how much should students have to work? (1 Viewer)

[glycerine]

this year, i've been working up to 40 hours a week while doing a full time degree. i only have 12 contact hours a week, but my course is very assignment heavy and requires a lot of extra study/work. i know this is the case with virtually all degrees, but it's especially bad when you've got anywhere from 1-6 assignments due every week.

this week we had a break from uni and i worked 50 hours with good friday and today off. friday i was exhausted all day from working a 12 hour shift the day before and then had plans at night; today i'm exhausted from the week and a big night last night. (i have problems during down social invites; i hate missing out on fun). next week will be similar and most likely work will be busy and exhausting as it's relaunch week.

i hear people complaining about working 25 hour weeks, but to me that seems reasonable, and very desirable. others say students should ideally work 15-20 hours. i'm just confused about how much time i should be allocating to work, i know i can't keep up the 30-40 hour weeks during semester - it's bad for my studies, my sanity and my health - but now that i'm in the habit of workworkwork all the time, i can't put a lower figure on it without feeling like a bludger.

 

[redruM]

Really depends what you want to get out of your degree and the difficulty of your subjects.

I'd say doing 15 hours per week would still allow me to ace my subjects if I can organise and apply myself. (Fat chance of that happening)

It just depends on the individual student and their situation.

 

[Rory]

There is no rule of thumb for how many hours you should work; if you feel that 40 hours is too much for you, then just slowly cut it back to say 30 and see how you cope with that, and if that's still too much, go down to like 25 etc and keep doing that until you feel comfortable with the amount of time you're allocating to your studies and to your work.

I do 40-50+ hour weeks as well as full time study which is assignment heavy and it can be a major bitch but I'm used to the pace now and I quite happily put aside social activities; works for me, but I know that it wouldn't work for other people.

So basically all you've got to do is find your happy medium.

 

[hipsta_jess]

It really depends on a lot of factors.

Everyone in my degree has exactly the same contact hours (no variation due to no electives), and some people work 5 hours and struggle, others work 25 with no problems.

Keep in mind that your uni degree is fulltime, and .'. supposedly requiring 40 hours of effort a week (ha!).

I have an idea...

168 (hours in the week) - 40 (hours spent on uni)
=128
128 - 56 (hours spent sleeping, based on 8 hours a night)
=72
72 - 10.5 (hours spent eating)
=61.5
61.5 - 70 minutes (time spent showering)
=60.4
60.4 - 15 (recreation time)
=45.4
45.4 - 10 (time spent travelling)
=35.4
35.4 - 10 (other)
=25.4

.'. 25.4 = max working hours without losing sanity.

 

[Dr_Doom]

I quit my job. Now I'm broke. lol jks

 

[IronMaiden]

Have'nt had a job for well over a year.
So i'd say not at all.

 

[volition]

I typically do anywhere between 6-16 hours per week and I'm doin fine. I still have time to go out every wednesday and thursday night as well as the occasional thing on the weekend. I only have a 12/13 hour timetable though and it doesn't take me very long to get to uni.

 

[Dr_Doom]

Just the thought of working now sickens me... If I worked again it would have to be a job I like.. Like paintball instructor or surfing instructor

 

[withoutaface]

Entirely dependent upon the individual and their ability to get good marks with minimal time input.

 

[boon]

according to the goverment less than 20 hours weekly
i know because international students are advice too

 

[boon]

but the goverment????????????
what was i think

 

[ujuphleg]

I'm at uni 12 hours a week - this year I started working 20 hours a week and I found that to be too much - maybe I'm just spoilt, but I found it to be altogether too stressful.

Last year I worked 11 hours a week and I felt like I could have done more (but that was first year) So after dropping one of the shifts, I'm now working 13 hours, which is really good - enough pocket money/time away from uni to be great, but not too much to send me barmy.

