Miles Jordan
Perry Place expanding job opportunities for students
Virginia Tech Dining Services is set to unveil its newest addition, “Perry Place”, a unique dining hall that promises to redefine the campus food experience and offer jobs to students
April 15, 2024
By: Miles Jordan
Opening its doors in August 2024, just in time for the start of the 2024 school year, Perry Place will offer a culinary journey like no other. Virginia Tech, renowned for its campus food, ranked No. 3 in the country out of nearly 1,500 universities in Niche Magazine’s 2024 “Best College Food in America” list and No. 8 on the Princeton Reviews “Best Campus Food” list.
Perry Place will add new, unique cuisine options for Virginia Tech students and create an abundance of new work opportunities for students and Blacksburg locals alike. According to Virginia Tech’s Dining Brochure, VT Dining Services is the largest employer on campus, with hundreds of salaried employees and over 1600 student employees.
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While all ten dining halls are different sizes, each has a rough average of 160 student employees, and Perry Place is set to offer even more opportunities to students.
Blacksburg, Virginia- April 16, 2024- Hitt Hall, the new home of VT dining hall Perry Place is under construction- Photo Shot By: Miles Jordan
“Our big growth is in the student employees. We are looking for about 290 regular student employees, and we have various student managers as well,” said Director of VT Dining Services Brian Grove, “It (Perry Place) is going to be a big entity for student employees that come on the line.”
Working for VT Dining Services is not only an excellent opportunity for students to make money, with a student employee's minimum hourly wage starting at $15/hr but a great way to gain experience in the workforce, with opportunities for advancement such as being a student manager.
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"Students have an opportunity to move up, and it provides a great resume builder when you move into a student assistant manager or student general manager position,” said Grove. Student Managers learn leadership skills, and it looks great on a resume because it shows you may have started out as a student employee and rose up the ranks.”
As of April 16, 2024, Perry Place will open in 132 days, offering students new cuisine, concepts, and new employment opportunities.