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Working Part Time while at Uni

Hi all,

I'm 17 and just finished my first year of Sixth Form and going to Uni next year.

I want to get a part time job while I'm there as I have purchased a car and spent £2,000 on insurance as well! So my savings are pretty much gone, by the end of next summer hopefully with the job I have now I will have about 10k savings to spend at uni, but I still want to get a part time job, how many hours do you think is reasonable to work during term time?

I preferrably want to go to either Manchester, Bristol or Warwick Uni, not too sure yet - I have friends who have said I can stay with them if I go to Manchester or Warwick, the house is about an hour's drive from Warwick and the other friend who said I could live with them if I went to Manchester Uni lives about 30 mins drive away from the Uni. Is it a good idea to stay in the halls or doesn't it really matter?

Cheers, if anyone can provide me with any relevant info,

Regards,
Tom

Reply 1

mc_hamster

A few of my friends got part time jobs when they were in the first year at uni and they coped well. So I wouldn't worry but of course it does depend on the job and amount of hours. If you wanted to work in retail they will normally make you work Saturday and Sunday.
When I worked at HMV while I was at college I worked the weekend and Thursday afternoon. But it does vary from shop to shop. Your best bet is supermarkets, most the time they give you hours you would prefere to do.
Living in halls is a good idea as you get to meet more people then if you didn't stay in halls.
Hope that helps.

Reply 2

ellewoods

I worked throughout my three year degree, an average of 20-22 hours term time, full time in the holidays.
As long as I was organised and used my time well, it was perfectly do-able :smile:

I worked for a restaurant who allowed me to be really flexible with when I worked, and how many hours, so I had no problems cutting my hours around exams and increasing them when uni was quiet.
As the previous poster mentioned with supermarkets, the flexibility issue is key for when you're at uni, so make sure any employer is student friendly :cool:

Reply 3

SianyLou

If you want a part time job with quite a few hours, often it's unwise to get a job in the union. I know at Sheffield (though unsure about other unis) they won't let you work more than 16hrs a week in the union because of study interference. I didn't get a job this year...wish I did!! Gonna look for one for my second year, fingers crossed!

Reply 4

wiggles

Yeah, I've heard there are always a lot of jobs going in the uni itself, especially in the union, and if you get a job there then they'll obviously understand your situation and let you be flexible with your hours. I plan to try and get a part-time job as soon as I get there, but I know I probably won't bother.

Reply 5

Mutant

Im starting a job as a community rugby coach for London Wasps, so the hours will be sunday mornings, and between 9-3. so will still have study/socail time around them.

Reply 6

miss_world

Sounds a bit grim but you could always try cleaning. The hours are short and flexible andthe pay is reasonable (to compensate for the yuckiness of the job). At my old school many of the cleaners we university students, and I'm sure this is true for other towns and cities. You could probably work as a cleaner for the university! :p:

As whoever said flexibility is the key, and good time management. I know loads of students who work and they cope perfectly well.

Reply 7

Luize

having a job and deadlines is pretty easy. I started working just at the end of term and had exams and deadlines for the weeks I was working. As long as you are organised (which you will be forced to be if you have a job...or at least you will know the days which uni work isn't possible) you will be fine.

I worked all through education from 14. It has been easy to juggle work, social and study. Even when having 1-2 weeks to do 2 years worth of coursework plus nights out and working I was ok.

It will be useful to go somewhere student friendly but if you go to Bristol most places will be due to having two unis in the city (and there are LOADS of jobs here, I've never had a problem getting one.)

Reply 8

Angelil

If you want to join uni societies and stuff I'd say 8-10 hours is good, but of course it depends how much you'd be getting paid, how much you need to earn, and what course you're doing.

I've done loads of stuff both on and off campus. On campus I've done cleaning, accommodation tours, department tours, campus tours, working as a telephone assistant and working as a nude model for the uni art soc (great money and in fact one of the best jobs I've ever had!). Work in the union is quite hard to get because the ratio of jobs available to students wanting them is very high, so be prepared to look elsewhere. I've found that a lot of retail places (supermarkets, shops and pubs) can be quite reluctant to employ students as you won't be there in the holidays, even if it's a chain where you might be able to transfer. When I applied to work in Next they said there was a high chance of my being able to do this, then went back on their word when I sent the form in. I said 'you said I'd be able to transfer' and they said 'well, we've got quite a lot of people doing that at the moment...'. This really annoyed me because if they had a lot of people doing that at the moment then why bother telling me to send in the form?! But anyway. Just one example of a whole host of problems you can have applying for retail.

Off campus I've done data entry work in term-time, and waitressing and receptionist work in the holidays. The data entry work I found completely by chance - one of my housemates happened to work there. It's not the most obvious place to look for work but there are always places looking for keyboard monkeys. In fact it's not bad pay for something you could train a monkey to do!!! (£6.22 an hour)

Good luck finding a job :smile: