Time Management: Working in College
Working in college is a very common thing that young students get involved in. It is an important aspect of learning time management and sets a young person up to be ready to work in the, “real world.” According to the Huffington Post, eighty percent of college students work a part time job while in college. With this statistic in mind it is interesting to find out that only twenty percent of students rely on that job to pay for college. This means that there is a large number of American college students that are working while in college for their own benefit of which there are many. For these student to succeed in their college career, they will need to be able to manage both their time in the classroom with their time working.
Jobs in college vary from unpaid part-time internships to full time jobs. Working in college gives more than just a mediocre paycheck. In my personal experience, I have worked part time as a mechanic since I began school and since then I have learned much in the way of responsibility, time management and decision making. Most college students start out in entry level jobs making a small wage. When looking for a job as a college student it is important to remember that the pay might not need to be the priority that you should focus on. Sometimes the people that you make connections with have a greater value down the road than the paycheck that you are earning at that time. That is something that should be considered when trying to pick a job. I know that the job I am currently working does not pay well when compared to similar jobs that I have worked at other locations, but I am able to meet people that have worked in my career field in the past giving me connections for the future.
When managing a schedule that includes both work and classes it is important to start by identifying your priorities. In some cases, a person who is working their way through college is going to probably want to prioritize work over class because without the work, they will not be able to pay for class. For the majority of students, class should take priority over work. I found it important that while I made my schedule, I left enough time in my schedule to work that was at a time that made the most sense for me. As you take into account different factors to establish your priorities, be sure to consider what you want to have time for outside of work and classes. Make sure to have some priority on free time.
Try to keep your classes close together and I have found that it helps to get your classes out of the way in the morning then use your afternoon to work. If you are to make a schedule where they is an hour between all of your classes, there is not enough time to make it worth while to go to work and then get to your next class. If you are working a particularly “hands on” job where you might be getting dirty every day at work, be sure to leave some time to get cleaned up before class. Also, if your classes go into the afternoon, you might end up working into the night time. One of the most important things for a college student to remember is that sleep is extremely important to student success. If you are working late every day after a full day of classes, it is unlikely that you will have enough time to both get your homework done and get a sufficient amount of sleep every night.
Some of the important things to remember,
Have priorities and stick to them
Schedule your classes so that you have enough time to work
Make sure that your course schedule combined with your work schedule does not impede your ability to get class work done and have enough sleep
