Whether you’ve saved up over the summer to start back at university or flat broke, a student’s top priority is money. Will you be looking for a job then?
There is a lot of pressure on students to go out and have a good time. In fact, the university encourages it, in moderation. You will rack up many bar tabs in the first week so you should be financially prepared, or at least have an overdraft to fall back on.
Unlike Lincoln University, Oxbridge students are not allowed to have a part time job. Why? Because deans acclaim that it leaves less time for study. Don’t they want students to have money to spend in their bars? Some say that you can walk from Trinity Hall College to Oxford on land owned solely by the college; I guess they’re doing all right for money then.
But surely shouldn’t they let their students experience paid work? They could network and get to know how to handle a heated moment in a bar, a problematic client on the phone in a call centre or how to approach someone in the street for their input for charity work, for instance.
Having a job can get you out of a tight spot if you’ve overspent during the first few months. A job that offers overtime, like bar work or at a convenience shop, can be handy if you have a few hours to kill in between knuckling down to those all important essays.
Most people that I know, who took out a student loan to cover living costs, overspent and needed a small packet to see themselves through a couple of weeks to the next loan pay-in.
Don’t think that employers will be put off just because you’re a student. Many will believe that since you live close in the halls of residence, or otherwise, you will be up for extra shifts and you could find yourself fighting opportunities off. That is if you are a reputable kind of person who doesn’t slack.
Now, in the aftermath of fresher’s, you should apply as quickly as possible. Bearing in mind, a lot of people will be thinking the same thing and will have applied to work places themselves. As well as circulating CVs around places, why not let someone else do it for you? Office Angels in Lincoln are a recruitment agency who not only specialise in finding full time jobs for people but also help part-timers find work.
However, because it is such a successful way of seeking employment work places may turn down a CV and ask you to go to Office Angels or another recruitment agency and apply. By all means don’t let this put you off, in fact it will strengthen your chances if you doorstep potential employees while applying through agencies.
Ideally, the best job to have would be where you are forwarding your career at an internship and getting paid for it. You only have to look as far as the Pavilions Student Accommodation reception; last time I looked it was mainly composed of third years.
Circulate that CV and apply to as many work agencies as you can. Like anything it’s hit and miss but the more institutes you apply to, logically, the more chance you’ll have of finding a job.
By Harry Lincoln