According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 50 percent of undergraduates work in part-time jobs while enrolled as full-time students. Student employment, says the author, has the potential to be a significant developmental experience, providing an extracurricular setting in which to promote learning after class ends, enabling students to grow as leaders, develop career paths, and balance courses, work, and personal lives. The author advocates deliberate structuring of workplace tasks, interactions and processes to optimize the student work experience by: (1) Increasing opportunities for peer collaboration and evaluation; (2) Creating occasions for informal interactions between students, faculty members, and administrators; (3) Encouraging congruence between the curriculum and the co-curriculum; and (4) Pairing faculty and staff members in learning-focused research teams. Refocusing on learning as the core of a student-employment program can foster a transformative educational experience that will serve students both inside and outside the classroom.