Every job has a purpose and plays important role in everybody’s life. Students all across the nation are enrolled in classes at hundreds of universities and colleges in order to one day obtain a job they desire. Working is how we will pay for bills, support ourselves and simply make a living in the future. Many college-aged learners have part-time jobs; the reason they have these jobs can vary from getting experience for a future job they want to need a job to pay their way through college. I personally see a part-time job as an important stepping stone to the job for which you are going to college. A part-time job may not be directly related to the field you are interested in, aspects of the job can help you gain experience and look good for future employers. A part-time job simply involves working fewer hours in a week than a full-time job. Often, part-time jobs involve working in shifts. These shifts are usually rotational with other part-time workers. In my viewpoint, the choice of working part-time is made after four major considerations: personal choice, financial priorities, skills possessed/required, charity and contribution.
Importance of Part-Time Job
We all know that going to college is expensive and many students turn to a part-time job to help offset the tuition fee and other college expenses. Working while in college is a necessity for some and a way to earn spending money for others. Having a part-time job will actually help a student learn many skills that they might not have the opportunity to learn in school or college. Whatever the reason, there are plenty of benefits associated with working while going to college as discussed below.
- Stable Cash Flow: Although obvious, this remains one of the greatest perks of working part-time while in college or school. Having a steady income allows you to pay off tuition fees or whether it is for paying for rent or just getting extra grocery money. This is how having a part-time job can help you by supplementing your income. Although it is nice to spend all your money on the shopping or saving that money for something more important is a better feeling. Having an extra source of income is great when you have such expenses to pay off. Even, you can use this amount to enjoy life a bit more, either through shopping, going out or putting it towards something useful. The ability to buy things yourself will give you a new sense of independence. You will learn the importance of money management. When you start earning your own money, you will gain a better understanding of how to handle it. Working hard for your money will help you appreciate important personal finance lessons such as the benefits of budgeting and the importance of saving and being economical.
- Develop Useful Skills: There are just some things or skills, which a college or university can’t teach. Working at a job can help young people develop skills, like commitment, time-management, teamwork, leadership, customer service, communication and organization, problem-solving, marketing and other components that help someone throughout their career. Having a part-time job will help you gain a wide range of skills including punctuality. You can actually mention these things in your CV or Resume, as it shows that you have transferable skills. When writing or updating your CV, showing that you have been in employment will look good and work in your favour. It will help you when you are applying for your graduate job, as your work can act as a reference for you. It doesn’t matter if you are an accounting professional working as a server or computer science professionals working in customer service. Any part-time job you have in college is teaching you practical job skills that you will use in your full-time job after graduation. Learning how to work in a team, solve problems, be professional, and communicate effectively will help you a lot in your future career and will take you far.
- Time Management: You will discover how to manage your time more efficiently. With the decrease in free time that comes along with a part-time job, this will automatically improve your time management skills. You will learn how to use your time more effectively, such as completing or reading assignments during your travel time. You will also learn the importance of becoming more organized. It may seem difficult, but it is a skill that if perfected, will help you in your coming life. It is not easy of course, but the more you get used to doing it, the more it will help you in the long run. You need to learn how to schedule and place importance on certain things when you are working while going to school. This will teach you how to weigh your priorities, sometimes you have to skip fun activities to finish your responsibilities. This will prepare you for the life after school or college where excuses and delayed work will not accept. Effective time management benefits both your studies and life after college.
- Responsibilities: You will learn how to handle responsibilities. Being a good student takes a lot of responsibility but if you learn how to balance school studies or activities and a part-time job, you will learn the true meaning of responsibility. As you grow older, your amount of responsibilities will only increase so learning how to multitask at an early age will better prepare you for the future. When you get a job, your parents are going to expect you to help around the house that means paying the bills or other expenses, definitely, your parents probably won’t make you pay rent or something like that. However, paying for your cell phone bills or other amenities may be an option which reduces their burden. Your parents will feel free when you pay your expenses on your own. Moreover, students earning their own money get lessons on spending wisely. They may be less likely to spend their hard-earned money irresponsibly and learn pay for necessities such as textbooks and rents. At the same time, they can save for non-essential purchases, such as a car. This is how working in this age helps you to become a responsible person.
- Social Network: Working a part-time job allows you to develop connections. You may get a great friend, reference, connection or even full-time job after school or college from committing to a sustainable number of hours each week. Through a part-time job you are likely to work with other people, who you can socialize with. This can help make your time at university even better, especially if you can spend time with your work colleague outside of work. Having professional connections can open up opportunities you wouldn’t have otherwise and building up a network of contacts before college is even over is a huge benefit to working in college. You never know someone you meet at your college job could be the key person to getting your foot in the door of your dream job after college.
- Find Passion Job: Working a part-time job allows you to try a lot of different tasks and refine skills that might help you find your passions. As you work, you understand the detailed feature and aspects of the different jobs and career paths that might make yours a little clearer. So whether it is reinforcing your passion for health or your new dream to go into student affairs, having a part-time job can help make your future a little bit clearer. Part-time jobs allow you to try out a variety of roles to help you make your mind up for a future career. Moreover, you can use your part-time job to get an introduction to a career or area of interest you desire to go into after finishing your college. This experience will help you stand out from the other candidates at interview; you can begin networking with others in your chosen field because forming professional relationships at this early stage will help your chances of gaining employment early after graduation.
As per my perspective, I think having a part-time job is extremely good for a school or college student in various aspects. Instead of people worrying about the student’s grades declining due to having a part-time job, I think they should look at it as a challenge for the student because later in life they will likely face bigger obstacles. Having a part-time job guide the students sharp skills which they will need all throughout their careers and lives. While there are many benefits of having a part-time job in high school but not all students are capable of handling it. If your academic performance begins to suffer or you are not getting enough sleep, you should cut your working hours or only work during the weekends and vacations.
