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Best and Worst Part-Time Student Jobs

As a student, you tend to throw yourself into a bunch of different part-time jobs to make ends meet as you study.

A lot of people who come to University for the first time often have no experience with ever having had a job before.

What are some of the best part-time jobs you've have/had and would 100% recommend?

What are some of the worst jobs during your time as a student that you'd tell everyone to stay well away from?

Why?

Feel free to give your experiences below!

We would love to hear a bunch of varying opinions.
Josh :smile:

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Reply 1
Avatar for Joe_01
Joe_01
14
Original post by hallamstudents
As a student, you tend to throw yourself into a bunch of different part-time jobs to make ends meet as you study.

A lot of people who come to University for the first time often have no experience with ever having had a job before.

What are some of the best part-time jobs you've have/had and would 100% recommend?

What are some of the worst jobs during your time as a student that you'd tell everyone to stay well away from?

Why?

Feel free to give your experiences below!

We would love to hear a bunch of varying opinions.
Josh :smile:


Hi Josh,

I am a student and currently have a part time job as a bartender! I find that I can be very flexible with my job since I can let them know the days I can and cannot work and get other bartenders to cover me if I need to do something for my studies! Generally there are always bars around so you should have no problem finding one and if you get in a local one then that’s even better! People that work in these places are also generally young so you’ll get on well with them on a social level! Note that it doesn’t have to be a pure bar, it can be a restaurant as well since they have bars to prepare drinks!

Joe
Original post by Joe_01
Hi Josh,

I am a student and currently have a part time job as a bartender! I find that I can be very flexible with my job since I can let them know the days I can and cannot work and get other bartenders to cover me if I need to do something for my studies! Generally there are always bars around so you should have no problem finding one and if you get in a local one then that’s even better! People that work in these places are also generally young so you’ll get on well with them on a social level! Note that it doesn’t have to be a pure bar, it can be a restaurant as well since they have bars to prepare drinks!

Joe

Hi Joe!

A lot of my friends during University have worked bar jobs and said they are one of the more flexible part-time careers.
Something I thought of though, is that it isn't necessarily a job for everyone. I feel more introverted people may struggle.
Have you heard any stories or have any personal experiences with bad student jobs between you and your friends?

Thanks for sharing!
Josh :smile:
Original post by hallamstudents
As a student, you tend to throw yourself into a bunch of different part-time jobs to make ends meet as you study.

A lot of people who come to University for the first time often have no experience with ever having had a job before.

What are some of the best part-time jobs you've have/had and would 100% recommend?

What are some of the worst jobs during your time as a student that you'd tell everyone to stay well away from?

Why?

Feel free to give your experiences below!

We would love to hear a bunch of varying opinions.
Josh :smile:


The best ones would probably be IT Jobs, whether that's helpdesk or programming for a university's Information Services unit.

Decent wage, it's skilled work, great for your CV.
Worked the majority of my student life in fast food and retail services. Couldn’t recommend it more - the flexibility and socialisation aspect of the job is what makes it fun and ideal for term time!
Original post by stephenh97
Worked the majority of my student life in fast food and retail services. Couldn’t recommend it more - the flexibility and socialisation aspect of the job is what makes it fun and ideal for term time!

Hi @stephenh97

Thanks for sharing! What fast food and retail jobs have you had?
Any tips/warnings for students looking to get into those sort of roles?
Any bad experiences?

Cheers!
Josh :smile:
Original post by Blue_Cow
The best ones would probably be IT Jobs, whether that's helpdesk or programming for a university's Information Services unit.

Decent wage, it's skilled work, great for your CV.

Hi Blue!

Thanks for replying!

How would you recommend breaking into these sort of roles? Are what you're talking about quite similar to Student Ambassador Roles?

Cheers,
Josh :smile:
Original post by hallamstudents
Hi Blue!

Thanks for replying!

How would you recommend breaking into these sort of roles? Are what you're talking about quite similar to Student Ambassador Roles?

Cheers,
Josh :smile:


For helpdesk, just general IT knowledge is needed + a desire to learn. Universities will probably advertise these roles on the internal job board.

Programming/development you'll have to demonstrate a good mathematical skills mainly. Some will ask for programming experience, but the test(s) they'll give you will be quite simple, as it is just a term-time job.

I wouldn't say it's similar to a student ambassador role - it's completely different.
Hello Josh,

I once worked a this café in London, I got paid the £5.20 at the time, had to stand for the whole time when I wasn't on break.
Hi Josh!

I’ve worked the majority of my student life in McDonalds with some stints in high street retailers.

The only tip I would give to students looking for a part time job in these sectors is to work your hardest and ensure that you’re making the most of the incentivised rewards from the job - my current job allows me to access an entire bank of high street retailer discounts and other places such as gyms, entertainment and lifestyle!

The only bad experiences I’ve had within this job seem to stem from difficult customers - people just simply don’t understand how hard it is to run an entire team of forty plus people seamlessly! If you put that aside, it’s an incredibly rewarding job with a lot of rewards and perks!
Original post by hallamstudents
Hi @stephenh97

Thanks for sharing! What fast food and retail jobs have you had?
Any tips/warnings for students looking to get into those sort of roles?
Any bad experiences?

