How many hours should you work? (1 Viewer)

[Papercutter]

As the title says, how many hours should a high school student allow for a part-time job?

I'm currently in Year 10 and I do have a few hours (5-8) of extra-curricular activities that I participate in. What would your recommended number of hours per week be? Should I even work at this stage?

I know there are so many factors that I haven't mentioned, that should be considered, but what are your thoughts?
Cheers,

 

[seremify007]

Are you wanting to work for the money or the experience or both?

I personally never had a PT job but I was very involved in extra curricular activities which took up a substantial amount of my free time.

 

[Papercutter]

I'd say a bit of both actually, but for me I can honestly say that the experience matters more than the money.

 

[obliviousninja]

As the title says, how many hours should a high school student allow for a part-time job?

I'm currently in Year 10 and I do have a few hours (5-8) of extra-curricular activities that I participate in. What would your recommended number of hours per week be? Should I even work at this stage?

I know there are so many factors that I haven't mentioned, that should be considered, but what are your thoughts?
Cheers,

Work casual brah. I'd recommend 10ish

 

[nerdasdasd]

Side question: How many hours could you realistically work at uni? Doing say 1 regular 3 year or maybe 4 year degree?

This is for money, like money needed for rent + surviving.

I don't want to be working literally every hour I have free, since I want to do well in my studies as well.

The amount of hours you need to wok depends on how much you would make on an hourly rate and how much your rent would cost.

As for grades , some need to study more , some less , so only you can gauge by how much you have studied in the past and the results you have gotten.

 

[Schmeag]

Work casual brah. I'd recommend 10ish

Pretty much this. 15 hours max on any given week, preferably at the end of the week.

 

[Squar3root]

depending on the week, I work anywhere between 6 - 15 hours. IMO, I think that is alright

 

[nerdasdasd]

Yeah but I was more meaning how many hours is doable. I know my cost of living is going to be very high so I was just trying to gauge how many hours is reasonably possible in a week to then see if I am actually able to rent + live comfortably. Because the hours I 'need' may be super high and not able to be done in a week.

So yeah, how many hours do people usually work a week? Or maybe I should say, how many hours of working are you able to do in a week with uni study?

10- 15 hours are the standard

I don't work ATM because of stuff

 

[Schmeag]

Side question: How many hours could you realistically work at uni? Doing say 1 regular 3 year or maybe 4 year degree?

This is for money, like money needed for rent + surviving.

I don't want to be working literally every hour I have free, since I want to do well in my studies as well.

Can you get Youth Allowance/Rent Assistance?

 

[mysterymarkplz]

You are in high school right now? Yeah definitely work. Looking back I should have worked more during high school when i had more free time. Right now I tutor at a tuition centre for 20p/h for 5 hours a week, I do some apartment maintenance for 70/week and will get youth allowance of 130/week, and thats 300p/week and even I don't know if that is enough to survive living by myself. Rent in city is 200-300, I would spend 70~ on groceries which leaves me 30 a week for savings lol. RIP

 

[Schmeag]

I don't know. I've looked into it, and you need to be independent to really get anything. Otherwise, you are based on what your parents earn. And my mum apparently earns too much to qualify for anything. Which is crap, because she doesn't earn that much, and because what - do they expect my mum to give me money every week or something?

Does anyone know if I can get youth allowance if I'm paying my own rent / live away from home?

Sorry I kind of went off topic on this thread, maybe I'll make a separate one.

The criteria for independence are listed here. On its own, paying for rent or living out of home does not qualify you for YA.

In terms of your question on how much you should work if you are renting, assuming you have no other sources of income, you'd have to work the cost of rent as well allow yourself a buffer zone for daily expenses. It might be feasible to work more during uni due compared to in school due if there are less contact hours and greater holiday periods, however, a big challenge of living out of home is actually living thrifty and reducing your expenses.

 

[seremify007]

As for grades , some need to study more , some less , so only you can gauge by how much you have studied in the past and the results you have gotten.

I wouldn't push yourself too hard at the start though because the way you study in uni is very different to HSC (at least in my experience) and the importance of building social networks/circles and being involved in extra curricular activities or societies should not be underestimated especially if you don't need the money.

I'd also say the job you choose to work- make sure you can see how it'll benefit you longer term when it comes time to look for a graduate role or internship. Doesn't have to be same field but there needs to be something you get from the experience which will make you an attractive candidate in the future whether it be a rigorous training program, management skills, coaching skills, trustworthiness, customer relationships, technical skills, etc...

 

[seremify007]

Yeah that's bull crap. Not fair old people with no jobs get money, when there's people trying to get an education to become employed, and they don't get any money.

So I guess it's impossible for me to survive then next year, great.

Have you considered doing uni part time or deferring so you can work full time if you really need the cash to survive? Without knowing your personal details or story, is it not possible for you to stay with your family whilst studying full time?

In terms of how many hours you can do- well, the sky is the limit and it's up to you to find a way to balance this. I personally did a full time job with part time study initially on an accounting cadetship, but later on I was doing 50-80 hour work weeks whilst studying full time at uni. I was fortunate that my job enabled me to do this and they trusted me to not abuse the system as I worked whenever I could wherever I could (i.e. by carrying a laptop with me everywhere and always being reachable by phone). My grades definitely weren't the best, and my personal life/relationships suffered, but it was worth it to me for the career progression and the money.

 

[JT145]

depends on the workload for your subjects

i can probs do about 25hrs of working cos uni isnt hard

at school tho I don't think one should do any more than 10 hrs a week

 

[Larche]

I work 20ish hours a week, but I'm only part time at Uni. I'd say I'm managing fine, could have even taken another unit tbh.

 

[Jinks]

I would say around 8 hours a week should be very manageable - this could either be an entire Saturday/Sunday or a couple of shifts after school!

 

[obliviousninja]

I work one shift a week. I dont know how im still employed

 

[luketancred]

I think the most important thing about working at the same time as study is finding the right place to work. If you can find a workplace that understands you're wanting to work part time or casual, as well as getting good marks (obviously you do otherwise you wouldn't be asking), you should be able to try working a couple of shifts a week and if that doesn't work out, you will be able to drop back to one shift a week.

On a side note, if you are working more then one shift a week, save as much of the $$$ earned as you can from the extra shifts so in year 11 and 12 you are able to drop your shifts back to a minimum.

 

[Drifting95]

It depends on the workload of your course as well, i have friends that are at uni 4-5 days a week and don't even have the opportunity to work much.

 

[obliviousninja]

Plannimg to work 2/3 days a week