Is a part-time job for you? Two career counsellors give their advice
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Co-founder of Bold At Work Clarice Song and executive director at The Astronauts Collective Marvin Kang advise students to adjust packed schedules to avoid affecting their well-being.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF MS CLARICE SONG, MR MARVIN KANG
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The experts:
Ms Clarice Song, 37, co-founder of Bold At Work, a centre that helps young people to design their education and career pathways
Mr Marvin Kang, 43, executive director of The Astronauts Collective, a non-profit organisation that supports career exploration for youth
Q: How can students find a job best suited for them?
Ms Song: Be observant about the unspoken aspects of the job you’re looking at – the culture, people, structure, workplace environment and the kind of impact that the job creates. These elements usually aren’t that evident in a casual part-time job.
Can you see yourself working in the role consistently, day in, day out? There’s no perfect job, so consider both the things you’ll be good at, and aspects that you won’t really enjoy.
Mr Kang: Think about what makes a meaningful career for you: Learning opportunities? Industry experiences? Cost? Assess your considerations and motivations for the job first, and make those your ideals.
For “path-dependent” students – those already in a specific course of study – you can try pursuing adjacencies. These are jobs that are similar to your course of study, but are not the same.
They can help you build career options that draw on your learning in school. For example, digital animation students might take on a part-time job in the film industry to discover new options in the media industry.
Q: Is it worth it to maintain a part-time job during the school semester?
Ms Song: Worthiness is a point only answerable by the students. If they’re clear about what they want to be exposed to, and the school can’t provide it, then yes, find those opportunities that can complement what you’re looking for.
Just keep in mind that there will always be peak and non-peak academic periods, so it’s good to recognise the cycle of events in school.
Mr Kang: If you can cope with your schoolwork, then keep it, but know that sometimes there are trade-offs that you must make. I’ve seen students take on part-time jobs at the expense of growth opportunities such as co-curricular activities to deepen skills and interests, as well as subsidised overseas immersion and exchange programmes.
Assess when to decrease the intensity of your part-time job, especially during monumental milestones like your internship. It will be difficult to switch between the environment of your part-time job and internship, and you won’t be mentally present at either. Remember that we all need a certain amount of rest.
Junior college students shouldn’t feel like they’re losing out compared to polytechnic students if they don’t work during the semester – university and post-graduation will give them plenty of time to build up their experiences.
The ITE (Institute of Technical Education) curriculum is already stretched out across the week so it’s harder for ITE students to work during weekdays. If you really want to work during the school semester, working during the weekends would be healthier than pursuing part-time work late at night.
Q: What are some tips for achieving a work-study balance?
Mr Kang: Have some time gaps and consider what time your day should end. We usually assume we have all the energy in the world, but we may accumulate stress and anxiety too.
See yourself as a regular working person and try to end your day at 7pm – there’s not really a need for ending your day at midnight unless you have financial needs or want the exposure for a graveyard shift.
A common challenge is factoring in the time costs of switching between very different contexts. Factor in time to adjust and decompress, don’t see your “free” time slots as something to fill in completely. Otherwise, you won’t be present, and your well-being will take a hit.
If you’re maintaining a part-time job because money is a concern, identify how much is enough. Some may feel like money is never enough, but there’s a huge opportunity cost – you face social and family issues, or strain your commitments. If you set yourself to financial limits, you’re less likely to burn out.
Ms Song: Make sure to explore your support system and calibrate your schedule based on your own well-being. Understand your responsibility as a student too – your school commitment comes first, everything else comes after.
Some basic tactical advice to better prioritise your commitments would be having a calendar to know when you’re stuffed with commitments and when to allocate break days for yourself.
Q: When should you give it up?
Ms Song: You should watch out if your grades start to drop, or you find yourself isolating yourself from the community or network at school. If you find yourself struggling, the first thing to do would be to share your situation with someone. Be open to the feedback of the people around you and from there, you can reprioritise and recalibrate.
For students that are maintaining part-time jobs to support their families, it’s good to see if there are existing support structures to help you, like scholarships.
Mr Kang: Some signs that your job might be too much for you are lack of appetite, time for daily activities like exercise and pastimes, or sleep. In extreme cases, you might even get panic attacks or high blood pressure.
Ask yourself: How present do you feel you are in different settings? Are you mentally there in the classroom? Do you feel you’re just going through the different settings aimlessly?
Friends can be your indicators – what are they telling you? A simple, “are you sure you can cope?” may mean that they have seen you handling your job poorly.
