By Sam Woolfe
People choose to work part-time for a number of reasons, such as balancing family and life with work, supplementing a freelance career or business, experimenting with different careers, and starting part-time in the hopes of becoming a full-time employee.
But whatever your motivation, there are some basic things to consider when choosing part-time work. With the following points in mind, you can thrive in your part-time role, and use it as the perfect stepping stone in your career path, whilst balancing it with your studies.
Figure out your finances
If you’re working part-time, then you may need to pay extra attention to your finances. It is, of course, true that some professions can afford you a living wage even if you work part-time, depending on the number of hours you work. Some of these lucrative career paths would include law, programming, and engineering. (Yes, you could very well be able to live in London and work part-time as a software developer if you have the right kind of clients or contract).
If you find you have to work two part-time roles in order to live comfortably, you should work out what your salaries from both roles will be after tax. You then need to create a realistic outline of your monthly expenses – and then add an extra certain amount to that as a buffer.
You may currently be doing a job that you love but which doesn’t pay too well. So, while you may still lean towards another part-time role that seems interesting or exciting, it may be necessary to prioritize pay over passion; at least until you can focus on what you’re passionate about full-time. On the other hand, if you already have a well-paid job, but which you don’t really enjoy, consider what kind of role you’d honestly be thrilled to do. In this way, your part-time job could end up being a launching pad for a more fulfilling career path.
Many students work part-time to help fund their studies. After all, scholarships can be in short supply. If this is what you need to do, consider all the costs involved in doing your degree; not just the tuition but also accommodation, food, books and stationery, going out, and so on. Again, make sure to have a buffer so you’re not adding financial stress into your life, on top of everything else you need to think about.
Be realistic about your schedule
If you decide that you’re not going to work more than, say, 40 hours a week, then you may assume that two part-time jobs where you work 20 hours a week is ideal. However, this isn’t necessarily the case. For example, how far would it be to get from one job to the other? Would you have time for a break or lunch? This kind of situation may be manageable if one job includes a certain amount of flexibility and isn’t hugely taxing – but if both roles are very full on, then you may find yourself becoming exhausted.
If you’re looking to work part-time during your studies, you should have an idea of what your schedule will be like in terms of lectures, seminars, studying, and revising for exams. You will want to be able to have enough paid work so that you can easily fund your studies, but don’t want to work so much that you have little time to focus on your education. Be realistic about the fact that you need time to unwind, go out, and socialize. Constantly being in either work or study mode can be draining and ruin the value of both endeavors.
Find a job that complements your degree
Whether you’re already working or studying, finding part-time work which is complementary to either can really boost your career prospects. Your part-time work can complement your existing job or degree in a number of ways, including subject matter, skills or broader goals (e.g. making a positive impact, broadening one’s horizons, meeting people, and the general pursuit of knowledge). For example, if you’re studying a law degree, gaining part-time work experience in a legal setting will put you at a massive advantage by the time you graduate.
Finding part-time work that is complementary in some sense will add more purpose and direction to your life, and ultimately help you to excel in your career development.
Whilst it used to be the case that a part-time job required you to walk around and ask about, there has been a substantial shift towards online recruitment in recent years. Job boards have combined thousands of part-time jobs into a single, easy-to-navigate resource, allowing you to filter by region, category of job and even company - making searching for a job far more enjoyable, and stopping you from having to print out hundreds of CVs!
Sam Woolfe writes for Inspiring Interns, which specializes in sourcing candidates for internships and graduate jobs. You can find more of his work at www.samwoolfe.com.
