To Work Or Not To Work?

Career, student, school.

While studying in itself can be like a full-time job, students all over are now opting to work along with their regular studies. Rucha Solgama finds out whether they should or shouldn’t be doing the same giving career the utmost priority.

Student jobs help to aid students who are in financial need. It is divided into two spectrums – Federal work-study and Non work-study program. These jobs can be acquired part-time, full-time, through internships, on campus, off campus or from Federal Work-study; it consists of government agencies, non-profit organizations, and also in community services, which are all on contract basis with the universities. Whereas in Non Work-study, it involves individual departments from private and public sector companies. The students can explore and take their pick accordingly, once their application is approved by the Financial Aid office. Once selected, they are granted with a specific allotment of money as per their qualification and requirement. In here, they are paid on an hourly basis, either federally (Federal Work-study FWS) or by an individual department (Non Work-study NWS) as per the student enlisted. Students can use this liquidity in their education bills, transportation or to ease up their cost of living.

PROS
* SUPPLEMENTS FINANCE – A student can either enroll for Federal Work-Study (FWS) or Non Work-Study (NWS). Once approved, they are eligible to earn an extra amount of income to pay for their books and stationeries and support their lifestyle. It helps them to be flexible and meet all of their requirements.
* VALUABLE WORK EXPERIENCE FOR RESUME – We all know nowadays students who acquire more experience in work, get the cookie. It elevates the students’ resumes and weighs more authenticity compared to students who just completed their studies without any work experience, even if they had scored better than their peers with work experience.
* STUDENT LOANS – It’s a nightmare for students to even think about loans in these apocalypse days, where the jobs are not guaranteed to even deserving and highly qualified students. Student jobs save the day for those in financial need. It gives them the freedom to earn money first without any stress about paying anything in the future.
* LET’S GET NETWORKING – As students, we all have those job positions we crave for. We enlarge our networking so as to reach our aims. As we often hear, ‘contacts get you a job faster than your resume’. Student jobs help students to observe how a professional work environment functions and lets them meet countless people in their interested fields.
* FREEDOM OF TASTING DIFFERENT CAREER CHOICES – Getting an insight into an industry, to try it out and learn how it works, before they become a life-long goal, gives students the clarity in what they can and want to do. Student jobs give them the opportunity of sampling different careers or professions they aspire to work in.
* LET’S GET REAL – Question to the beginners who started working: Now you know what you got yourself into? Yes, all jobs are difficult at some point. But, now you are in and you know how it feels. Student jobs give the students the trailer and instill what they are studying academically and what it propels to be, in practical and realistic terms.
* ENHANCES FUNDAMENTAL WORK SKILLS – Practice makes man perfect indeed. By studying theoretically and performing it practically, it impels the students to understand where they lack and what’s to refine in their skills, professionally. This practice compliments the student’s academic performances as well as drives them to improve themselves for the positions they seek in their fields.
* LEARNING VALUE – As student jobs save them from taking scary loans, these jobs give them the gist of making money and saving money for better. Two important money lessons; a student who works, learns and banks. It improves their school performance, as they understand what they’re working so hard for, and value where their time needs to be deposited such as homework and where money should be invested, like books, food and transportation.

CONS
* NOT FOR ALL STUDENTS – Basically, federal work-study (FWS) is for students who are in real financial need. Even though many applicants must qualify the requirements, not many get that crown of ease. With funds limited, the students who win the ‘most in need of financial assistance’ are first accountable.
* FEAR TALKS: ARE YOU APPROVED YET? – Don’t even get excited or energetic that you will work your elbows out. Unless and until once you are approved by the Financial aid office. All these hopes of earning, experiencing and elevating your resume will pop your bubble if you don’t make it to the list.
* WHAT’S ON THE JOB MENU? – Like when you go to a particular restaurant, and they hand you a list of their selected foods on their menu, this is an identical example with the student jobs, where the universities provide their selected list of companies. You go to a particular college, they provide you with a list of jobs. Nothing from outside. No other alternative.
* NOT HELPFUL WHEN IN TIME – So you want to work in summer and not during your academic year? Alas, you can’t have that flexibility. In varied colleges, there are some packages made like a list of companies, other certain rules and limits, by the student union of the university and not many offer you the luxury of choosing the time you can invest.
* CAN’T GET SALARY AS YOU’D LIKE – For the students, they work as any other in the job; for a number of hours with a certain amount of wages rate decided and later, get their income. But, if you believe that income should be raised according to how much work you put in. Well, you still can’t do anything about it as you were approved with a certain allotment of funding. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s fixed.
* PROFIT: EMPLOYER > STUDENT JOB EMPLOYEES – You are as qualified as any other graduate, you do the same level of work, but you receive less income. Who wins for now? The employer. The Work study program truly reimburses a large digit of your wage and gets the work done too. Henceforth, it makes it attractive for them to hire you. Sounds a bit unfair, right?
* HEALTH /ACADEMICS MIGHT COMPROMISE – At a certain point in time, all the students are not the same when dealing with attending full-time college hours and also having enough energy and concentration to work part-time. This can cause difficulty for the students physically, emotionally and mentally, leading to exhaustion and poor performances in academics.
* YOU GOT PERKS OR NOT? – Every college does not give perks. Perks of what, you’d ask? They are such as employee discount like 20% in BearWear and other store items that UCLA provides where they also give bigger discounts on Employee Appreciation Day several times a year, meal allowance etc. There are Bonus Programs like Exceptional Performance Awards and Spot Bonus Awards too. There is also an employee referral program, where student employees can receive extra cash for their extra hours of sweat.