By Amira Syafiqa
Have you ever worked as a part-timer while studying at the university? Working while studying could be tiring for students as living their life as university students means having to fulfil their commitments to both their studies and work at the same time. They will have less leisure time too. However, university students are encouraged to work while studying as it is one of the ways to improve themselves provided they can afford to do so wisely.
It is important for them to enhance their soft skills. We might have heard that students who are part-timers usually come from an underprivileged family where they need to find extra income to cover their tuition fees. Yes, it is true but there are also those people from privileged families who do not want to depend fully on their parents financially.
Thus, they do part-time jobs to be more independent financially. Not only that part-time job can be done during studying but it can also be done during semester break. Instead of staying at home doing nothing, it is better to use that free time properly and fill it with beneficial things, right?
Earn Extra Pocket Money
There are actually many benefits or importance in doing part-time job as a student. It is undeniably true that most of the students do part-time jobs because they want to earn extra pocket money. Being a student means having little money as there are a lot of fees and necessary stuff to be pay and cover. Moreover, as students grow up, they realise the importance of money in this economy. They feel guilty to ask a huge amount of money from their parents because they think they are old enough to be independent and earn their own pocket money.
By working part-time, they no longer have to worry whether they can afford the basic essentials such as paying for daily meals, paying for the car fuel, and other necessities. Other than that, students can start affording a little luxury for themselves such as going out and having fun with friends. They can also treat themselves with something nice like some expensive food, clothes, and other things that they want to own. As a reward for working hard, you surely want to treat yourself sometimes.
Learn to Manage Your Money
Payday is one of the greatest days after all of your struggles during working. You feel extremely excited about it and you think of what you want to buy with that money. Nevertheless, students need to manage their expenditure well and not to spend it on something unnecessary. By having part-time jobs, they can learn to manage their money and spend it wisely.
Students tend to become more careful about how they spend their hard-earned cash when they start to earn their own money. They may save their money for necessities such as textbooks and rent. Also, early employment can help to build long-term savings and make them financially aware since a young age. Thus, it means students will have better planning in finance and acquire money management skills when they get older. This will also help to avoid heaps of debt in the future.
Learn to Manage Time Wisely
Part-time jobs emphasise on good time management skills for the students. Students who are engaged with part-time jobs have little free time so this predisposes them to become more organised, better in planning something, and learn to balance their priorities to meet deadlines. In other words, they can weigh both their studies and jobs properly.
Going to classes, doing a part-time job, making time with friends involve a hectic schedule but juggling with many different tasks can improve time management skills. Managing both studies and works may be hard at first, but you can learn how to handle it by time. That’s why you will be able to improve yourself in time management skills and it may help you in the future too in a different work environment.
IIUM student, Ain Farihah Binti Mat Dahari from Kulliyyah of Education is currently running an online business with her friends that sell fresh flowers called Orked Melur which is considered as a part-time job. It has been tough at first but she managed to do well in both studies and part-time jobs. In other words, doing part-time jobs does not affect her academic performance even though it is difficult to handle sometimes because of time constraints. This indicates that the student will acquire time management skills by doing part-time jobs. Once the skill is required, it will be beneficial for the students in the future as they become organised and efficient.
Gain Experience
Other than that, students gain experience by doing part-time jobs. Work experiences are one of the most wanted requirements in seeking better job because some companies seek candidates with working experiences. It enhances credibility on their resumes when they apply for internship placement or a graduate job, thus it can help them to be seen as a viable candidate.
Employers generally prefer applicants with some work experience as they already understand work environments such as work ethics and company culture. Apart from that, work experience depicts them a hard workers and as they can manage time between work and study at the same time.
Developing Soft Skills
Moreover, it is one of the ways to develop their soft skills and communication skills. Enhancing soft skills means they will be able to communicate well with new people through work atmosphere. Part-time jobs are a suitable way to boost someone’s self-esteem or confidence. If you are an introvert or shy person, this may help you come out of your comfort zone and help in developing your self-esteem. Working requires you to interact a lot with people and most students’ jobs involved hospitality and retail which are usually customer-facing industries. As a result, students will learn to be more comfortable and confident around others. An International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Muhammad Isyraf Rusydi bin Mohd Fauzi from Kulliyyah of Laws (AIKOL) who was doing part-time work said, “I love to learn new things to improve my soft skills, communication, and self-confidence so I learn it through part-time jobs.” He added, “We have to be brave to communicate with new people and by having part-time jobs, I have the opportunity to learn all of them.”
Interpersonal Skills
Students can also improve their interpersonal skills. It gives an opportunity to learn how to interact with different types of personalities that indicates an essential skill in all types of jobs. Through a part-time job, students will learn how to talk to a variety of people from different ways of life. Hence, it imposes on sensitivity towards cultural differences at workplace. It will also be the best way to communicate with colleagues, forcing you to choose your words wisely and think about how your words affect other people’s actions.
Stay Healthy
Believe it or not, part-time jobs can make the students stay healthy. Not doing anything productive will lead you to idleness and eventually, you will feel lethargic. You will also lose motivation to get up from bed in the morning. Hence, working part-time helps students to stay active and it will make them feel healthy as they need to wake up every morning to go to work.
With all the benefits mentioned above, students are actually encouraged to do part-time jobs as it will help them in almost every aspect of life. Part-time jobs may be tough for university students but there are many benefits obtained from it as they will learn new things in the meantime which is valuable for the future. The difficulties that students faced while doing part-time jobs will make them keen to study hard and plan for a better future.
Students might have less leisure time too but it is worth as a sacrifice for a better future and for their own good. If you ever work as a part-timer, you will know and realise its importance. ***