A question often asked by students, particularly in their second year is, when is it a good time to get a part-time job? Will there ever be a good time to work a part-time job on top of study? I must admit I have thought long and hard about the potential impacts that a job outside of uni will have on my studies. I am now in my second year as a university student and last year I chose to focus solely on my studies and settling into a new city. It is my strong recommendation that you leave the first year like this as I found that there was enough stress/excitement going on in my life without the added pressure of extra work, no matter how appealing the extra $150 a week or so may be.
However, over the summer, I thought long and hard as to whether it would be beneficial for me to get a job whilst studying in my second year. Whenever I return home to New Plymouth I work a casual job at The Warehouse, which honestly, I enjoy a lot. I figured that if I were to get a job that I could enjoy in Auckland too, without adding too much extra stress into the equation, then a job would be an extremely good idea for me. Everyone in my flat (three of us) decided to get jobs in our second year as the consensus was that we had all figured out how the uni system works, we had established firm friends and we can understand and navigate Auckland much better, because of having been here for a while.
From the beginning of the semester, I have been working at an espresso bar in Newmarket called Volt 2 days a week before my classes start on a Monday and Tuesday. I was extremely lucky with the set hours that I was offered as that work extremely well with my classes and nothing is thrown out of rhythm! Despite already having worked a summer job in retail which taught me a lot about the value of money, of time management and of teamwork, having never worked in hospitality, I was somewhat thrown in the deep end as there certainly was a lot to learn. But so far, my current job has equipped me with a new skill set that I would otherwise never have had. It suffices to say that my current part-time job in hospitality has taught me a lot, especially as I am working it alongside my uni work.
It is my opinion that working a job after the first year is extremely valuable as it has certainly helped me get that slight bit closer to financial independence and has really helped me manage my time. Regardless, in the long run, working in a field that you know you more likely than not will not be in long term is beneficial as it teaches you how to work and deal with a wide variety of people and get to understand the value of hard work.
As Easter has just been and gone, my boss sent me home with a huge Easter egg which made my day 😊