Is working part-time while studying good?
Working part-time while studying can have a lot of benefits especially for a university student. It can introduce you to the job market, make you more prepared for post-graduate life, and teach you a thing or two about time management. However, studies show that it’s easy to disrupt the balance between work and study, possibly harming your academic success. So if you want to work and study then there are some things to keep in mind.
Working 7 – 15 hours a week as a full-time university student can positively impact a student’s grades. However, working more than 20 hours can result in a lower GPA and a higher chance of dropping out or changing to part-time study. These results are linked to efficient time management practices by students.
We’re going to discuss working during your time at university in more detail below.
How many hours should a uni student work?
As a university student, the best work schedule involves working between 7 and 15 hours a week. This schedule won’t increase dropout rates and can still help to improve student grades. Studying is classified as a full-time job in itself. Experts say that undergrads should dedicate around 40 hours a week to school to get the best education results. This means that any work that is more than 15 hours can have a very negative effect on a student’s health, wellbeing, and education results.
But unfortunately, some students can’t afford to work that little because of their financial situations. Luckily, universities are usually open to working with their students to help with their financial situations. These efforts involve scholarship programs, payment plans and enrolling in fewer classes. This can allow students to work more or less without harming their grades.
How many hours a week should you work as a student?
20 hours of work a week for a student can be too much when trying to balance their studies with working. For teenagers, 20 hours of work per week can start affecting their behaviour at school and can cause a dramatic drop in grades. This is why some countries have a legal limit for working when you’re 15 to 17 years old.
For university students the situation can be even worse as the hours you have to dedicate to school will likely increase.
Students who work less than 15 hours a week have a higher chance of graduating in their desired timeframe. Students who work more than 15 hours a week have a lesser chance of graduating in the same timeframe. These facts were found in a study by Jacqueline King, author of ‘Crucial choices: How students’ financial decision affect their academic success.’
It is possible to work 20 hours a week while studying. But you will have to prepare yourself to potentially cut some classes and extend your studying period. Otherwise, you can become overwhelmed and stressed to a point that your health is affected.
Do university students work while studying?
Approximately 50% of students in Australia were employed during their studying terms in 2020. This result was found in the 2020 Survey of Education and Work, which also found this percentage to be a dramatic drop from the 559% of working students in 2019. This drop is likely to be a cause of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The large rate of working university students can be a result of high education costs. Job insecurity is also another factor that leads students to seek employment earlier. This is so that they gain good work experience before graduating and become more appealing to future employers.
There are a lot of good entry-level jobs that are advertised as part-time and can be tailored to student schedules.
Is it a good idea to work during uni?
Working while studying is a great opportunity to develop responsible time management skills and get your foot in the door in your chosen industry. You don’t have to and are recommended not to, commit to a 40-hour week schedule. Working while studying gives you chance to ease into a working routine instead of being faced with a 9-5 job after years of full-time study.
Studies have also found that paid employment can improve grades, especially if the job is within a student’s area of study. This can be because they are taking their education and applying it directly to their work, which is reinforced by their salary. Low-skill jobs in general areas won’t improve their grades but won’t negatively impact them either. This is if the hours aren’t overwhelming and taking over study time, as well as not providing enough rest and recovery time for students. It’s always important to evaluate how many hours of work and study full-time that you can handle.
Is it possible to work full-time and study full-time?
University students who work too much risk lowering their GPA, postponing their graduation period and burning out.
Many students end up dropping out of university because of exhaustion. This phenomenon seems to be increasing based on students’ reports of feeling constantly overwhelmed. If they don’t drop out, they often defer the rest of the year or ask to change to part-time studies.
Higher education is very demanding, so the risk of being overworked is no joke. If a university student also works full time, that’s 16 hours of their day being dedicated to these responsibilities. This leaves no time for leisure activities or socializing, which is not healthy for anyone, but especially not for a young person.
Being overworked causes burnouts, leaving no energy to complete assignments or to properly maintain health and wellbeing. Burnouts can see students slipping into depressive states and withdrawing from their environment. This is why it is so important to maintain a healthy work-study-life balance.
What are two disadvantages of working while you are a college student?
Finding the perfect study-work balance is very challenging and can take trial and error. Challenges include lack of motivation to accomplish all the tasks in both areas and the loneliness that comes from not having enough time to socialize. Also, finding the time to study in order to keep good grades.
These challenges can be overwhelming but not impossible to overcome, especially if you are involved in a study field and work environment you enjoy.
How do I balance work and study?
The key to making this work and study arrangement work is setting up a structured routine from the beginning and sticking to it. You can modify what isn’t working with time.
Step one is to write down all your fixed schedules. This would be the time your class starts every day of the week and the time you have to get to work every day.
In between those responsibilities, you’ll have the time where you can fit your daily studying, exercising, socializing, and leisure. It’s ideal to even write down the time you’re going to spend on social media or Netflix.
The goal is to come up with a plan for a day you’re excited to have. So, make sure to split your study time with breaks and fun activities in the middle. Look for a job with a labour hire company, as you can let them know that you want to work limited casual hours and they are often seeking individuals like this.
With some organization and discipline, any student can create a productive and healthy balance that will provide the extra cash and work experience. A balance that will also allow you to focus on school.
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