It really depends on what kind of degree you're doing and what kind of worker you are but I would say, unless you really need the cash (ie, you're living by yourself or you have to chip in because your family is very poor) I would say that a healthy amount would be between 10-25 hours a week, no more.

But Justin is right, it depends on the individual.

 

[withoutaface]

according to the goverment less than 20 hours weekly
i know because international students are advice too

They're not just advised as such, I think they're actually prohibited from working more than 20 hours, which is pretty harsh.

 

[boon]

They're not just advised as such, I think they're actually prohibited from working more than 20 hours, which is pretty harsh.

ya just check they can only work 2o hours
but in hols they can work full time
still 20 hour sucks

 

[Ranger Stacie]

i dont think there is a proper answer, it just depends on the individual and the difficulty of their course. last year i was working 30+ hours a week, combined with roughly about 12 contact hours and trying to fit in time for the gym, a social life and assignments just about nearly killed me. This year I've dropped back to around 15-20 hours and im managing it heaps easier, the drawback being i have less money, but i prefer the sanity. i think it also depends on how focused you are and how much you want what you are doing- im just plodding along and dont care that much, but a super keen person would probably be capable of doing a lot more.

 

[dodgyfilokid]

for me, a maximum of 20 hours on normal school weeks and 35 on holidays shuld be enough...i can still balance school and work as long as i dont have ridiculous loads of schoolwork to do when im rostered on the day or week before its due. travellin an hour to go to work (bankstown to bondi) doesnt bother me as long as its reasonable for me to rock up when they call me to work...but when the hsc comes i might cut hours to keep up with exams...parents dont really mind me workin far as long as im earnin

 

[loquasagacious]

Well over uni breaks I do up to 60 hours, through uni this has varied alot I started doing 9 and then got a new job doing 20 for more money then a second taking me to 26. The timing for that was shithouse though as I would do 4 hours from 5am, go to uni, then drive to my second job and so my days would be 5-6 which was a bitch, though I did have weekends off. Oh this was on 14 contact hours at uni. I was tired, didn't have time etc and basically fucked up the semester.

Then I went part-time at uni so just 6 hours, and I changed my shifts at work to do 24 but do nights. And I kept my second job. As the semester went on my hours crept up (summer is the busy time for produce) till I was doing 38 hours work total.

Then uni knocked off and I my second job stopped because it was tutoring. It being our busiest time of year at work I jumped up to a rostered 35 hours at work and then doing usually another 10-15 casual as needed.

Now I'm back at uni doing fulltime 10 hours (three courses) and a rostered 22 hours a week averaging 2 hours of overtime a week. I havn't started tutoring again and money is abit tighter than i'd like. But my quality of life is up because I have time and energy to start going to the gym again and to go out/be social generally things I couldn't do this time last year.

When I (finally) get YA next month I will cut back work to around 14 hours a week because this is the optimal ammount eg I will be taking home more money than I do now, an ammount with which I will be more comfortable but will be doing less hours and could do just two shifts a week which will give me more time to do the things I want to do.

EDIT: Oh and Rory everyone at UC seems to work fulltime, coincidence?

 

[pottsy44]

im the only one who voted 30+ lol.

in saying that i work full-time and study full-time, i have 12 contact hours.

i work 8:45-5:15 monday-thursday and attent uni all-day friday and tuesday night.

for work i travel for almost 2 hours each-way, for uni i travel 40-50 mins each way.

i goto the gym 3 times a week, which is usually close to 2 hours each time.

then on weekends i go out every friday and saturday night. and i sometimes go out during the day.

i manage fine

 

[suz]

I have 12 hours of classes per week and I work 25 hours a week and am managing fine
Like others I have time to do extra study, go to the gym and go out twice a week

 

[Rory]

EDIT: Oh and Rory everyone at UC seems to work fulltime, coincidence?

Haha yeh I've noticed that, it seems to be two extremes though, either everyone here is working fulltime or they're bludging completely off their parents/government, it's weird lol.