Pros and Cons of Working as a Student (Work and Study at the Same Time)

Workclass.co, Pros and Cons of Working as a Student (Work and Study at the Same Time) - Working and studying at the same time seem like a good idea to make extra money. While it can be true, the effort to manage time between school and work is definitely hard. This doesn't only apply for the new part-timer student, the experienced part-timer student also still deals with it each day so every task runs smoothly.

After attending classes from early morning to afternoon, or maybe evening, the students are usually supposed to take a rest. But if they have a ;part-time job after school;, they have to commit to it. If it's a five-hour shift after school, then they have to be ready to perform at work after school.

There are weekends part-time as well. Students working part-time during weekends mean they must sacrifice their weekend to fulfill their job. It's not easy, especially on weekends when they can have a break from school. However, if this is what they want, they must've been aware of the consequences.

What are the common reasons students consider taking a part-time job exactly?

According to John B. Boshoven, counselor for continuing education at Community High School in Michigan, students are aware of the high cost of college. They need to work to save for college or even to supplement family income. Such conditions also make the young adults want the amenities that extra money brings.

There are other reasons such as for the sake of getting extra money and building their career from a young age. When they start making their own money, they can use it however they want. As a result, it gives them the sense of financial freedom as well as money management lessons from a young age.

Now, you probably are interested in applying for a part-time job as a student. Before you start hunting for a job vacancy, you may want to know the pros and cons of working part-time as a student first. So you can decide thoroughly later whether a part-time job is something possible to you because your first priority is supposed to be school.

1. Earn Money

Earning money is the number one advantage of working part-time that the students first think about. There may be other priorities but it's not as common as the objective to gain money by working part-time. Like money is the first reason people need to get a job and work, so they can fulfill their needs.

Their needs can be various. Student's financial situation is often pretty tight. They have little or no money. With money they earn from their job, they can use it to pay their tuition, support family income, or gain extra money to buy their hobbies or interests. So making money can make every little bit helps.

The point of earning money leads to a sub-point, money management. When students start making money, the next thing they have to learn is money management. For the students with clear plans or priorities, they usually can manage it well by themselves.

However, for the students who work with no specific plans or urgent issues, they will struggle in learning to manage their income. The process to learn money management will not be in vain eventually. It is a beneficial lesson for their future. Likewise, money management lessons belong to the pros category of working part-time as a student.

2. Practice Time Management

Students who work are more confident and possess better time-management skills than students who are not employed. It is possible because it means they have been through the process of learning by doing. They learn and work at the same time and this process, despite not giving them instant results, can give them long-term benefits.

Part-time students also learn to manage their time much faster than full-time students. By doing so, generally, you will become more organized and efficient with your time, and tend to plan ahead to ensure you can fit everything into the limited time you have.

The general time management lessons students will learn is how they manage time between school and work. To be specific, there are details they must pay attention to. For example, they must use their time well to do the job, do the homework, study for finals, and still make time to develop and build themselves as people of their age.

Obstacles regarding time management can happen anytime and you always have solutions. For example, when the work becomes overwhelming, you can negotiate with your boss about work hours and explain your school situation. This is another benefit of working part-time because they tend to have flexible work hours.

3. Build Career Early

These days, the job market trends favor people with experience over education and fancy qualifications. To start working early not only can be beneficial for income and time management purposes, but also valuable work experience and future career.

The job market also gets more competitive by year and it pushes the younger generation to start early so they can survive this life. It is definitely a tough competition. So if you are a student and start to consider working early for this purpose, you are on the right path.

Within the idea of building a career early, it means students will take on more responsibilities at their job. It is possible to be a little lazy at school or go to school in autopilot mode, but it will not be like that at work or you will get fired for not performing your job well. You are given responsibilities at work and must actually be responsible for it.

The responsibilities you take from work will affect you in a way to make you learn many things at once. The lessons you take may not be piece by piece, it can be a unity or something that you can only realize later. They are also not not something visible in the short-term, but it is something that you can gradually feel and realize for the long-term as you keep working on it and building it.

4. Build Network

In this digital age where anyone can send friend requests online, building real-life connections remains superior. It's because there's a certain purpose that both want to work on and wish to meet so the connections can be beneficial for both in the long-term as well. This is all possible by making new friends and meeting people from all walks of life.

