Should Students Take Part-Time Jobs or Not? A Handbook From A – Z

The current situation of students taking part-time jobs

According to VnExpress newspaper: “Students work part-time for two hours just to afford a bowl of pho” on March 31, 2024, an estimated 70 – 80% of students work part-time during their study period, according to a university-level survey. Although there is no nationwide-scale study yet, this figure reflects the currently popular trend.

So how is the current situation of students taking part-time jobs, and does this bring opportunities or carry potential challenges for new students in the process of studying and developing themselves?

Should students take part-time jobs or not? 6 “Golden” benefits

Should students take part-time jobs or not? Many young people are hesitant between the financial benefits and the impact on studying. In reality, taking a part-time job brings not only experience but also many practical values for student life.

Improving income, being financially independent

Taking a part-time job helps students be financially independent and earn extra income, reducing the burden on their family. With an assumed salary of 25,000 VND/hour, a student can earn about 2 – 3 million VND/month, enough to cover rent, food or other personal expenses. This is the first step to help students learn how to manage money and be independent in university life.

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Accumulating real-world experience, beautifying the CV

Taking a part-time job helps students accumulate real-world experience and work experience, while also beautifying the CV for later applications. These jobs allow applying learned theory to practice, training professional skills and problem-solving ability.

Especially for HUFLIT students, where the study programme emphasises practice, taking a part-time job early helps them consolidate knowledge, enhance capacity and create an outstanding competitive advantage in the labour market after graduation.

Developing an important soft-skills set

Taking a part-time job helps students truly develop soft skills, such as communication, time management, negotiation,… According to the VietnamWorks 2024 report, about 67.7% of employers in Vietnam consider soft skills (such as communication, teamwork, critical thinking) a very important factor when recruiting personnel in the current volatile economic environment.

Through part-time work, students have an additional practical environment to train and perfect these skills, thereby creating a strong advantage in their profile, increasing their adaptability to the labour market and boosting their career start after graduation.

Expanding social relationships (networking)

Taking a part-time job helps students expand relationships and build networking important for the future. When coming into contact with colleagues, customers or seniors in the industry, they have the opportunity to learn real-world experience, exchange knowledge and expand career opportunities.

This relationship network not only supports current work but also creates a solid foundation when students enter the labour market after graduation, helping to connect future study, internship and job opportunities.

Shaping a clearer career orientation

Taking a part-time job helps students try their hand at many jobs and clearly understand their interests and abilities. Through this, they can orient their career more clearly and determine a suitable environment. Moreover, real-world experience helps reduce the risk of choosing the wrong field and firmly prepare for the future after graduation.

Learning how to manage time and balance life

Taking a part-time job forces students to train tight time management, arranging their study, work and entertainment schedules reasonably. When facing work and study pressure, they learn how to prioritise tasks, set up weekly/monthly plans and make effective use of free time. This process helps students train discipline, self-reliance and life balance, both studying effectively and accumulating real-world experience.

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4 challenges and “hidden corners” students need to face

Despite bringing many benefits, both studying and working also carries quite a few challenges. From the impact on studying to health and time pressure, students need to clearly recognise them to have a suitable balance direction.

The risk of affecting study results

One of the biggest worries when students take a part-time job is the impact on studying. A packed work schedule makes many people tired, lacking time to revise, even skipping classes to work overtime. In the long run, this easily leads to neglecting studies and declining results. To overcome this, students should prioritise jobs with flexible hours and always make studying the focus.

Physical and mental health issues

When both studying and working, students easily fall into a state of prolonged pressure and stress due to a packed schedule, leading to fatigue, lack of sleep and stress. To overcome this, they need to proactively arrange their time reasonably, prioritise sleep and maintain healthy eating – exercise habits. In addition, breaking tasks into smaller parts, learning to say no when overloaded and turning to the school’s psychological counselling service will help maintain better balance, ensuring health to study and work effectively.

The risk of encountering unreliable, fraudulent jobs

Many students easily fall for part-time job fraud or unreliable jobs, for example multi-level marketing, online sales that promise high salary but require paying money upfront, or light work but not being paid on time. These risks cause loss of money, time and mental impact, especially for students taking a part-time job for the first time.

Before accepting a part-time job, students should check the job’s reliability by cross-checking enterprise information, viewing reviews on social media, requesting a contract and verifying the salary and working hours. Common fraud signs include requesting a fee, holding personal documents, promising too high a salary or an unclear job description.

At HUFLIT, students can find safe jobs through the Student Support Centre, which compiles real part-time jobs with transparent salaries and clear contracts, helping them both study and work without worrying about risks.

