Things to remember if you are going to combine study and work

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

About how to study and work at the same time and not go crazy at the same time.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that undergraduate students are combining their work with their full-time studies. Sometimes this choice is dictated by necessity: you need to pay for your own education or financially help the family. But more often than not, guys just want to be considered adults, and do not want to ask their parents for pocket money.

The reason why you decide to start working without graduating from university is not important, one thing is important: you must successfully cope with both work and study, and most importantly, one should not interfere with the other.

Today we will talk about what to remember if you are going to combine study and work.

If you haven't found a job yet

I bet that even if you have never seriously thought about looking for a job, you still threw this phrase a couple of times in a conversation with classmates or friends: "I'm going to find a job", "There is one theory at the university, it's time to look for a job and practice.", “I want to work, I'm tired of this university”, “I’ll go to work, they even pay money there” - the wording may be different, but the essence is always the same.

Perhaps you did not want to seriously look for a job, you just wanted to show yourself as a cool and adult person who is already thinking about professional self-realization.

But you still decided to put aside empty talk and started looking for work in earnest. So where to start.

Don't look for a job from the "for students" category

When I look into the section "Work for Students", I feel more than sad. Waiters and promoters - these are the positions, according to employers, university students can apply for.

You study at a higher educational institution, you get a specialty that (I really want to believe in it) you like and in which you are going to continue to work and build a career. So why waste your precious time by engaging in completely extraneous activities? Try to find a job in your specialty.

It will seem to you that you do not know how, do not know anything, are uncompetitive and in general it is too early for you to aim so high. You should stifle this feeling of insecurity in yourself and your own abilities at the very root, otherwise you will live with it all your life - both in your student years and after you graduate from university.

Dare and aim for more. Study to be a lawyer, journalist, accountant, etc.? It's time to start learning the basics of the profession in practice. Feel free to look for vacancies in your professional field, and do not be confused by the endless number of required skills and the lines "necessarily higher specialized education" and "work experience in a similar position from one year." About work experience - it's like in a well-known anecdote:

To get a job, you need to have work experience. And to get work experience, you need to work. I just can't decide where to start.

As for the requirements, they are in most cases overstated, so do not rush to give up before you even have time to start. Of course, you should not lie to the employer, endowing yourself with mythical skills and abilities that you do not have, but showing yourself as a young novice specialist who is ready to learn a lot is a completely different matter.

Don't give up on job chances at university

And no, I don't mean working at a university as a laboratory assistant (although sometimes this is a very good option).

At the university, you will do an internship at enterprises, starting from junior courses, and if you show yourself well, you may be invited to work. Don't be in a hurry to refuse.

Very often there are opportunities to get a job "under patronage". Sometimes the enterprises themselves send a request to the university asking for advice on talented children, and sometimes fifth-year students are looking for one of the students to their place, as they move to another city or just want to change their place of work.

Remember that this is a good chance, and it is foolish to miss good chances.

Get a job in the summer

The first working month will be one of the most difficult for you. First, you need to get comfortable and integrate into the team. Secondly, delve into all your job responsibilities. In the summer, you don't have classes, exams, credits or other study cases, so you can fully devote your time to work.

So, if possible, try to get a job in the summer. So you will save a lot of your own nerves, which you will undoubtedly need in the fall, when the training front will be added to the worker.

If you have already got a job

First and foremost, don't complain

You will be proud of yourself. And, of course, sometimes you want to feel sorry for you.

We love to complain, and there is nothing wrong with that. Sometimes we just need it. But in this case, when you complain that you are “tired of combining work and study, it’s incredibly hard for you, you don’t have enough time for your personal life and you so want to send everything to hell,” think for a minute: you really want to be pitied ?

You want someone to say something like: “Oh, you poor thing, you both study and work! Probably, it's hard for you, there is absolutely no free time? I bet that's not what you wanted at all. You dreamed of hearing: “Listen, what a fine fellow you are, you manage everything and successfully cope with everything! I am proud of you / I envy you with white envy,”etc.

What you really want is praise, not pity.

This is your real purpose. You want people to recognize your accomplishments, you are proud of yourself, and you want others to be proud of you too.

