I’m going to either be a political science or economics major and am taking intro to Political Science, Principles of Microeconomics, Principles of Macroeconomics, Business Algebra, and Study of Languages my first semester. That’s a full 15 credits. I’ve been searching for a job for the past month and just got an interview as a grocery stocker for Kroger which would be 15-30 hours a week. I’m very worried that this might overwhelm me and I dont know what to do… Should I take the job? It’s taken me quite a bit of time to get any response, nevermind an interview from anywhere I’ve applied to so I feel really reluctant turning anything down. Financially, a job would be of immense help to me. I also REALLY want to start college on the right foot and do well academically. I’m living with my grandparents close to campus and the Krogers is a few light rail stations away from campus… Advice??
I have worked all through college (ranging from 10 to 15 hours a week), but made the mistake of starting a new job the first week of classes my freshman year. For me, it was too much stress all at once, besides the fact that the job was a bad situation. (So I quit after two days and went back to an old job a few weeks later.) My advice is to take the job, but ask if your start date can be one or two weeks into the semester. That would give you a little time to adjust to the college routine and get a feel for your classes. When you start the job, if it overwhelms you, no one says you can’t quit.
If you can get by without some of the money, ask if you can start at the 15 hour per week range so that you can adjust to the class and study schedule. You can add more hours if needed after a few weeks.
There is a big difference between 15 and 30 hours. 30 is probably too much.
My first semester of college I started a brand new job (along with my 6 classes/ 18 credit hours) and I had no problems. I think a lot of it comes down to how focused you are and how good your time management skills are. It might be a good idea, as others suggested, to wait a week or two before starting your new job. I would recommend, however, not working more than 20 hours a week in addition to your schoolwork. At my school, they advise (and enforce, if you work a university job, like I did/do) 20 hours as the maximum for a full-time student. I work(ed) an average of 16 hours a week and was able to manage fine! However, if you at any point feel overwhelmed, do not hesitate to ask for less or different hours–your boss should understand. Good luck!