Narrowing the time for extracurricular activities

When taking a part-time job, many students have to sacrifice extracurricular activities, from joining clubs, attending seminars to class activities. This directly affects student life, limiting opportunities to train soft skills and build relationships. The lack of time for these experiences also makes the university period less rich and with fewer memorable moments.

To overcome this, students should make a reasonable time plan, prioritise important activities and consider choosing flexible jobs to both study and participate in social experiences.

So, should students take a part-time job or not?

The decision to take a part-time job has no common answer for all students. Each person needs to consider based on their study goals, time-management ability and personal circumstances. Before accepting a job, students should ask themselves: “Can I balance study and work?” or “Does the job help me develop skills or my career orientation?”

In addition, consider financial needs and mental health. Answering these questions will help students make a suitable choice, both ensuring study effectiveness and accumulating real-world experience. This is a way to self-assess before deciding to take a part-time job.

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The secret to balancing study and part-time work from HUFLIT students

Students taking part-time jobs often face challenges in balancing study and work. Finding a suitable method will help optimise both study results and professional experience.

Planning and managing time by the Eisenhower method

Students can list all tasks for the week and classify them by the Eisenhower method: urgent – important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, and not urgent – not important.

Studying and part-time work should be placed in the urgent or important group, while secondary tasks can be postponed. Each morning or evening, students check and update the matrix to ensure no task is missed. This habit helps balance study, work and rest, reducing overload and distraction.

Discussing frankly with the manager about the study schedule

Students should proactively discuss with the manager about their study schedule, exam schedule and holidays so that the part-time job can flexibly suit. Notifying in advance helps avoid conflicts between study and work. Choose jobs that respect study time, prioritising work schedules on weekends or in the evening. This habit helps maintain study effectiveness while still ensuring income from work.

Taking advantage of the school’s support centres

The school’s support units are an important companion that helps students handle difficulties when both studying and working, from career orientation to time management and skill development. Through counselling sessions, workshops and experience activities, students have the opportunity to clearly understand enterprise needs and be more confident when entering the real-world environment.

At HUFLIT, the Enterprise Relations and Student Support Centre (CareerHub) plays a bridging role between students and enterprises through many outstanding activities such as the Job Fair, Company Tour, career talkshows and reputable recruitment and part-time job programmes. CareerHub also supports students in reviewing recruitment information, preparing their profiles and equipping the necessary skills, helping the process of studying while working take place more safely and effectively.

Suggested ideal part-time jobs for students

Choosing a suitable part-time job will help students both earn extra income and develop skills and experience. Below are suggested ideal part-time jobs for students, suitable to students’ needs and study schedules.

Jobs related to the field of study (Tutor, teaching assistant, intern…)

Intern, tutor or teaching-assistant positions help students both consolidate professional knowledge and apply theory to practice. Students of outstanding fields at HUFLIT such as English Language, IT, Tourism… can take tutoring classes, support teaching or participate in internship projects at enterprises. This is a good way to both study and accumulate experience while also beautifying the CV later.

Flexible jobs (Serving, sales, bartender…)

Serving, sales staff, bartender jobs… help students train communication skills, quick situation handling and teamwork. This job group suits dynamic people, is easy to arrange shifts according to the study schedule and helps increase personal income.

Online jobs at home (Content, design, sales collaborator…)

Online jobs such as content collaborator, graphic design, or sales support help students save travel time, be flexible with hours and still ensure income. This is a modern trend, suitable for students who want to both focus on studying and enhance digital and creative skills.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Below are the most common questions about whether students should take a part-time job or not, helping you make a smart and safe decision during your study period.

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

Students should start from the second semester, when they are used to the university study rhythm and can manage their time. Students should prioritise choosing light jobs near the school so as not to affect their studies and daily life. In this way, students both accumulate experience and avoid being overloaded.

Is working outside your field good?

Working outside your field still brings benefits because every job helps students train valuable soft skills such as communication, problem-solving and time management. However, if students have the opportunity to work in the right field, they will accumulate experience close to reality, favourable for their career orientation later.

Where to find reliable part-time jobs for students?

Students should look for information from large recruitment websites, reputable groups on social media and the school’s official channels such as the Student Support and Enterprise Relations Centre. These sources provide transparent, safe jobs suitable to the study schedule, helping students both study and work effectively.

The above are detailed analyses that help you answer the question of whether students should take a part-time job or not yourself. The final decision depends on the study goals, financial circumstances and time-management ability of each individual. HUFLIT always accompanies students, providing safe part-time job advice to both study and develop comprehensively.

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