Many a student has been faced with the prospect of having to seek employment to ensure the payment of rent and the avoidance of starvation. If you find that your student loan just isn’t sufficient to keep you above the poverty line and decide that a job is the only way to keep your standard of living at a sufficient level, then read on for some pertinent advice and information.
Before making the decision to saunter into your local bar, spar or coffee shop with a C.V. in hand, a few important factors need to be considered. First off is the obvious, but all-important factor that a job will inevitably suck up your time much more than you want it too. You may think that you have enough time to work a shift and complete that essay due in for tomorrow, but your ability to complete that essay may be significantly affected by (for example) working to exhaustion in an understaffed sports bar during a packed out Manchester derby match. A job may mean more money, but it could also mean less time for uni work, extra curricular activities and playing pranks on flat mates.
Once the decision has been made to sacrifice some of your precious time to a job, the first obstacle that rears it’s head is the question of where do you go to discover your future employment. I would advise that your first port of call should be LUSU, which always has a board up advertising job vacancies in the area, after that check in the local papers, on the websites of chain stores and on the Jobshop website (which can be reached via the LUSU website). Of course there’s always the age-old tactic of printing off vast numbers of C.V.’s and thrusting them under the nose of every duty manager in Lancaster.
It is very true that bar jobs can be the students’ best friend, what could be better than getting paid to go to your favourite night-time haunt. In a town such as Lancaster there are a lot of staff hungry bars, pubs and night-clubs, all with a high staff turn-over rate, who are eager for people to churn out alcohol based beverages to paying punters. If the prospect of pulling pints doesn’t float your boat then don’t be disheartened, there are a myriad of other jobs out there. If you’re looking for something a bit different then I would suggest trying to get a job on campus. Being a student ambassador or a tour guide can be loads of fun. The only real drawback is that you may not be given as many hours as you want.
Hopefully this advice will help anyone wondering whether or not they should change their lifestyle by getting a job, wondering whether it will be a boon or a burden. Alternatively you could spend your time trying to reinvent sliced bread or writing the next Harry Potter novel, thus making millions and never having to do another days menial labour again.
