How to find work whiles at university

Times are hard for students. But a job on the side can provide spare cash and may boost your results.

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Part-time jobs are becoming more and more important for students, however, this is exactly the reason they’re now harder to come by.

To stand the best chance of securing a groovy gig you’ll need to get ahead of the game – you need to know whats on offer, where to look and how to approach your job search.

Student jobs; both university posts and those from outside companies — are normally advertised through the Student Union. If you are serious about getting work, you should apply for as many vacancies as you can. Retail, bar work, cleaning toilets, admin: they all pay the bills. Get yourself out and about. As well as applying online, hand your CV in to bars and shops in person.

Promotional companies which organise student nights at clubs and bars often advertise vacancies through Facebook. Be sure to join their groups and get on their mailing lists. They normally offer relatively undemanding work such as flier-ing, which is an easy way to earn some extra cash. Bar work, though, is the most common way to earn money, especially in a town with a large student population. If possible, get some bar experience before you go to university, even if only for a month or so, as this will boost your chances of landing work tenfold. I worked in a bar during the summer and this experience stood me in good stead when I applied for work the following term.

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You will probably have to take any work you are offered but, in my opinion, working for your Student Union is the best option.

While some new students are understandably anxious that working long hours might harm their studies, the reality is that students don’t really work that hard. Ever. Not unless you’re studying medicine. For the majority of students, there are more than enough hours in the day to both study and work.

A friend who works for the promotional company and promoting club nights, said when it comes to work and studying, “it’s just a case of managing your time well”. It really is. Students squander a horrifically large tranche of time procrastinating on Facebook and typing “funny cats” into YouTube. There will be plenty of time for that once they have graduated.

Before you start work, it’s important to tell your employer the nights you need off. If you are unlucky enough to have a 9am seminar with a particularly stern tutor every Wednesday, for example, you don’t want to be serving drinks until three the same morning.

While it’s important to not let work become more important than your studies (I’d recommend no more than 15-20 hours a week), if you’re constantly worrying about money, you’re not going to be able to study well either. Having a job has many benefits. Not only will you have some spare cash, you’ll also learn to budget, manage your time, gain some valuable experience and improve your CV and career prospects. Moreover, a study in the US has found that students who have jobs and work no more than 20 hours a week get better grades than those who don’t work at all.

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