Balancing uni and casual work (2 Viewers)

[Ribbon]

Originally posted by lillaila
really?.....i just cancelled my SDA membership.....i dunno, maybe i'll negotiate smthng out, and if it gets worse then ill call up just for advice or smthng, thnx for that

how did u calculate that again?...seems interesting

sorry bout double posting ppl! quick edit didnt work for some reasonb4

Well I figured most full time workers do a 35 or 40 hour week, and I know from personal experience that a 45 hour week is my limit. Based on the thing they always say about doing an hour at home for every contact hour at uni, double your contact hours and the difference between that and 45 is how many hours I would work before losing my mind...

the difference between double contact hours and 37 is the amount you would work to bring yourself in line with the av. hours of a full time worker...

I dunno, it works for me

 

[young_gurl]

I just work 2 days a week Sunday and Thursday nights and go to uni 5 days a week! Luckily my classes run either really early or really late so i can work on the weekdays as well as weekends! Its my 1st year so ill see how it goes if the work load gets too much ill quit work!

 

[piccaninny]

on tuesdays i work 6 hours before uni starts and wednesdays after uni till 10. my uni and work is balanced at the moment so far so good.

 

[lillaila]

arghhh, i go to uni more than i work but it doesn't feel comfortable.....i just wanna quit but need the money

farkin hell, UNIVERSITY IS SOOOOOOOOOOOO EXPENSIVE!!!!
this is EXCLUDING HECS!!!!!!!!!!!
ie. counts for txtbks. food, fees like union, etc etc, plus clothes like my labcoat, my med. polo shirt, my id badges, radiation monitor,...etc etc.........theres nothing in my bank account now, i saved up about 2000 bucks just for uni this yr and now i only have smthng like 900 bucks

dammit!!!! plus those txtbks r compulsory to pass the exams, there r MORE books to buy but not neccessary so i didnt get those but already txtbks r like 1000bucks !!!!!!! (i rounded up, its like around $800)................i only work sat and sun and feel so tired already..........i need a personal trainer...or watever u call it to watch over me, me....a lazy bum

 

[hipsta_jess]

i think after the first few weeks, it should be better...i mean, you wont have to buy your lab coat again or anything like that...i know new text books and stuff will be needed, but perhaps some will cross across?

 

[Leanne]

i am pissed off about work! i have a casual job at the small local cinemas...and i've woorked 3 hours in 4 weeks! thats all they've given me!!
then i thought i had a good job at a bowling club- but i ring up today and they tell me i'm not needed this week!!!

arrgggh!!! i need the money!!! Just for a whole lotta lil things at and for uni....

 

[Left-ism]

work as a prostitute or stripper...easy money

 

[Leanne]

lol....actually that isnt a bad idea.......................

 

[layzie bone]

Doesn't centerlink take into consideration that you are living away from your parents?

 

[corinne_m]

Well, i think its fine to get assistance from the government if you need it. It is in the governments best interest (and ours) to have a generation of educated people rather than people who have dropped out of uni because they couldnt afford to eat and have ended up in menial employment.

$300 a fortnight doesnt go anywhere, i didnt know the going rate and im shocked to find its so low.

I work full-time and study part-time because i have too many financial commitments to allow me doing anything else - ive lived out of home for years and after paying $750 per month on rent, $400 on car loan + upfront uni fees (oh yes, another joy of difficult to secure uni places)

 

[Ribbon]

Originally posted by Ms 12
I went to uni 18 hours this week and worked 45. This week Im going to uni 24 hours and woring 26. I love work too much to not go.

Holy crap! My hat goes off to you... your a champion if you can keep that up!

Speaking of casual jobs... I just managed to land one that pays $20 an hour... Double my old award wage... which means I only have to work half as much!! And theres no customers in this job! I havn't started yet but I love it already

 

[Mambomeg]

Originally posted by corinne_m
Well, i think its fine to get assistance from the government if you need it. It is in the governments best interest (and ours) to have a generation of educated people rather than people who have dropped out of uni because they couldnt afford to eat and have ended up in menial employment.

if the governments mind worked in this way then they wouldnt be increasing fees and stuff. There will always be the need for ppl to do the menial jobs, and if education is restricted to the rich then the poor will be forced to do them.

 

[miss_rachel]

The whole youth allowance thing really annoys me. My parents are over the threshold, and I' really keen to go straight to uni, BUT i need to work really hard cos there's no way I'll get into arts/law, so I'll have to do well enough in arts to transfer, but work at the same time unless I want to starve. My parents don't have the money to fully support me. Is there anywhere around getting the $16000, that isn;t totally illegal? It's worth an ask isn't it?

