There’s been countless debates about whether or not having a part time job is helpful or a hinderance while you’re at university. I’m personally firmly in the a part time job is a positive thing for students camp!
One of the main reasons is money. If you actually need money because your loan isn’t covering your living costs (which a lot of people struggle with) or whether you just want some extra cash a part time job is the way to go. Not only can you gain a regular income with a part time job, you can also put in on your CV for after graduation. A lot of retail or hospitality jobs have transferable skills such as time management, team work and customer service! So most employers will favour you over someone with no experience at all.
Your part time job can also be relevant to your future career goals and so may look even more favourable on your CV! You can often use the internet to find relevant paid work experience and your university may even have a scheme to help you. I go to Newcastle uni and they have a work experience scheme which pays you £700 over one term for working 100 hours!
The big downside to a part time job is the chance it could negatively impact your academic studies. Now this point I think depends on 1) how many hours and 2) what kind of person you are. If you’re quite good at time management and organisation or you can learn fast then I dont think this is a problem. I personally worked 24 hours over 6 days every week for my whole 1st semester and although I was fairly tired I still did well in my assignments.
Working a part time job can also show any future employers that you have independence as you haven’t been living off other peoples money (such as parents or grandparents) and could also show you’re reliable as you’ve spent so many years with one company. Since I’ve started working I’ve gained a lot more confidence due to constantly talking to customers, as well as having to learn to communicate with other staff! Being able to pull myself out of my introverted shell is a necessity before I go into the ‘real’ working world.
An issue I found is that it cuts into a lot of social time, especially if it’s evenings you’re working. This is more of an issue for freshers as they’re trying to make friends in their first semester but it can affect all years. I found that cutting back from 6 days a week to just weekends allowed me more time for socialising, uni work and just relaxing in general.
Another point to add is having a part time job and multiple commitments helps you ready yourself for the ‘real world’. Often you will have to juggle multiple commitments and you’ll never have as much free time as you do at university to practice your time management skills.
Overall my opinion is that a part time job is necessary for personal growth, professional development and pushing yourself to be truly independent while living away from home.