Part-time work during masters degree

I'm planning on starting a masters degree in economics in September. I'm currently working part-time in a retail job which consumes my whole weekend and isn't really a job I enjoy.

I'd love a part-time job related to my subject however, I understand this might be hard as jobs like these are usually full-time and I'm concerned about how they could fit around my studies.

I'd like to know if anyone here has any experience with being in a job role related to their degree and how you manage this around uni work? Also, if you have any tips/ideas for looking for a job of this sort or applications I'd love to hear them!

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post

by lloydasean

I didn't do a part time job during my master's, partly because it's very difficult to fit around my schedule.

The master's is a full time endeavour, and I was doing 8 modules a year + dissertation. There are master's programs that has 6 modules, and they might not be as time consuming, but it's still difficult to fit everything in.

I ended up spending an average of 60 hours a week. If you can fit this in a 5 day week (12 hours a day), then good for you. If you cannot and can't work on such an intensive work schedule, then I would avoid getting part time work.

The most your retail job would do is provide you a reference. Unless you intend to stay in retail, your part time work would otherwise have little to no meaning to your next job i.e. it's not from a relevant role, it's not from a similar company, the skills you get usually are limited to the role you want.

I did try to fit part time work around my studies in my undergrad (it was less intensive than the master's), and it was incredibly difficult. If you need to revise, you would often need to block out entire weeks off work to help you revise properly. If your employer isn't as understandable, you might have issues.

The only time when you could possibly see doing part time work be of some help is if you work during your A Levels, but even then I wouldn't particularly recommend it. Summer and Christmas vacations tend to be the better periods for working.