Balancing a part-time job, school work and a social life can be difficult for most students, but it’s an all too common reality. In order to pay tuition fees and pay back school debt, students apply for part-time jobs both on and off campus in order to help support themselves financially.
With having the current pressure of essay deadlines and midterms, students that are attempting to balance all this plus a part-time have added stress to manage. This is where time management becomes important in a student’s life. Kim Miller, the Acting Director and Career Counsellor at Western University’s Student Success Centre believes that being organized is key to successfully balancing school work, a part-time and a social life.
“Thinking about all the elements that have to be covered off in your day and for me it was working with a schedule, so literally plotting this is when I need to eat, here’s when I’m going to sleep, I want to put 30 minutes of television watching in there, here’s when my classes happen, and then here’s where I am available for employment. So really just managing that time.”
While having a part-time job during school is difficult, it’s great experience to show on a resume when you are looking for a job after school. This is one of the benefits of being employed during the school months. So, if you are searching for a job, where is the best place to look?
“There’s lots of opportunities on campus, places like sports and recreation services, some of the 
opportunities within the USC, housing, the Student Success Centre, but those are job boards and there great but the best way to find a job is to build connections with people.”
If this balancing act is not something that works for you, there are plenty of other options on campus to help build a resume and to get real-world experience and advice. Jeff Watson, the Associate Director of Employer Relations at Western University’s Student Success Centre suggests the resource “Ten Thousand Coffees.”
“It’s a database of alumni who are working in many different industries and they’ve already said that they are open to coffee or a phone call, basically an informational interview with Western students.”
This opportunity is included in Western’s tuition fees and is open to all students. To sign up for Ten Thousand Coffees, visit the website.
