Do you work and study? (1 Viewer)

[Yallaby1]

do you recommend working and studying at the same time? How are you finding it? Does it get in the way of your academic performance?

 

[izzy88]

do you recommend working and studying at the same time? How are you finding it? Does it get in the way of your academic performance?

A lot of people at uni have casual/part time jobs. How much people work depends on various factors - the extent they need the money, how much effort they want to put into their studies (and how much they care about their marks), what other things they are doing apart from work and uni (eg. involvement in clubs and societies, student politics, volunteer work, family commitments).

I worked 2 days a week last year in an office job, but felt that with the pressure of work plus a lot of time I put into a uni club as well as still wanting to do well, that it wasn't worth the stress of doing 4 subjects (I also wanted a vague kind of social life), so I dropped down to three uni subjects a semester. Whilst I wouldn't normally put work in front of uni, this was a job which gave me experience in the profession I want to go into after uni, as well as needing the money. In previous years I would work anywhere between 8-14 hours a week (check-out-chick).

However some people do perfectly fine working 2 days a week - and some people will work more than that. It is really up to you, what you think you can cope with, and how well you want to do at uni.

edit: having some kind of job in uni is always good - it means you have something to put on your resume and many jobs value you having work experience - it doesn't need to be anywhere near the area you are going to work in - however even working at maccas shows you have dedication, organisation skills, happy to give something a go and can deal with people.

 

[Azure]

When I was working I noticed that my marks went up, although at the time I was doing a full time cadetship and thus only two subjects per semester. The reason my marks went up was because I was forced to make better use of the time that I had to study and I ended up becoming more efficient.

Everyone is different. Do a semester and see how you feel at the end of it (if that's possible).

 

[demonduckofdoom]

I would love to be able to work and study at the same time. However my timetables and living quite far from uni/sydney have never made my available desirable at all. So even though I finished this semester at 3pm, by the time I get back to the central coast, it's 5 -_- All I could possibly look for would be weekend work. Let's be honest, who's going to hire a 24 year old for saturday and sunday, when the 15 year has all week after school + weekends
I really am jealous of those whose timetables are flexible enough to have work or who live close to sydney.

 

[kcqn93]

During the semester I would have about 30 timetabled hours for uni and work about 12 hours per week. I am also apart of the executive committee for two societies at uni. I managed to get a Distinction average last year. However it was quite stressful and very tiring. I am only putting up with the job because it counts as experience to my future profession. (sitting at a computer and being a code monkey)

 

[shakky]

lol- I'm just gonna work at either macca's/KFC/Pizza Hut on weekends and a weeknight. I'm doing Science at Usyd, which is basically 8am- 4pm daily, and I live in the west, travelling will = +1-2 hrs. Therefore I can't work as an admin, office support, storeperson, sales assistant or whatever, because my working time is outside of business hours, unless they open on weekends, but as demonduckofdoom mentioned who's gonna hire a uni student, when they could hire a high school kid who can work after school and weekends for much cheaper wage. So flippin burgers here I come.

 

[-may-cat-]

During semester I usually work 3 days (8.30-5.30) in retail and around 5 or more hours a week as a research assistant. I usually have about 3 days a week at Uni so i only have the one day off a week, this semester it's looking like it's gonna be Friday. I would never be able to do this with a full four unit work load, so i only take three units per semester. I've been able to manage an D/HD average with this routine, but it can get pretty stressful at times and every so often i'll give one of my retail shifts to someone else so i can have a day to work on a big assessment or something. By the end of semester i usually feel well and truly destroyed. One thing though, my social life is pretty bland... i can go out to the pub for a couple of drinks after work and other small things like that, but all night benders and spontaneous get togethers are pretty much a thing of the past for me during semester.

 

[johnys]

IMO work as much as you need to in order to pay the bills and buy things you want within reason, I see little point trying to save 5k or 10k a year at the detriment of your study when if you get good results any graduate job is just going to blitz all those years of late nights at Woolworths within a couple of months..
For me I make sure I have a few k on the side for emergencies, and put ~$50 away a week for a month in Thailand next summer. I won't get into the centrelink aspect as i'm sure everybody is already aware of the disincentive to work more and save as a student.

 

[Chemical Ali]

I found I could work up to 30 hours/week before it got to the point where I had trouble finding time to complete uni assignments and study as much as I felt I needed to.

 

[smartalec]

ill be keeping my job. work --> home = 5 minutes. work --> uni = 5 minutes. therefore work --> uni = 10 minutes