okay, real talk: part-time garbage (i mean, gigs) in tultitlán for students

look, i’m not gonna lie. trying to find a part-time gig in tultitlán de mariano escobedo while juggling classes feels like trying to solve a rubik's cube that's on fire. my backpack’s full of textbooks, my wallet’s full of dust, and the sweat on my neck from navigating the peseros? that’s just the free perfume. so here’s the messy map i’ve drawn in my head, complete with all the warning scribbles.

first, the cold splash of reality: rent here. a room in a shared apartment? you’re looking at like 2,500 to 4,000 pesos a month if you’re lucky and don’t mind the shower that only gets hot when the neighbor’s water heater decides to cooperate. that’s, what, like 150 bucks? but it’s a real number. and the job market? it’s not dead, it’s just… napping. most student gigs are the classic: retail at plaza las americas (the mall), call centers in the industrial zones, or slinging coffee at a chain that shall not be named. the pay is usually just above the minimum wage, which, as of this year, is about 207 pesos daily. do the math. it’s a treadmill.

*the air today is that special tultitlán mix of diesel, burnt tortillas from a thousand fondas, and a hint of hope. it’s a thick, beige blanket you wear. and yeah, we’re a quick pesero ride from the actual distrito federal vibe-tlaquepaque’s color, coyoacán’s hipster ghosts-but those are worlds away in both km and pesos. here, it’s about survival with a side of ¿qué más?

> “mi sobrino took a data entry job near la antigua. said the office had AC but the boss counted bathroom breaks. ran away after two weeks.” - overheard at the tortillería on vidriera

> “don’t trust the ‘registration fee’ for those mystery shopper gigs on facebook. it’s always a scam. always.” - my cousin, who’s been scammed twice

so what’s actually out there that won’t make you cry every payday?
- tutoring: if you aced mates or inglés, parents in neighborhoods like santa maría or los reyes are desperate. 150-250 pesos an hour, cash. you set the hours. the chaos is the kid, not the commute.
- freelance graphic design: local tiendas de abarrotes and carnitas spots need menus and flyers. they pay in cash and sometimes in free cueritos. use canva, charge 500 per job. it’s branding for the street.
- warehouse picker/packer: the big logistics centers near the mexico-pachuca highway are always hiring. it’s brutal, shifts are 6am-2pm or 2pm-10pm, but the take-home can hit 5,000-6,000 pesos biweekly if you don’t mind moving boxes until your back sings opera. safety? ahí la llevas.
- social media manager for small biz: convince the guy who sells barbacoa on sundays that he needs an instagram. get 1,000 a month to post pics of consomé. easy.

the real talk on safety: tultitlán has its colonias and its zonas. stick to the busy commercial strips, travel in groups after dark, and never, ever flash a new phone on a night pesero. the gossip is that certain areas near the train tracks get sketchy after 10pm. just ask any polanco (the local minibus drivers), they know the map of risk in their bones.

i found a couple of actual links that aren’t total vaporware. there’s a subreddit for the state of méxico, r/EstadoDeMexico, where sometimes people post gigs. not all of it is cat memes. also, the local facebook group “tultitlán trabajo” is a swamp of spam and a few golden tickets. dredge carefully. for student-specific stuff, check the upem (universidad polytechnica) bulletin board-sometimes they have on-campus gigs that actually respect your class schedule.

r/EstadoDeMexico | tultitlán trabajo fb group | yelp job listings

so the map? it’s this:
- zone 1 (civic center, around the municipal palace): tons of govt paper-pushing gigs, but slow.
- zone 2 (industrial corridor, cerca de la vía): the warehouse money, but your soul will be a cardboard box.
- zone 3 (residential colonias): tutoring, pet-sitting, el señor de la esquina who needs his groceries carried.

look, it’s not elegant. you’ll have days where you’re a student by day, a bodega stocker by night, and a zombie in between. but the pesos that hit your account? they’re honest(ish). and when the meteorología promises one of those rare clear days, and you can see the popcorn clouds over the sierra de las cruces on the bus ride home, you remember why you’re doing it. it’s not for the glory. it’s for the freedom that comes right after you pay rent and still have 50 pesos left for a torta*.

p.s. if someone offers you a ‘mystery shopper’ job with a ‘starter kit fee,’ run. i mean it.