF State students work at least part time while in school, according to Mariko Hingston, a college Career Center counselor. Some are lucky enough to land a job that is related to their major. Others take “survival jobs,” from snagging shoplifters to slinging foamy lattes.

SF State junior Janine James works as a “loss-prevention agent” in a major San Francisco department store. (She said she did not want to name the store because it might pose a “conflict of interest.”) Disguised as a regular shopper, James monitors storegoers and looks for swift movements, baggy clothes, and other suspicious behavior. She has been the target of angry shoplifter brawlers and busted underage thieves who, crying, would rather have the police called in than their own parents.

James, a full-time student, works 33 hours every week, pursuing writing, and still finds the time to fight petty theft. “It kind of gets annoying, like any job,” James said. But overall she enjoys her job because “every day is different.” James’ rigorous work schedule has allowed her to take out only one loan.

Working more than 30 hours per week is not always an option for students. “It’s overwhelming,” Lauren Ponder, a SF State psychology major said. “You spread yourself too thin” when working and going to school. Last semester, Ponder did not need to work to support herself. While she continues to be one of the few students who claim a job-free life, her friend Dan Alper, an SF State sophomore who is studying Italian and psychology, does not.

“I love cheerleading,” Alper said. He coached cheerleading last semester at his former high school in Marin County. But he had to quit his job once he was forced to sell his car. He is currently working as a clerk at a fine foods grocery store to bring in some extra this semester.

“Many students work during the year [because] they have to,” Hingston said. Her job at the Career Center includes helping students with resumes and job placement. The center has shelves filled with blue notebooks that list a variety of jobs and internships. The notebooks are cleaned out weekly to make room for the next batch of employment opportunities. Many of the job flyers in the miscellaneous folder are for retail and hospitality. Hingston said that the Career Center calls this kind of student job “survival jobs.”

“It really prepares you for the world of work,” Hingston said. “Employers love [SF] State students,” Hingston said because so many of them have already had work experience.