Cheers!
Josh :smile:
The worst I’ve had was being a charity fundraiser, trying to get people to subscribe to charities. This meant knocking on doors in the evening and people just weren’t interested. Best job which I currently do is working with the student union, just aren’t enough hours available though.
(edited 5 years ago)
if u want just get a job in a warehouse n work night shifts, u might be able to find places that will pay more than £10 an hour, i knew one that paid £13, and some pay smaller but the lowest i saw was 7.50 but normally 8-9 an hour, some warehouses dont let u go off until all the work is done so u might end up working 11 hours one day n earn like £120 in one day which is pretty good tbbh
Reply 12
Avatar for kkboyk
kkboyk
21
Best uni jobs are those within the uni, for example receptionist or any other role in any departments. For example, my gf worked as a statistician for the sustainability department and was paid over £300 per week for just 5-6hrs of work.

Worst jobs are manual labour ones as they tend to demand a lot of hours.
Original post by RandomTennisfan
The worst I’ve had was being a charity fundraiser, trying to get people to subscribe to charities. This meant knocking on doors in the evening and people just weren’t interested. Best job which I currently do is working with the student union, just aren’t enough hours available though.

Hey @RandomTennisfan

I had a similar sort of experience myself! Giving out flyers around University is one of the most traumatic (not really) experiences ever. People really aren't interested and it's a struggle to get them all gone.

Working as a student ambassador has been my favourite role so far too! I'd like more hours, but since it's a job role in the field I want to pursue in the future, I'm pleased enough with that for now.

Josh :smile:
Original post by Anonymous
Hello Josh,

I once worked a this café in London, I got paid the £5.20 at the time, had to stand for the whole time when I wasn't on break.

Hey!

Would you not recommend this due to the amount of time you have to stand around? Or is it bearable?

Maybe with some comfy sketchers or something of the likes..

Thanks for letting me know!

Josh
Original post by verycoolperson
if u want just get a job in a warehouse n work night shifts, u might be able to find places that will pay more than £10 an hour, i knew one that paid £13, and some pay smaller but the lowest i saw was 7.50 but normally 8-9 an hour, some warehouses dont let u go off until all the work is done so u might end up working 11 hours one day n earn like £120 in one day which is pretty good tbbh

Hey @verycoolperson

I've heard a lot of people say that they aren't too fond of working in warehouses -- a few of my friends worked in places like ASOS/Amazon and said that it was quite soul destroying (from boredom, not from hard labour).

What do you think about that? Have you ever worked at one of them, or only heard of the jobs?

The money certainly doesn't sound bad!

Josh :smile:
Doesn't really answer the question but all jobs are better than none for sure, you'd be able to get skills you wouldn't of had otherwise. Best job was probably work at a local manufacturing firm with more relevant experience. No jobs I'd class as bad tbh, loved my time at Tesco at my campus was interesting.... :biggrin:
[QUOTE="hallamstudents;82402578"]As a student, you tend to throw yourself into a bunch of different part-time jobs to make ends meet as you study.

A lot of people who come to University for the first time often have no experience with ever having had a job before.

What are some of the best part-time jobs you've have/had and would 100% recommend?

What are some of
Original post by hallamstudents
As a student, you tend to throw yourself into a bunch of different part-time jobs to make ends meet as you study.

A lot of people who come to University for the first time often have no experience with ever having had a job before.

What are some of the best part-time jobs you've have/had and would 100% recommend?

What are some of the worst jobs during your time as a student that you'd tell everyone to stay well away from?

Why?

Feel free to give your experiences below!

We would love to hear a bunch of varying opinions.
Josh :smile:


Hey I am in year 13 sixth form and I work at KFC at the start it’s a bit confusing but you get used to it and develop more skills and create new relationships. It also improves your communication. Which is good because I’m quite an awkward person at the start
Last year I worked at an Italian restaurant, Friday and Saturday nights. Normally between 6 and 8 hour shift. Hard work but good pay, also some very tricky customers and miscommunication between staff due to language barrier. However, it was very flexible which was ideal.

Now I tutor children for 4 hours a week, between £10 and £20 for the hour depending on location. It's supporting my teacher training and I enjoy it. Biggest benefit is that I'm completely in control. I also work as a special needs playworker part time- very rewarding.

I think the key to working whilst at uni, especially on high-demand courses, is to maintain a balance. I know people on my teacher training course who were in uni 9-5 every day and still worked 22 hours a week, alongside 10 hours commute and study. It's knowing, and finding out, what you can and can't do.
Hey @Themysticalegg

I definitely agree! There's no harm in trying out different jobs as you can get a wide variety of skills from each.
Personally, for me, working in the food industry in a shopping centre was my idea of hell.

Thanks for letting us know! :smile:
Josh
Original post by Themysticalegg
Doesn't really answer the question but all jobs are better than none for sure, you'd be able to get skills you wouldn't of had otherwise. Best job was probably work at a local manufacturing firm with more relevant experience. No jobs I'd class as bad tbh, loved my time at Tesco at my campus was interesting.... :biggrin:

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