Hi! I will be a freshman in college this fall, and I am wondering if it’s a good idea to pick up a job immediately. I’ve talked to some people, and some of them decided that they were going to ease into college life first and wait until spring semester to get a job.
My parents will be paying for tuition and room/board, and I’m working this summer for extra spending money, if that makes any difference.
What were your experiences with part-time jobs, time management, and balancing school and such? Thanks in advance!
I too will work if I can actually get hired. I’ll probably have my expenses paid for, but the extra money doesn’t hurt. I don’t have experience with any work, but it would be wise to move your classes in the morning and spread them out over Mon-Fri like I did so you have work time in the afternoon.
I’ll be a sophomore in the fall.
I had several friends that had part time jobs first semester and it really had no affect on their ability to do their work. Most of them scheduled their hours on days where they didn’t have any classes.
I wasn’t planning on getting a job but about half way through first semester, I was offered a job as a grader for the CS department for spring semester. I decided to take it. Every other week or so, I had to grade the homework (which included long codes) of 25-30 students. I found that I had to be more careful how I spent my time those weekends so I didn’t run out of time to do my assignments for my classes.
My freshman year I tried to start a new job (I had worked during high school and during summers already, but wanted to try something on campus) right away, and it was not a good idea for me. Partly, the job was not a good situation; there was virtually no training and I was scheduled for waaay more hours than I wanted.
Aside from that, I was too stressed out to begin so many new things at once. I waited two weeks and then went back to the job I had previously held during school years. That was much better, because I was able to settle just a little (not too much) before picking up a job. Do keep in mind, though, that I went back to an employer with whom I had a standing job offer. If you’re going to compete for jobs, you’ll want to at least apply earlier, even if you say that your start date isn’t until a little later.
As far as balancing work and school, it should be very doable with part-time job. I mostly just have to remind myself that I have less time to procrastinate on things when I have a job!