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Our resident career doctor is here to study your problems and research the best
advice for you by consulting a vast army of experts.
Here, the career doctor advises a new student looking to earn money at university
without compromising their studies.
Dear career doctor,
I'm 22 and am about to start university. My problem is finding a job that fits in
with university hours, that still pays well and perhaps even develops some skills.
After my A-levels I joined an insurance broker as an in-house software developer. I
worked there for three years and was promoted several times but essentially stayed in
the same role. I then left and spent a year travelling around the world. I am currently
temping in a bank.
Money is a major concern while I'm at university. I'd like
to use my computing, problem solving or customer care skills to make some money beyond
minimum wage. Can you think of a suitable type of job?
I don't yet know my hours at university, but presume I'll have at least one morning
or afternoon off per week and of course evenings and weekends.
Regards
K
Dear K,
You sound like an interesting and conscientious person. Well done for everything you
have achieved so far!
There are many people like you, who need to juggle money, study and career paths.
Let me tell you that this continues throughout university and is worse in the final
year, when the pressure is on to get a good degree but also to find a career.
Money is always a worry, but I think that you might be expecting too much
from what amounts to casual or part-time work. I don't know of anyone who has
ever found part-time work which is both lucrative and flexible.
My other concern is that at this stage you don't seem to have enough information
to take to an employer when negotiating hours. And those mornings and afternoons off
university you mention are intended to give you the opportunity to study.
However, from how you have described yourself, you do have a set of marketable
skills and the most obvious option, which you and others like you could try, is call
centre work (from banking to mail order and insurance). Most offer flexible hours and
a decent hourly wage. The only stumbling block could be the long university
holidays. If you are not studying locally, but take a call centre job, what happens
if you have to go home for the holidays? These employers are not looking for ten weeks
on, four weeks off! Another route could be to talk to the bank where you
currently work, to ask if it could refer your details to the branch near your university
for part-time work. My final advice is to all students looking for part-time work
or wondering if they will need to find it when they get to university:
- Collate references and a CV before term starts, while you have time on your hands.
This particularly applies if you're going to university away from home, which could make
it difficult to catch up with people later.
- Check out totaljobs.com" and the newspapers
for any forthcoming national recruitment campaigns. You could apply locally for a
job near your place of study.
- You should also look out for 'teaser advertisements', which start to appear around
October and November. These are from the retail sector, announcing that a big recruitment
drive is coming soon for the build - up to Christmas and the New Year sales.
- Don't commit yourself to so many shifts or hours that your studies suffer.
One useful source of employment is the university itself. Student Union bars and
on-campus clubs have jobs up for grabs. You won't make a fortune, but it will serve as
handy pocket money. I know of at least one university that runs a night-bus and is always
on the look out for drivers and escorts to help see students back to their residence.
However, there is understandably a clamour for these jobs, because they offer the
opportunity to work while keeping in touch with the university social scene, so it pays
to put your name down early. Make the right match between work and accommodation,
so that you're not caught out during the holidays with nowhere to live and job
commitments to fulfil.
Get jobs by email.
Register your CV.
Good luck!
Career doctor | 