Working Full-Time While In College
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Money in the 20s is a blog about personal finance, investing, the economy and business school. |
Once you finish college it suddenly hits you that you need to find work because you have to start paying off those student loans. You partied in college, had a blast, but now you need to start making money. Is there a solution to this problem? There’s a simple one– you can work full-time in college.
What are the benefits of working in college?
- Save up money.
- Pay down student debt.
- Get work experience.
- Mature faster.
Is it possible to work full-time while in college? Yes. I did it and many of my friends have down this. It’s actually not that difficult. I was worried when I first tried it, but then I realized that I wouldn’t have done it any other way.
How can you work full-time in college?
Find an easy job.
I recommend that you search for a relatively easy job. I don’t want to knock any jobs, but there are some jobs that are simply easier on students. What do I mean by this? There are plenty of jobs available to you where you can zone out and even possibly get your homework down on the job.
What are some of these jobs?
- Any random gig on campus.
- Teaching Assistant.
- Any desk job on campus.
- Tech support.
- Exam invigilator.
What’s better than getting your school work done while getting paid?
Try part time work first and SLOWLY transition over.
Start off at 5 hours a week and try adding an hour each week until you reach your maximum capacity. What is your maximum capacity? Only you can figure this out. You might realize that your boss is cool and your co-workers are super friendly, and you’re going to be able to work all of the time. On the other hand, you might find a stressful job with annoying colleagues and you won’t be able to handle this for more than 10 hours per week.
I recommend that you try out a few part-time gigs at varying hours until you find something that works for you. It won’t always be easy to find full-time work, but you can find something for sure. You’ll be on your way to making money in college.
Cut out pointless stuff from your schedule.
How much time do you waste? The biggest myth amongst college students about time management is that we don’t have enough time. Time is the one thing that we have an abundance of. I suggest that you cut out the crap that’s holding you back. What does this consist of?
- Sleeping in forever.
- Watching pointless reruns.
- Creeping on Facebook.
- Sitting around.
You notice I didn’t mention partying? I support going out and clearing your head in college. It’s supposed to be the best time of our lives! You just need to get your school work done and have some money coming in.
Sleep in when you can.
We all love to sleep in but how great can it be when done every single day? The thing about working full time while studying full time is that you’re going to lose out on some sleep. I got by thanks to my caffeine addiction (is it an addiction if you enjoy it?) and consuming serious caffeine. However, once a week at least I would clear my schedule so that I could sleep in. I would not set an alarm. I would fall asleep and rest until my body was ready to go. You need this to get by as a student that’s working long hours.
Sacrifice is needed.
College is a party. College is a blast. You can still sacrifice a little bit in college. As mentioned above, you might have to cut out some activities from your life. The trade-off will be the benefits of working full-time in school. You’ll have less student debt and valuable work experience. Is this worth the sacrifice to you?
That’s how you can work full-time in college. What’s holding you back? Are you going to try to work full-time in school?
