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NOTE: For the fall, hiring will not begin until at least July 15 but apps are welcome anytime.
They come from all majors and departments and range from sophomores to graduate students. This year, all jobs require Work-Study funding . Students must have accepted an award of work-study as part of their financial aid package for the current year. With such awards, students can work one or more jobs for up to the total amount of money in the award.
Planetarium jobs tend to be very different from other plain vanilla campus jobs. Each person usually performs a wide variety of tasks, some they have never seen before, and many are projects that will never repeat. They vary from selling tickets to narrating sound tracks and processing digital imagery to disassembling and repairing a slide projector. The structured job classification system used for job titles will not describe all of the aspects of a planetarium work experience. The descriptions below will provide a more realistic picture. All jobs require self-motivated, conscientious and reliable workers.
Student Instructor's Aide IV (9532): Starting rate $8.10/ hour depending on qualifications. Work-study qualifications required for spring or summer.
INTERNAL JOB TITLE: Planetarium Assistant/ Presenter
General duties: All planetarium related tasks including but not limited to program development and presentations to public audiences, astronomy classes and school field trip groups. Work includes full responsibility for opening, operating, closing the planetarium and supervising operations. Equipment to be operated ranges from the star projector to slide and video projectors, the OmniDome video system and computers a plenty. This position also participates in preparing visuals from video to slides, writing news items, editing web pages, and crafting or constructing simple equipment. The variety of activity is part of the fun while working at the edge of the real world and sharing a love of science and astronomy with visitors of all ages.
Weekend Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoon short shifts are a required commitment. Other work shifts tend to be 3+ -hour blocks during weekdays between 9:00am and 4:30pm.
Requirements:
Some basic astronomy background/ aptitude. Constellation identification and solar system elements are important subjects to master. Candidates who took AST-109/110 at Orono should have received a B grade or better.
Candidates should be 2nd or 3rd- year students comfortable with visual media technologies, computers, informal science education and public speaking, and be able to work a total of 10-15 hours per week on weekends and weekdays during the school year. Summer hours tend to be longer weeks 20-30 hours.
Successful candidate qualities:
- Total reliability and consciensciousness.
- Ability to learn new tasks and procedures quickly, retain and transfer new skills.
- Must be sociable, patient, and possess strong communication skills with the public- especially children.
- Knowledge of computers is required, as is the ability to quickly learn how to use new computer equipment and software. Experience with MSExcel, MSWord, Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe PageMaker or MSPublisher all pluses.
- Ability to work under modest pressure and multitask.
- Must be able to quickly adapt to changing environments and remain flexible.
- Ability to coordinate specific departmental projects and work of others.
Student Laborer III (9541)
Internal Title: General Asssistant
Starting wage $7.75 depending on qualifications. Hours per Week 10-18.
Work-study award required.
Duties include both routine and creative office work and background functions
for the operation of The Jordan Planetarium and Observatory. Cleaning, vacuuming and selling tickets are routinely performed by this position. Some creative writing may be included to support the planetarium's publicity and educational materials development.
Check your schedule because most work hours are weekdays between 9am and 4:30pm. Short shifts during weekend evenings and/or Sunday afternoons also are required in the typical work schedule. Reception, cleaning, word processing, writing, web page editing, image processing and organizing are all possible tasks.
To qualify, candidates must apply in person and complete a short application at the Jordan Planetarium office 2nd floor Wingate Hall. They must be;
- Able to offer hours as described above that fulfill needs of the planetarium activity and mesh with existing staff coverage.
- Completely reliable and conscienscious in attendance and job performance.
- Sociable, patient, and possess strong communication skills.
- Well organized.
Student Computer Technician III (9515): Starting rate $8.10/ hour depending on qualifications. Work-study award required.
INTERNAL JOB TITLE: Videologist/Media Specialist-
Primary duties are to edit and develop video sequences for planetarium programs and manage processing and creation of other visual media. Popular software used include Adobe Premiere, Adobe AfterEffects, Lightwave, and specialized plug-ins for full-dome video projection and more. Job also includes other responsibilites and a range of support tasks for planetarium computer and projection system operations.
Some prior experience with video media is required but On-the-Job-Training and self-directed skill building is the norm. Unpaid off-hours study time is required to develop mastery of the software tools.
M ost hours are worked weekdays in blocks of 3+ hours between 9am and 4:30pm.
Successful candidate qualities:
- Reliability and consciensciousness.
- Ability to learn new tasks and procedures quickly, and retain and transfer new skills.
- Knowledge of computers is required, primarily Windows XP, as is the ability to quickly learn how to use new computer equipment and software. Experience with video and/or image processing software is essential.
- Ability to work under modest pressure and multitask. Ability to track progress and organize workflow is very important.