Socializing and meeting the right people may result in a full-time job offer that can come to you after you graduate from school. This is everyone's dream to get a job right away after graduating from school. One of the ways to make it happen is by socializing, making friends, and building networks at your part-time job.

Even if you work part-time in a field you don't actually want to pursue initially, it's still important to socialize, make friends, and build a network with them. Be it clients, colleagues, or bosses. Other than it's a basic manner between humans, it can also be beneficial in the long-term if you are thinking about the future.

Thus, it's quite necessary for you not only to focus on your job and showing your best work performance. To socialize and maintain a good connection with clients, colleagues, and your boss is also important. Who knows you'll meet your clients in the future and they offer you a better position with better salary? You can dream of it and also make it possible by building a network in your best intentions.

5. Gain Soft and Hard Skill

Working part-time as a student will definitely benefit your career by gaining skills that a university or college degree won't teach you. Not all formal education institutions can give you lessons that benefit you to get into a real job. It's because they lean the curriculum toward theoretical education. While that's the reality, many haven't realized this.

If you can't meet your education degree with the available job market, it will make it hard to get a job. For example, it will be hard to apply as Human Resources when you are an International Relations graduate. It's because the International Relations curriculum usually consists of more theoretical aspects compared to practical aspects. It almost doesn't sync and the employer might not be interested with the rest of the resume submitted.

However, it can be managed by building your resume early. Working part-time is a way to make it happen. By working on it, you will also gain soft and hard skills that can't only be beneficial for the job field that you want to apply. You can also prepare for other job vacancies that fit your soft and hard skills and make from plan A to Z.

1. Prone to Stress

School is not easy. Work is not easy. To go to school every day and still have a professional work responsibility can be the root of stress. The stress can affect the school or work or both badly if it's not being taken care of well. Clearly no students want that to happen.

Go to school during the day, work in the evening, do homework at night, then repeat the same routine each day, it's definitely not easy and can be stressful. It can be harder when something unexpected happens and cause a domino effect on both.

One thing you must remember, if the work makes it impossible to fulfill school duties, it's better to stick to school or find a job that can fit your schedules. There has to be another way to win both without causing big destructive damages to your mental and physical health.

However if you still want to work, the risk of getting stressed because of school and work make it important for students with both responsibilities to take proper downtime to destress. It is a solution to not get burnt out because of how stressful school and work can be. There are several ways that can be done to destress.

Eat and drink to optimize your health
Sleep well
Exercise regularly
Stop nicotine products
Reduce caffeine and sugar intakes
Practice relaxation techniques
Reduce triggers of stress
Examine your values and live by them
Set realistic goals and expectation
Assert yourself by saying "no" to people who demand your time and energy when you already know that you're resting. It's okay to not meet the expectation of others when you're resting

After learning ways to destress, you can also choose methods to reduce stress. There are several choices like deep breathing exercises, mediation, progressive muscle relaxation, mental imagery relaxation, or counseling. Among some of the mentioned methods, choose the one that you think can help you.

2. The Potential to Not Taking School Seriously

Oftentimes, students can be happier at work than school when they find out work can give them something that school can't, which is money. Lulled by money and what they can do with money, at some points they may have thoughts like, "do I really need to continue school?"

Indeed. School is still important for your future, even if you already make money from now. In practical perspective, although education can't give you direct money, it can give you a better chance in the future. You have to remember that the future can be unpredictable.

Studying should come first even if you also have a demanding job in the present time. It may not always be about money as not everything is always about money. And it's better to save something for a rainy day which is a formal education degree.

3. Lack of Time

The first phase of adjusting and adapting schedules between work and school can be hard. Suddenly you can't hang out with your friends after school as usual and hopefully they can understand and support your situation. Or worse, you have little time to study, do your homework, and make it right.

If you have other responsibilities, it means you already know that lack of time is the disadvantage of working part-time as a student. You must've been aware of this. It is up to you to figure out if you can manage the stress that comes with school and working concurrently.

The idea of working part-time has crossed into most student's minds, if not all. The reasons can vary and if you are currently interested in getting a part-time job, hopefully the pros and cons of working a part-time job explained thoroughly in the article above have helped you to give a better suggestion.

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