Should You Take a Part-Time Job or Join a Club – Which Choice Is Suitable?

The benefits when students take a part-time job

Taking a part-time job during university studies has become a common trend among Vietnamese students. Below are some benefits you can refer to.

Financial independence, reducing the family burden

The benefit of taking a part-time job that students feel most clearly is having additional monthly income. This is especially important for students from families with difficult circumstances. You can cover living costs, tuition, buying books and personal needs without depending entirely on your family.

Accumulating real-world experience, beautifying the CV

Real-world work experience is a big plus when you graduate and apply for jobs. According to the report “The Situation of Human Resources and Recruitment in the Information Technology Field in the Artificial Intelligence Wave 2024-2025” by VietnamWorks inTECH, students with part-time work or internship experience of 6 months or more have a recruitment rate 65% higher than students without experience.

Mr. Huỳnh Tấn Tấn, a specialist in charge of enterprise cooperation at Thu Duc Technology College (HCMC), advises students: “If possible, new students should research and choose jobs that are close to or related to their field of study in order to accumulate experience”.

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Training discipline, a professional attitude and time-management skills

One of the biggest benefits of taking a part-time job is helping students train discipline and a professional attitude at work. When having to comply with working hours, students will gradually form a serious working habit.

Nguyễn Văn Luân, an excellent graduate and valedictorian of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, shared: “Actually, at first I was very worried that tutoring would affect my studies. But gradually later I found that I gained more real-world experience and improved my pedagogical expertise. To balance teaching and studying, the important thing for me is to have a clear timetable.”

Expanding relationships

Taking a part-time job helps students expand their relationship network with managers, colleagues and even customers. These relationships bring many benefits such as better job opportunities after graduation. Many students, after interning or working part-time, are retained by the company to work officially after graduation.

The advantages when students join a club

Besides taking a part-time job, joining a student club is also a choice prioritised by many young people. Below are the outstanding advantages of this choice.

Discovering interests and talents

Joining a club is an opportunity for students to discover and develop their own interests. Through participating in the club’s activities and projects, students can find their passions. Not stopping at “knowing what you like”, joining a club also helps students better understand their strengths and weaknesses to bring out and improve them.

Connecting with more friends

One of the biggest advantages of joining a club is the opportunity to get acquainted and make friends with people who share the same interests and passions. You will meet students from many faculties and many different cohorts. These are the valuable relationships that you can maintain and develop even after graduation.

Developing soft skills

Joining a club is also a way for students to train and enhance soft skills “for free” and effectively. The club environment at HUFLIT helps you become much more dynamic and confident through:

• Teamwork skills: Organising events and carrying out joint projects require smooth coordination between members, from which you learn how to listen, share and reach consensus in decisions.
• Leadership skills: If you take on the role of president, head/deputy head of a division, you will learn how to manage a group, assign tasks, resolve conflicts and inspire teammates.
• Communication and presentation skills: Meetings, project presentations and event MC-ing help you train the ability to express ideas clearly and confidently in front of a crowd.
• Project management skills: Working with timelines, budgets and limited resources helps you learn how to manage projects professionally.

>>>> QUICK LOOK: Part-time job experience for HUFLIT students 2026

Should you take a part-time job or join a club?

This is the question that many students wonder about when entering university. The truth is that there is no common answer for everyone. The choice between taking a part-time job or joining a club depends on many personal factors such as family circumstances and career goals.

You should prioritise taking a part-time job if:

• Your family circumstances are difficult, and you need income to cover tuition and living costs
• You want to accumulate real-world work experience early, especially in a field related to your specialisation
• You have clearly determined your career goal and want to build a practical CV
• You have good time-management ability and are confident in balancing study and work
• You are a third- or fourth-year student and need experience to prepare for job applications after graduation

You should prioritise joining a club if:

• You are a first-year student and need time to get used to the new environment and discover yourself
• You want to develop soft skills, especially leadership and teamwork skills
• You are not yet clear about your career orientation and want to try your hand in many different fields
• You have a passion for community activities and event organisation
• You want to build a wide relationship network in the school environment

At HUFLIT: The ideal environment for you to both work and join a club

HUFLIT clearly understands the needs of students who want to both develop skills through extracurricular activities and accumulate real-world experience through part-time work. Therefore, the school has built a comprehensive support ecosystem. Specifically:

A system of more than 50+ diverse, dynamic clubs

The clubs at HUFLIT are extremely rich, spreading across many different fields. Thanks to that diversity, everyone can choose to join suitable clubs to both learn and develop skills. Specifically:

• HUFLIT Football Club – HUFLIT Football Club
• HUFLIT Basketball Club – HUFLIT Basketball Club
• ESC HUFLIT – Esports Club
• HUFLIT Japanese Club
• 7SEC English Club
• HUFLIT Chinese Club
• HUFLIT Informatics Club
• Fintech & Financial Investment Club
• HUFLIT Tourism – Hospitality English Club

The Enterprise Relations & Student Support Centre always accompanies

The Enterprise Relations & Student Support Centre plays an important bridging role between students and reputable enterprises. The centre regularly organises job fairs as well as provides part-time opportunities suitable to students’ capacity. Some activities organised for students are:

• HUFLIT Career Fair: The annual job fair organised by HUFLIT, bringing together hundreds of domestic and foreign enterprises.
• HUFLIT Career Bootcamp: An in-depth career-skills training programme for HUFLIT students Through practical training sessions, students are equipped with CV, interview, working-style and career-thinking skills,
• HUFLIT Company Tour: An activity that brings students the opportunity to visit and experience the real-world working environment at the school’s partner enterprises
• HUFLIT Career Talks: A series of career-orientation seminars with the participation of experts, entrepreneurs and successful alumni. Through practical sharing, HUFLIT students are inspired, updated on career trends and gain a more practical perspective to choose a suitable development path

Besides, the Enterprise Relations & Student Support Centre is also a partner of many international universities. Some typical names include the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC), Formosa National University, Taiwan, Saint Joseph University, Macau (China),…

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Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Questions surrounding the field of study and the university environment are always of interest to many young people. Below are the most common questions related to taking a part-time job and joining a club.

Should first-year students rush to take a part-time job?

First-year students should not rush to take a part-time job right away. The first year is an important time to get used to the university environment. If they want to work, students should only choose light jobs with flexible hours.

How to balance studying, part-time work and clubs?

Balancing studying, part-time work and club activities is a big challenge but completely feasible if you apply the following strategies:

• Make a clear time plan using Google Calendar or Trello
• Arrange priorities by week and avoid taking on too many tasks at once
• Maintain your health to sustain long-term performance

Is club experience highly valued by employers?

Club participation experience is certainly highly valued by employers. Especially when you have held an important role such as head/deputy head of a division. At this point, you can prove your skills through the specific projects you have carried out.

Whether to take a part-time job or join a club has no absolutely right or wrong answer. It all depends on the circumstances, goals and abilities of each student. The most important thing is that you must have a clear plan, know how to balance your time and always put studying first. HUFLIT hopes the above information will help new students have a suitable orientation.

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