According to a study from private student loan lender Future Finance, 78% of students in the UK feel the importance of working during the summer months. While 26% are looking to gain experience, 24% need to make ends meet. That means they are more likely to take a bartending job, or a job in retail, that is not really related with their field of study. On the other hand, the student who wants to get a solid professional experience will target an internship with a company in their field, and is in turn likely to reap the rewards after graduation. Missing out on a few hundred pounds today, if you can afford it, means you can apply with a prestigious company, work with people you want to be replacing down the road, and have a solid curriculum to make your case one you leave uni.
From my personal experience, work was just a way to fill the fridge. I was on my own and had to pay for everything. Thankfully, my parents’ income from the previous years was low enough for me to be eligible for a scholarship, so I didn’t pay much in tuition. When you know tuition fees are around £9,000 these days, that was a great help. I actually wonder how a student can manage to pay his way through uni on his own now. You are looking at £300 or more for a room, let’s say you are very reasonable, barely go out for a drink, and can live on £400 per month, it still sums up to £17,400 per year, or £1,450 a month!
Future Finance says 63% of students are under great financial pressure and think about money all the time, or very often and I see where they are coming from. As a student, money was on my mind all the time. The good part was, I was also aware that missing exams and years were a luxury I couldn’t afford. Staying one more year at uni meant another year of rent and food, and there was no energy for that. I wanted to get out as soon as possible, and start making a real income. So I was planning all the time. I would waitress until 2am but still kick myself to wake up and attend the 8am class. I worked all year round so I could fit a week of holidays here and there. They were mostly spent studying for class and playing catch up, but still I would get a full night sleep and recover a little.
Then it all got better when I got into business school. I found a work/study agreement with a big company who agreed to pay for tuition and pay me a little salary to come work three days a week. School was condensed on two days, so the 70 hour workweeks were finally over. It was a big relief, and I would recommend to anyone to try to find a similar arrangement in order to lighten their load.
My five years of university and business school passed by so fast because I was so busy trying to make money and survive as a student on my own. I was jealous sometimes of my friends whose parents were paying for everything. They had a nice place to live, a car, cool holidays… but in hindsight, I am glad I worked a lot, it helped me graduate debt free and taught me invaluable skills such as resilience or adaptability which are sought after in today’s workplace. So as a student, I couldn’t encourage you more to work while you study. If possible, try to find a job within your field so you can see what you really want to be when you graduate, and adjust your studies accordingly. You might make a little less but you’ll get that money back many times over when you get your first job right away at a higher annual rate than people who just took summer jobs or didn’t work at all.