When you are a student, you can always do with some extra cash. College is a good time to explore part-time working opportunities. This will not only lessen the burden of your tuition fees; it will allow you to gain useful experience. You can try out many different types of work while you are studying and you may even find them becoming future career options. But, at the same time, you have to understand that you may not be suitable for just any kind of job. You need to be able to choose a job of your caliber and interest. For this reason, there are some important questions that you need to ask:
Is the job suitable for you?
Just because you are seeking employment to replenish your diminishing funds does not mean you choose any kind of job. You do not have to settle for some job when you are well aware that the pay is not good and the task itself is boring. You must make it a point to go through the job descriptions carefully. You need to find out whether the job will offer you something new to learn and whether it will challenge your skills. If the job offers no challenges or excitement, it is only a matter of time before frustration creeps in.
Will the job teach you new skills?
It is very important to choose a job which can impart new skills to you. It is not always about the salary; you must choose a job because of the experience you can hope to get from it. It should teach you skills like time management, working together as a team, ability to make decisions etc. Such skills will add to your CV value and when you graduate, you can expect this experience to help you land a great job. The experience that you have gained earlier will give you an edge over other applicants.
Will you get room for maneuver?
Another must-ask question that you need to ask your prospective employer is whether you can enjoy flexibility in this job. Ideally, your work should give you room to maneuver. As a student, you need this flexibility because your primary focus has to be your studies in college. The part-time job is mainly to support your tuition expenses. So, you may need flexible work hours to complete class assignments on time or to study before examinations. If you can get an employment with flexible hours, you can put in more hours of hard work during vacations when you have more time.
How far is the workplace?
An important factor to consider is the location of your workplace when you are looking for employment while studying. It is challenging to balance academic work with part-time jobs. You do not want to add the problem of commuting to your workplace to this already precarious balance. You must choose a job which is physically not too far away.
The workplace should be accessible by public transport and route rates must be affordable. If the distance is too great, you will end up spending more on transport than on saving what you earn there. At the same time, there are offices which provide pick-up and drop-off services to their staff. So, you should ideally research well before applying for a job in such locations.
Will you be given salary?
Since you are planning to work to support your tuition fees, it is important to get paid for the job you do. This is why it is essential that you find out about the wages before you apply. For some jobs, you may be given a nominal wage, but you may get valuable training, hands-on work experience and accommodation. While some students may be comfortable with this arrangement, others may be looking for high paying jobs like that of a assignment provider.
What are recruitment dates for the company?
You may want to do jobs for some particular event or only for the summer months or maybe, just for Christmas. So, you need to keep an eye out for the opportunities. If you miss applying for these jobs at the right time, you miss out on the opportunity to earn while you learn. There are places which may start hiring for Christmas when it is summer only. You need to keep yourself abreast of what is happening around you. A good way to stay informed is to request for alerts from the job search websites. These will send you recruitment details regularly so that you do not miss out on any good opportunity.
Will there be any formal training?
Since you will join as an intern, it is necessary to find out if there will be a formal training. You should ideally know what to expect on the first day you join the establishment. It may be a good idea to find out the kind of training which has been offered to interns earlier. You should try to see whether you will be provided with a training period for learning the new skills or if you will be assigned to any mentor.
What projects will you get to work on as an intern?
You need to choose a job which gives you the kind of training that will help you in your future career. So, it is important to know more about the type of projects that you will be engaged in when you join as an intern.
These are some of the basic questions that you need to ask your interviewer before you start off. These will help you understand the kind of training you will be given, the opportunities you will get, the skills you will learn and the experience that will shape your future career.
Mary Jones has written articles and papers which have been selected by many reputed academic journals and paper publishing platforms . She is also a private tutor at AssignmentEssayHelp.Mary Jones is known for her academic prowess in subjects like Human Resources & Sociology / Psychology