The UNLV William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration is home to over 2,800 students, many of which have an interest in the conference, convention, and event industry. One-fourth of our student body is international with a large percentage representing Korea, China, Japan, and other Asian countries.

If you have a need for interpreters (not for professional, simultaneous interpretation of presentations, but between a couple of individuals), these students are excellent resources. Include language preferences with your posting.

This international aspect also means that some students are less proficient in English, and may be better suited as runners, conference room attendants, stockers rather than direct guest services positions. Identifying in advance what the jobs are and what the expectations are helps greatly as students will use that information to "self-sort" as they are signing up.

Usually the rate of pay is between $8 and $15 per hour, with the average being $12 an hour. Employers offering less than $8 per hour are often disappointed by the limited interest shown by students.

We frequently receive requests for unpaid student volunteers for various conferences. There is typically some limited interest, but with the students’ busy schedules, volunteer opportunities generally do not provide the amount of help you need.

It is generally recommended that there be a brief training session prior to the start of work duties. This is usually done the afternoon or evening prior to any shifts starting, and students understand that regardless of the shift they are working, they are required to attend the training period. This is a tremendous help in setting expectations of the workers.

Since most of our students attend school full-time, it is generally not easy to recruit large numbers if the shifts are 10-12 hours in length, unless it is weekend work. Shifts of no more than eight hours (we think the ideal is about 6) seem to work best, and afternoon and evening shifts are usually easier to fill than morning. Classes are generally held on Monday/Wednesday and Tuesday/Thursday, so it may be difficult to recruit students for consecutive days.

• Screen and interview students to ensure you are selecting candidates that can meet the needs of your organization.
• Send follow-up/reminder e-mails to selected candidates including schedule and attire information.
• Coordinate the worker check-in and check-out procedures through one person or one person per area of responsibility. It can be difficult for a student arriving on property to know what to do or where to go without this contact; likewise, it is difficult for you to track who has reported in and who has not without this central point of contact. In addition, students may need the contact person to sign a class or college work verification form. This form is very important for students to receive the appropriate credit for the experience.
• If show logo shirts are to be worn by students, provide at least two for people working consecutive days so shirts can be laundered.
• Consider providing meals for students working full shifts. This keeps the students on-site, and they do not have to pay "convention center/hotel" prices for lunch. (If a student is making $8 per hour, they do not want to pay $12 for a hamburger at the convention center.)
• If the conference or trade show is at the Las Vegas Convention Center, parking costs can be exorbitant. Please consider paying for student parking; otherwise the greater part of the first hour of employment is consumed in parking fees for the student worker.
• If students will be working outside, provide bottled water - Very important here in the desert!
• If possible, payment for students works best on a cash or check basis immediately following the show. However, many associations and corporations pay the student by check through the mail. Please note, the college does not coordinate or disburse payments to students.
• Pre-register students so they have a show badge to get to their workstations.