Employment while at uni (1 Viewer)

Sambam429

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Hi all! What are your opinions on being unemployed while at uni? Does it look bad to future employers?

I only ask because my work has gone bankrupt so I no longer have a job. I am considering focusing really hard on my first semester at uni and doing some volunteer work. Would this be ok? Or am I better off looking for a casual job somewhere? Am really hoping to get a cadetship towards the end of the year.
 

jazz519

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If it's just for the momentary period of not having a job for a semester or two I think that's personally fine since a lot of first year timetables can be quite packed.

after that though your work load in uni in terms of having to actually go in usually decreases as you progress to second year onwards, so having a job then is a good idea, because it provides you with the ability to not be insanely rich but at least have some money to spend on events, hobbies or fitness etc, while not having to be reliant on your parents for those things.

But if you plan on not having a job for the whole of your degree I would say that is an extremely bad idea, because you will have around 40k debt from your degree to pay off, other bills etc. that will increase as you age and you have to become more financially independent from parents or sources like that when you get to an older age.

Also, since the class amount decreases after 1st year you spend much of your time just sitting at home doing nothing or studying all the time (that type of thing can get really depressing and boring)

Not only for those reason but if you are looking into doing jobs in business, commerce, law, computer science or etc. and don't plan on pursuing things like a phd or masters, the employers won't be caring if you got a 90 wam 80 or 70. Maybe in things like science and medicine you can sort of get away with it for a bit longer if you plan to do things like a phd or further study later and have a specific job role you are looking for but many of those jobs above the biggest determining factor if you get employed is going to be your skills and experience and not your marks. It's one thing to learn a topic in class but being able to apply it in a professional setting is much more different. Even in science I would say maybe you can't get a science research job cause you mainly need a degree but you can still do other jobs and gain those skills which will still apply in a science professional job setting.

The employers will be looking at things like your level of experience. you have to remember that by working you don't only gain in the financial aspect, you also learn other valuable skills like working in a team, responsibilities and such which are qualities the employers will look for but you can only make them know you have these if you can give them specific examples on how you developed these skills.
 

BenHowe

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If you're looking to get internships etc, you'll need to demonstrate you're a rounded person even if you have a HD avg etc. Having a job is a great way to do this. Also money is a bonus but more importantly, my opinion, gets you out of the books and in another scenario which personally refreshes myself and allows me to perform better.
 

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