Why college students take part-time jobs
Living up to the expectation of society, catering for the desire of employers, and asserting
their self interests, current college students are prone to take part-time jobs or internships
as early as possible during their college life. They aspire to chances, honing their
practical skills and gaining working experience, based on which, a killer cover letter and
resume would impressed the employer, and thereby standing out from the crowd of other
applicants. Taking part-time jobs and internships is undoubtedly the chance.
While academics are the main focus of college students, Society expects college students
also spend their college years in part-time employment. From the working experience,
college students are fostered to become emotional mature, to learn appropriate values,
and to take responsibility for their actions in a non-classroom or home environment,
through employment experience. Therefore, the society encourages employers to provide
current college students with more employment opportunities. Meanwhile, the society
also hopes current college students would understand and learn to respect for every type
of job, a new concept called 'dignity of labour'. This new concept could be induced by
part time jobs. For example, it is very amusing to see children finding it absolutely fine
to work at a petrol pump or as a cleaner at the mall, for all they pursue are to practice
their working skills and they have immersed themselves in the sense of achievement
instead of any other feelings, while their super rich parents will frown upon the same job
out of discriminations or prejudice. After working temperately, college students, even if
they take totally different jobs later, they would still respect those workers from jobs they
had worked on.
Besides the expectation from society, the desire of employers plays a vital role as well.
Actually, in this economic downturn background, employers are more willing to hire
college students with past working experience. The HR managers will evaluate how an
individual would fare in the actual workplace based on the performance of the
interviewees in their internship or part-time job. Especially if the students have the
similar experience or even worked for the same company before, they are more likely to
be selected and be recruited. As a manager once noted, "Not only are they seeing
potential employees with experience, it is experience within their company." Additionally,
hiring college students with experience will save training frees and eliminate low-
efficiency because of culture shock at the beginning, as well as take the advantage of the
low labour cost of graduates yet have the same amount of experience as skilled
employees.
Society expectation and employers preferences are objective reasons for college students
taking part-time jobs. However, it is the benefits brought about by part-time jobs that
convince college students to believe taking part-time jobs before graduation is necessary.
By taking a part-time job, college students learns constructively make use of their spare
time, blocking off time each day for school and homework, as well as the schedule for
television watching, sports and recreation. By taking a part-time job, college students
could apply what they has learnt in the textbook to practical work, accumulating more
experience, whether work related or not, for their future career accordingly. By taking a
part-time job, college students earn additional income, thereby taking off a huge load
from their parents' shoulders and saving for their own future, which should end up being
a significant contribution to the college tuition. A stellar grade point average no longer
guarantees a qualified graduate with successful career life and academic study is not the
whole of their college life. They urgently need some practical experiences off campus, to
fully exploit the spare time outside classroom, to sufficiently draw nourishment from
outer world, to deeply enjoy the sense of achievement when all the efforts are paid off.
Admittedly, taking a part-time job might lead to decreased school success or limit
opportunities to build friendship or explore interests that enhance intellectual and
emotional development. However, a truly outstanding college student is able to balance
his study and working, even utilizing the job experience to help his academics and thus to
intentionally realize a win-win situation. To conclude, if a college student has spare time
and is willing to make effective use of his time to earn extra amenities, being employed
on a part-time job basis, whatever the nature of the job, mental or physical, is definitely
what he needs. Therefore, if a chance could bring about endless benefits, enhancing both
academic skills and social skills, gaining such skills while in school will place a student-
employee ahead of the curve when they enter the full-time workforce, why not college
students take part-time jobs while they are still in school?
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