Of course, it seems strange to us: to go up to a person and say that I am now going to tell you what a fine fellow I am, and you praise me. But try it at least once, and it will cease to seem immodest and unusual to you.

We all want others to recognize our achievements, see what we have achieved, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Prioritize

I took my first job in the summer after completing my third year. I studied well, rarely missed classes and was not going to lower the bar further. Studying has always been a priority, I never thought about it, but I always knew that if one day I had to choose between study and work, I would always choose the first.

It was my choice, although I know a dozen guys who dropped out in their senior years to work.

You must understand from the very beginning what is more important to you and what you will give up if circumstances force you to make a choice.

Plan your time

I was lucky in many ways: at my first job I had a free schedule, there was no need to be in the office every day from 9:00 to 17:00.

Except, of course, one thing: despite the free schedule, I had to do all my work on time. I never considered myself to be a hyper-responsible person, but I always knew that I could not fail to complete the task on time, no matter what it was: work or study.

Very often, work and study played tug-of-war, and something like this came out:

And after a couple of weeks in the role of a zombie, which falls asleep at 3:30 and gets up at 6:30, there is only one conclusion that can be drawn:

I am an owl, and it was not at all difficult for me to do my work and study at night, but getting up in the morning was, to put it mildly, hard. After I slept safely several times, simply because the exhausted body flatly refused to respond to the sound of the alarm clock, I realized that something needed to be changed.

Remember that health (both physical and mental) is one of our most valuable irreplaceable resources, and if you ruin it, then you will no longer have time to work or study. Set yourself a deadline: after 11:30 pm, only rest and no work or study.

At first it will be difficult for you to have time to complete all the tasks by a certain date, but over time (it took me about two weeks) you will get used to it and you will win: you will get enough sleep and rest and at the same time not give up on work or study tasks.

Is it worth telling at work that you are a student, and at school that you are working

Telling your employer that you are a student is definitely worth it. Remember that during your studies you have sessions, serious couples that you will not miss, or any important events, that is, in any case, there will be times when you need to be present at the university during working hours. Do not forget that often you do not just work in a team - you work in a team where the mistake or indifference of one person can negate all the efforts and achievements of the other.

But it is not always worthwhile to inform at school that you are working.

Many teachers have a negative attitude towards the secondary employment of students, believing that it will negatively affect their studies. A different opinion is often expressed by practicing teachers who work at the enterprise and teach you specialized disciplines a couple of times a week. You can calmly ask such teachers to leave a couple, and then close the gaps with additional speeches, reports, etc.

You know the customs of your teachers, therefore, before publicly announcing that you are working, think about whether it will turn out sideways for you later.

About vacation

Try to take time off for a session if you feel like it promises to be bloody. Having covered yourself with books, notes and tablets, trying to drive a ton of information into your poor head, you will push the work not even to the second, but to some fourth plan and then you will not clear up all the blockages that have formed.

About the weekend

Someone once said that "we arrange the holidays for ourselves." The same can be said for the weekend.

Each of us has such moments when we understand that we are tired of everything, we do not want anything and we need to rest. Ignoring such impulses threatens with apathy and depression, so do not get too carried away with off-calendar weekends, but arrange them for yourself when you feel an urgent need for it: take a day off at work and skip school. Spend your free time the way you want: sleep, take a walk, or do whatever you like.

After such an unscheduled weekend, you will gain strength and be able to work and study more productively.

Don't be afraid to ask colleagues for help

There is no shame in this. It is good if you work in a department, and not as an independent, sole and irreplaceable specialist. Although in any case, remember that you can always find a way out. And in secret: many people love to help others, so they feel their importance and usefulness.

Forget about studying at work, and at work - about studying

As soon as you crossed the threshold of your study, you ceased to be Ivanov from X-41 and Petrova from Y-52. You are an employee who works for a company. Once you got to university, you stopped being an employee and became a student.

You should not be nervous at school because of work and try to hold business negotiations for a 10-minute break. Do not torment yourself with study problems at work. Everything has its place and its time.

Take a break at work from study, and at study - from work.

Remember you can stop at any time

You did not sign an employment contract in blood. Nobody chained you to your desk at the university. This is your life, and it is in your power to give up everything that you consider unnecessary at any time.