October 10, 2024, by Jackie Thompson
My experience of balancing part-time work and uni
By Zoe Waite, liberal arts student. Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay
There are several reasons why someone may choose to work alongside their degree, to gain experience and extra funds or even to make new friends. I began working throughout the academic year primarily to support myself financially at university and rely less on people at home.
I was also motivated by a want to not miss out on things people around me could do without needing to work. However, working during my degree led to so much more than a monthly payslip. My roles opened doors to further opportunities, allowed me to make new connections and gave me a wealth of experience that has allowed me to demonstrate and develop skills relevant to my future career.
My roles
Since my second year, I have had roles within and outside the university, ranging from events and social media to retail. My roles within the university have all tended to be zero-hour contracts but they can be separated into two distinct groups, regular and irregular roles.
Regular roles
A regular role is a job that regularly provides you with shifts (or the opportunity to work) throughout the year, for me this was my role as an RA (RESX) and Communication Officer (Chaplaincy & Faith Services). In these roles, I was working at least once a week consistently throughout the year.
Irregular roles
Irregular roles, however, are jobs that only require you to work
-for a limited time period such as Wellbeing Panel Member (UoN Wellbeing Services) and Student Research Partner (Faculty of Arts and Humanities)
-require a small amount of time at periods throughout the year, for example, Student Creator (UoN Communications Team) and Careers Blogger (Careers and Employability Service).
My roles outside of the university have been mainly in retail (LUSH and Urban Outfitters) and had low contracted hours (five or 10), which in combination with the zero-hour roles at the university allowed for flexibility. When I needed to and could, I was able to work more hours and throughout assessment periods I was able to cut back to my contracted hours and reduce the workload to limit the impact on my studies.
Setting yourself up for a successful work, life and study balance
Finding a balance between work and uni is hard and something I did struggle with, especially when reducing work hours means you have to adjust your spending habits. However, throughout my experience working I have established what works for me when establishing a work/uni/life balance.
Firstly, I only took on roles with zero-hour or low-hour contracts and utilised overtime when I needed more hours rather than working a higher contracted hour role. This reduced pressure on me throughout exam periods and helped to prevent burnout.
I also made sure to communicate with my managers and personal tutor about how I was coping, if you do not tell people you’re struggling or overwhelmed they won’t know until it is too late. As well, these people can help put in place strategies to support you and your wellbeing whether that is a change in hours or even role.
Finally, I tried my best and was lucky enough to be able to work with people, companies and in roles I actually enjoyed. This made work feel less draining and also meant unintentionally I understood more about the kind of role I want postgraduation and I demonstrated interest in potential career areas; notably, digital marketing and copywriting (Communications Officer, Student Creator, Puppy Love Events), wellbeing (Wellbeing Panel Member) and events (RESX).
How to maintain positive wellbeing
Identifying things that help you maintain a positive wellbeing is important as everyone is so individual – what works for you may not work for someone else.
For myself, being able to identify when I was slipping away from a good state of mind was essential to stopping it before it got worse. When I started eating badly, being extremely tired and my room was a mess I knew it was time to cut back and give myself a break.
Not biting off more than I could chew regarding workloads also helped me reduce the chances of burnout and poor wellbeing. Finally, establishing a support network with the Faculty of Arts Wellbeing team helped me manage my degree and work continuously over the past two years.
My advice to you
My parting guidance to any students wanting to work alongside their degree is to encourage them to do what they enjoy, communicate with their managers, use the support network at university and listen to their body and mind.
It is important to understand what works for someone may not work for you, someone may be able to work 20+ hours on top of their degree and some people may struggle with just a degree. Explore what works for you, working over vacation breaks either as an intern or hospitality rather than throughout the year may work better for you. I wish you all the best of luck, with your studies and career!
Check out our webpages on finding part-time work and looking after your wellbeing.
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