Lifestyle

How to find a part time job

By bzellie 28 May 2019

Living off your maintenance loans is hard, which is why more and more students are searching for part-time jobs, me included.

So, how do we find one?

First of all, why do we want one? Because full-time jobs are too much effort and...

But I need money, skills and experience to put on my cv to get a better job in the future so I can become rich and sleep on a bed made of money.

^^^ If this isn't goals, then you don’t know what goals are.

So…where should we start?

I need:

Something that isn’t too far from uni – after all, most jobs don’t pay towards travel and who wants to spend an hour on a bus just to get to work?

Something that works around my life – I need time to read, sleep, eat and ‘revise’ (stare blankly at a screen for 5 minutes, the recommended reading for 10 minutes, take a break where I eat, watch Netflix for 3 hours and repeat).
Something flexible – uni hours sometimes change, in fact, life hours sometimes change. I didn’t feel like going home on the weekend two days ago but now I do (what can I say, mum's food tastes good).

What do you need to do?

Make a list. It really helps.

Finally, what you came for,

Where the jobs at...

Option 1
Jobs4students - “Offer Manchester Met students paid, temporary on-campus job opportunities throughout the university”.
- You will be doing jobs on the university campus. This means not having to commute to a different location.
- They offer many different jobs with different hours and dates – meaning you can often find a job that suits you and your life.
- They pay well - £8.77 per hour. Yes, please!

Why you might choose not to do this:
- There is a 16-hour cap on the hours you can work per week and some jobs might just be a one-off.

Option 2
Careerhub - Allows Manchester Met students and graduates to search through hundreds of jobs, placements, internships and graduate opportunities advertised by employers
- Easy to access
- There are many different jobs meaning you can find one you like.

Why you might choose not to do this:
- While the website offers many different jobs, they might not all suit you and your timetable.

Option 3
Look for vacancies in shopping centres online and hand your cv out at the shops. Arndale and Trafford shopping centres both have recruitment pages online.
- There are usually a lot of temporary positions available over Christmas, printing your cv off and delivering it on mass increases the chance of getting a job

Why you might choose not to do this:
- Temp work might mean that you only have a job for a few weeks or months, which might not be what you want...

Option 4
Use social media to search for jobs such as linkedIn, Facebookand Twitter...
- You might be able to find jobs that won’t be advertised on other websites
- You might be able to get a job with a brand you really like and already follow.

Why you might choose not to do this:
- If you’re checking out their social media – they might choose to check out yours (and we all have a few skeletons in our closets)

Option 5
Use Job websites like reed and Indeed or even google
- There are so many jobs out there!

Why you might choose not to do this:
You might have to make an online profile or cv to apply for jobs using these platforms.

How to get the job - top tips

Ensure that your cv is top-notch – use the employability service at the Business School.
Triple check your details - ensure you have the right number on your cv and that your email address is spelt correctly.
Purge your social media; make sure that there are no embarrassing pictures or rude rants on there.

I got the job now what?

Don’t take too much on. Don’t take on extra hours when you know you have an essay due soon or say that you can go out at night when you know you know you’ll be working the next morning…
Budget: work out what your monthly budget is. It’ll be boring and take up some time, but it will allow you to know how much more money or work you need each month.
Communicate. Let your boss know when your deadlines are. Let your tutors and lectures know if you’re struggling. They may be able to offer you a bit of extra support.