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Working while studying in uni-how hard is it?

I will be starting uni in about 2-3 months and i am thinking about working while i do my bachelor's degree. Is it possible? How hard and stressful would it be?

Reply 1

gutenberg

How many hours would you be doing? What kind of work is it? I had a weekend retail job for my last two years in university and it didn't adversely affect me: if anything, it made me more organised to get stuff done during the week. There were times when I had to come home from work & finish an essay, which does suck but as long as you're prepared for some times like that. Having said that, my job was fairly braindead so in some ways it was a relaxing change from doing academic work Monday-Friday, plus I only worked what could be considered sociable hours, i.e. the latest the shop closed was 9pm; I couldn't have hacked late-night bar or club work, for example.

Reply 2

dean01234

Lots of people do work while at uni, its very possible. The key is about the amount, too much and it will start to affect your studies. It would also be good if you can get a job in a very flexible place, where its easy to swap shifts and control your hours etc

Reply 3

InArduisFouette

Original post by dean01234

this basically sums it up.

Reply 4

ImCaptainObvious

I work Full time 42 hours a week and I am managing to keep up with FT study with the OU. It's about sacrificing free time for study or work. Not an easy choice but sometimes needs must.

Reply 5

Ivanka

I have had a flexible job for more than a year and it was fine, but I haven't worked many hours and haven't earned much (from a perspective of someone in a full-time job in the UK). However, it increased my self-esteem and well-being and it was also related to my studies, so hopefully it'll help ne day when I start looking for a full-time job.

Reply 6

Champagne Supernova

It made me more focused and organised if anything. Time I usually would've spent being lazy/procrastinating I was working, earning money and escaping slightly from overbearing deadlines. Then before or after a shift I could set that time aside to do some studying, which meant sacrificing a bit of free time. It didn't mean I didn't relax or socialise at all, still found time to go out every now and then, which if anything felt better knowing I had money going into my account.

You don't want to do too many hours though or you'll risk burning out - as others have said find something fairly casual where you can swap shifts easily :yy:

Reply 7

Inazuma

If you don't need to, don't.

Reply 8

lyrical_lie

I enjoyed working it gave me money to save up and go on great holidays also made friends through it. Call centres are usually pretty good for students as they do evening shifts and in certain ones I managed to get work done too. I worked in SLC and lloyds tsb a lot better than shops as hours never clashed with uni and not on your feet all day. I did work in retail too tbf. Every Christmas I worked in retail, call centre and sat exams. But I'd say 16hours is about right :smile:

Reply 9

CVK Abhiroop

Original post by lyrical_lie

16 hours a week right? How much do you earn from that?

Reply 10

lyrical_lie

Original post by CVK Abhiroop

16 hours a week right? How much do you earn from that?

Because call centres are well paid about anything from 500-600pm :smile:

Reply 11

Zoe_Marie

I'd say it depends greatly on your course; mine is 22h/week, not including lab sessions, and there's a lot of coursework as well. I'm not going to look for a job in term time unless I feel at a loose end, which probably won't happen.
On the other hand, lots of courses, mainly arts subjects are 8-15h/week, in which case you have more time to work, which will break up your self-study time nicely and keep you more productive.