Everybody knows that being a university student is expensive. It’s a running joke that we love to spend our student loans on things you would be stretched to call a necessity, be that clothes, cappuccinos or coconut cupcakes. But the reality is that we are living through a cost of living crisis, and for many of us that means it is a struggle to make ends meet. That is why 2023 was the first year on record where the majority of UK students have taken up part-time jobs – 55% of students across the country. So it is important that we consider how we balance our studies with our need to earn some extra cash, and we should remember that for each individual the ideal balance can look different to another’s.
Me
For me, working is a necessity to cover my everyday cost of living, but I try to save what I can to treat myself to a nice meal, a few pints or some new trainers. Every week my Tuesday looks like this: up at 2:30am, bus at 3:00, airport at 4:00, frying chicken until the afternoon. This is my regular shift working at KFC in Manchester Airport which suits my university life well. As I do not have any lectures or seminars on Tuesdays, I choose to do my weekly shift then so I can easily balance work and studying. Finding a workplace where you are able to decide what days you work on is really beneficial in the long term, especially as university timetables change every semester.
That brings me to my second part-time job, working as an events steward for a security company. This role is amazing in terms of flexibility, as my company allows employees to pick and choose which events you would like to work at from their extensive list. This is great because it allows me to go to events I am interested in, from festivals to football matches. But above all, it is the flexibility which makes this role great for balancing work and study: if I am a bit strapped for cash one month, I can pick up shifts in evenings and on weekends; and if I am busy with university assignments then I am able to take some time off to focus on that. For students who want to work a bit but aren’t necessarily looking for a weekly commitment, I would encourage you to look for similar roles to this – there are loads in and around Manchester.
Evan, my girlfriend
Evan, like me, works every week to cover living costs. She also has two part-time jobs but structures them differently to me. Three evenings a week she looks after children for a family in Chorlton. Overall, she works similar hours to me but they are spread out throughout the week. While some might see this as a chore, for Evan it is ideal because she loves the job – ‘working a job that I enjoy makes it so much easier to get myself out the front door than if I had to do one long slog somewhere I don’t want to be.’ As students, finding a job is time-consuming, but if we are able to get one that we enjoy it can make our lives so much smoother in the end.
Evan also works as a tutor with a local A-Level student, meeting him once a week in a café to help him with his Psychology exam. Tutoring is a great option for university students for a number of reasons: it engages our brains by going through ideas relevant to our course or reengaging us with subjects we haven’t done since school; we learn teaching and communication skills which are useful in loads of situations; hours are normally low so it is easier to fit around university timetables, but it is also possible to take up multiple tutor roles if you need more work; the pay rate is very good, often around £20-25/hour compared to the £9-11/hour for most other part-time jobs .
Maisie, my sister
While me and my girlfriend are undergrads, Maisie is in her first year of a part-time Masters course, meaning her situation is quite different to ours. Because her university schedule is a lot less time consuming, she is able to work a full-time job as an assistant manager in a wine store. While this is a job that she enjoys as she already has an interest in wine, for her the best thing about it is the good pay and guaranteed hours, which allows her to save up for things that she really wants to do, especially travelling. For part-time students, taking up full-time employment can provide a cushion of financial stability. Of course this is dependent on university timetables, but for students in a similar position to Maisie, it is definitely worth considering.
While Maisie was an undergrad at Manchester, she would often do agency work, meaning she would do one-off shifts in a range of different roles; one week could be working as a cleaner in a city-centre office, the next week waitressing in a hotel, the week after that working on the bar at Parklife. Agency work is good as it offers considerable flexibility and often pretty good wages – the best Maisie ever got was £30/hour for cleaning a Hugo Boss store. However, there can be periods when it is difficult to find consistent agency work, so this is a better option for those students looking to boost their bank balance every now and then rather than those relying on weekly work to cover their rent.
Conclusion
In recent years working has become a much more prominent aspect of university life for many students so it is important we give it the attention it demands. Working is a necessity for many of us and it can quickly take over our lives, so always try to remember that studying should be number one priority while we are at university. There are many ways that we can find a work-study-life balance that suits us, as each of us have our own situations and preferences; this article aims to present a few of the different ways that this can take shape.
The University of Manchester has a useful webpage with tips and guidance about part-time work and some helpful pointers to where to look for jobs: https://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/findjobs/parttime/