 

[Ribbon]

rachel if you go to the centrelink website it clearly outlines all the ways in which you can be considered 'independant'. There are ways to become eligable if your family earns over the threshold other than earning the $16000

 

[miss_rachel]

Ok, i'll go now then, thanks heaps.

 

[z_morris]

YA is a doodle, although the low income earner's wage has gone up, they havent changed the grid that stipulates how much you get for what you earn.

I used to always allow at least 2 days off during undergrad where i didnt work or have classes for sanity!! I think how much you work depends on how well you want to do. If you are in third year and you want to go on to further study you will need at least a credit-distinction average. In 3rd year i worked 10-15 hours per week. Now in honours i work 10 hours max and im getting YA for the first time this year.

 

[Raiks]

Well I'm working a 35 hour week + 10 hour of uni so I'm kept busy... although if uni work builds up, work allows me to take my uni work in and do it there until there's something really important that comes up regarding work... the perks of having such a great group manager.

 

[SweetSeasons]

When I first started uni I had a contact time at uni of god, about 20 hours maybe a bit more plus the gaps inbetween waiting for classes and the 20 hours a week I spent traveling to and from home, uni and work... I also worked 20 hours a week as i was part time... I couldn't handle it and i was doing terrible at uni.. I then begged my manager 2 put me on casual and she said she only had one 4 hour shift on a saturday and i'd have to wait till some one quit 2 get more shifts.. I ended up on about 8 hours a week.. which was great.

Then I went part time uni n was working about 20 hours a week which was pretty good

But yeah any ways, come the new tax year I will qualify for youth allowance as I would have earnt the 17grand in the 18months to be declared independant. And I'm still gonna keep my sunday shift at work but it's gonna be so good to only have to work one day a week, and have that one day off for study or relaxing as I am at uni 5 days a week. I may even get to move out which means I will no longer have to travel for 3 hours to and from uni every day...

I think it is really hard to balance work and great marks at uni.. because that's why I go to uni to get great marks, why would I want anything less.. I'm paying a lot of money to get me a job and at the end of it I want people asking me to work for them and not the other way around

 

[Pierotte]

Wow, i dont understand all the people who are so anti youth allowance...

It still shits me that if your parents are over the threshold you cant apply for it.

I mean im planning on being independant of my parents, but in reality i cant fit in uni and do enough work to be independant.

Luckily ive scored a comprimise, parents are paying for rent, i cover the rest ( all uni costs and HECS, all food, all electricity, all social costs, all clothing)

I would live at home but thats about 2.5 hrs away from uni and just bloody impossible. (i admire those hwo do it)

I dont understand how some students can hope to cover rent AND everything else without youth allowance...
i feel sorry for them and for the fact that while theyre working to get by other students who get youth allowance can be out relaxing (or studying).

Youth Allowance should be more readily available to all students.

Persoanlly im not going to work untill ive sussed out uni and my uni work load.
Id prefer to eat into my bank account and have enough time to study than work my arse off (in a job) and fail uni.

The Gov't infact should support more students so more students get higher marks and as a result get higher paying jobs once they leave uni, so in the end they pay more tax and everyone benefits (kindof..)

 

[braindrainedAsh]

In the UK, basically all students are eligible for student loans and student bursaries from the government which means that far fewer students here work while studying (and if they do, they only work a little bit, nobody I have met so far works more than 15 hours a week). I'm not entirely sure how the system works, but people don't seem to be struggling as much here at university as in Australia. I think there are also more scholarships and access programs, because there are a lot of people with disabilities etc at my university which is great, more than one sees in Australia. The fees here for university have only just risen and are still cheaper for local British students than Australian local student fees.

I'm not working here at the moment, my visa doesn't allow it, and it's really really weird, especially since I worked so much the past two years while at uni to save up for this and also to qualify for YA. I almost have too much free time, even with running around sightseeing all the time, hanging at the uni bar and doing uni work. I want to find a cash in hand job just to help me out or I won't have much money left for travel, especially with the excess of free time on my hands and the horrible exchange rate. It's very bizarre not to work for me... this is the only time I have not worked at least 15 hours a week since finishing school.

I think YA would be adequate if the amount you could earn was lifted slightly from the current fortnightly rate because the cost of living has gone up and up but that $6000 income bank amount hasn't risen at all since 1992. Also, I think there should be more flexible options for using your income bank, because it's kind of weird how you have to not work first in order to get the income bank. Also, I think there needs to be more examination of individual circumstances in order for people to qualify... it's quite difficult to get, especially if you come from a family that is asset rich but income poor (small business owners and farmers etc). I also think one of the things that really sucks about it is that if you are unemployed, you would get paid more than you get paid as a student. Newstart allowance is higher than Youth Allowance, and it is indexed to inflation using a more generous indexing system.