Learning Outcomes
- Describe the pros and cons of working while in college
Finding a job as a college student can be both exciting and stressful, and it’s not for everyone. For example, students who have already received tuition assistance through scholarships and have full course loads may not have enough time for work. Let’s look more closely at the advantages and disadvantages of working during college:
Pros of Working while in College
- Earning money: One of the most obvious benefits to working during college is earning money. This money can help cover smaller expenses like your coffee and lunches, or it might help you cover larger expenses like rent, your monthly food budget, or other financial obligations.
- Enhanced budgeting skills: Students with the responsibility of working may learn to budget their money better since they have to earn it themselves.
- Enhanced time-management skills: Students who have to juggle classes, work, and possibly other activities such as clubs or sports may actually excel in classes because they learn how to effectively manage their time.
- Networking: Students may not only get work experience in a field related to their interests, but they may also meet people who can help them later when they’re ready for a career. For example, a law student who gets a job as a file clerk with a law firm may be able to ask the lawyers at the firm for recommendations when she applies to law school.
- Gaining work experience: Students who work during school are gaining work experience while they earn their degree. This experience can help you learn more about what you’re interested in (and not interested in) doing for work, and it can make you a more competitive and skilled applicant for when you’re looking for employment after college.
Cons of Working while in College
- Less time for studying: Splitting your time and energy between a demanding school schedule, your work schedule, and other obligations, may leave you with less time to study and prepare for your classes. This time constraint can have an adverse effect on your school performance and may make it harder to learn the materials and do well in school. If you’re working in college and struggling with your performance in school, consider what steps are possible for you to take to prioritize earning your degree while also tending to what else is required of you.
- Lack of time-management skills: Though working during college can help students build time-management skills, those who aren’t used to balancing activities may struggle. For example, a student who heads to college straight from high school without any prior job experience (or with few extracurricular activities during high school) may have trouble meeting multiple academic and job obligations and commitments.
- Lack of free time: If students take on a lot of work hours while in college, they may not have time for other activities or opportunities, such as joining clubs related to their interests or finding volunteer work or internships that might help them discover career opportunities and connections. These extras are actually significant résumé items that can make students more employable after college.
Try It
Deciding whether or not to work while you’re in college is a personal decision that will be affected by your financial circumstance, your personal preferences, what stage you’re at in your career, and the opportunities available to you. Some students may prefer to put off looking for a job until after the first semester of college so they can better gauge their work load and schedule while others may prefer to avoid working altogether. For a lot of students. the question isn’t “Should I or shouldn’t I get a job?” but “How much should I work?” In other words, the challenge is to strike the right balance between schoolwork, social activities, and earning money.
student story: Financial aid and working while attending private school
This student story was written as part of Lumen’s College Success Student Contributors project. The story student stories are written in collaboration with real college students and college graduates to reflect real student experiences.
Even though nobody was talking to me about money, it still played an important role in my college experience. I applied to four schools, paid for my applications on my own, and paid for travel expenses to visit those schools. Still, I didn’t have a good understanding of the financial piece of college even when applying for financial aid. I took out loans, I received grants, I received aid from the school I attended. But I didn’t really understand what the different loan terms were or what that meant for repayment. In fact, I didn’t have a conversation with my mother about my student loans until after graduation, when I got the email about repayment. I was happy that she agreed to cover one of my loans, but it would have been nice to have a conversation about it sooner when I was borrowing money.
I had a lot of jobs during my time in school. I started working as a tutor, a student event assistant in conference and events planning, an admissions intern, a tour guide, a dorm host, and in the summer I was an admissions intern and worked part time in the student career center. Working all these jobs really limited the amount of time I had to study and socialize, but it was necessary for me to pay for the things I needed. I remember wishing I had the opportunity to take the unpaid internships that my peers were going for, but I just didn’t have the time.
I went to a small private school where students came from a wide range of financial backgrounds. As I continued my education, I started to become more and more aware of the markers of affluence and the opportunities that time and financial resources can really afford you.
The financial aid office put on an event where students receiving money from a certain school fund were asked to come fill out thank-you cards to the donors. I was the only student from my dorm who attended. That experience made me feel really different from the people I was living with. I felt like I was having a really different experience than they were, all because I had to work and think about my financial aid and they didn’t.
It took me five years to pay off my loan with interest. I made regular payments for a couple years while working two part-time jobs. Then when I got a full-time job, I saved a lump sum to pay off the loan all together. I was so proud that I paid off my loan, but, ironically, I also felt really self-conscious about having such a small loan. Even though I spent a lot of my time in school working to pay my way, I also know that so many other graduates have loan burdens higher than mine, and being excited about paying mine off almost felt like bragging.
If I had to give any advice to students right now, I would just say that loans and financial language are intentionally obstructive, so seek out help and advice as much as you can! I wish I had had more information about my student loans when I was in school so that I was prepared to make more informed decisions. No one should feel like they are doing this alone, but unfortunately a lot of us are.
