January 25, 2022, by Leah Sharpe
Why You Need Unitemps
By Joe Paternoster, psychology student blogger
Towards the start of my masters degree, I was struggling. The workload had hit me like a truck, and I was starting to realise how not having a maintenance loan in the traditional sense was hugely detrimental to my finances. I needed a fix, a way to somehow earn some money around a chaotic schedule very quickly.
In the space of two weeks, I had three interviews and three job offers. I’d gone from no jobs, to three in moments, all of them flexible in what hours I would need to work and all of them not too taxing in terms of learning mountains of new skills. All thanks to Unitemps.
What is it?
Unitemps is a national organisation with a University of Nottingham branch, where it’s part of the Careers and Employability Service. In essence, Unitemps advertises part-time and temporary jobs that are perfect for the student lifestyle.
You upload a CV to the site and then search for jobs via a system which you can sort by location, job type, pay and other factors. Applying for some roles is as simple as a click of a button. Others require some specific but often simple added extras along the lines of ‘why do you want this job?’ or ‘what makes you a suitable candidate?’.
This is all well and good, but at present it sounds little more than an alternative to Indeed, Target Jobs or any other job hunting software out there. So what makes Unitemps so great?
Tailored to the student experience
As noted, Unitemps work tends to be flexible. Obviously, it’s role dependent, and, regardless of your job, you’re likely to be required to do a minimum amount of shifts per year. It’s excellent for working round your studies, avoiding the late nights you might otherwise get with other classic student jobs like bar work.
There’s also the ease at which the work is found. I think it’s telling that I found each of my three current Unitemps jobs in entirely different ways.
The first – this very Student Blogger role – I came across via a quite conventional method, in a Unitemps job alert that gets emailed to you every so often. My second role, as a Student Ambassador, I found via a link whilst perusing through Moodle. It was at the top of the page, right there next to the links to my modules. Seamless. The third role, this as a Research Assistant for a School of Psychology mentoring scheme, was advertised via a university email direct from a lecturer on my course.
Three completely different roles. Three completely different methods of finding them. All advertised within areas regularly looked at by students, spottable with a careful eye and a regular check of the emails.
Notice too that each of these roles is in some way university related. It means that where the role isn’t virtual, like with this blogger role, it’s often based on or around university grounds, meaning it’s easy to get to for most of us students. Many roles also tie in strongly to other areas of university life, such as gaining prominence within your associated school or becoming more integrated into Students’ Union activities.
Obviously, this isn’t true of all roles. Whilst ambassador roles and events roles allow more flexibility or have predictable patterns of increased workload (e.g. open days), some roles are more rigid and involve more commitment, such as administrative assistants. In essence, read the small print!
That said, there is little doubting Unitemps’ value as a hub for jobs relating to student life. If you want flexible hours, decent pay and a trusted employer, then you need Unitemps now!
Find out more about Unitemps via the Careers website or browse their current vacancies.
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