College is expensive. For some students the only way to afford tuition along with other expenses is to get a job, whether on campus or off. However, there are many different pro’s and con’s to consider before becoming a student employee.
Pros:
- Money: The biggest plus of getting a job while you are in school is the money. This allows you to not only pay tuition, but luxuries as well.
- Connections: Getting a job can create many different connections. Many people try to find a job that interests them in some kind of way and while on the job many different connection can be made with coworkers and supervisors. You never know when one of these connections can come in handy in the future.
- Friends: Many jobs around college campuses hire more than one student employee to cover shifts. This is a great opportunity to get to know some fellow students while on the clock.
- Experience: Whether you think so or not, you gain new experiences in every job you have. These experiences are great for resumes and can get you one step further in getting a better job in the future.
- Figuring Things Out: Some students don’t know what they want to do with their life after college is over. Having jobs while in school is a great way to figure out what you like and what you don’t like so you have an idea of what you want to do in the future.
- Money Management: Even though working while in school supplies money to students, it can also teach students how to manage their money. Having to work for what you earn can teach students to think about what they need versus what they want and make decisions accordingly.
Cons:
- Time: For many students, there is never enough time. Between classes, organizations, and homework there is very little time for other activities. But, when adding a part time job on top of that, there is usually a lack of personal relaxation time and long periods of time to hang out with friends.
- Missing out: Because of the lack of time student employees have, they often miss out of social activities. Once they get off work they have to start homework, only to realize that those who don’t work have already finished and are starting to party.
- Late Nights: Working off campus can often times mean late hours. Students usually tend to cover closing shifts which can go fairly late into the night. This, along with early classes, can cause students to become very tired throughout the day and could possible affect their school work.
- Emotionally and Physically Taxing: Along with the late nights, many student employees tend to be under a lot of stress because of the busy schedules and the pressure to still do well in school. This can be very taxing on a student both emotionally and physically.
- Scheduling: Scheduling work around busy class and organization schedules can be very difficult. It might be hard to get a lot of hours depending on class schedules and the hours of the company.
