By Eloise Howard, BA Business Management with Employment Experience
Where do I work?
In the summer before I started at the University of Sheffield, I applied for a part-time role at the Students’ Union and was lucky enough to get the role! My role included working in Pearls Bubble Tea and Coffee Revolution in the SU. My experience of working in the SU could not have been better – I wouldrecommend it to anyone, as it means that you meet loads of other students and I made loads of friends in first year this way. It’s also really flexible and they understand that students have other commitments – by having a zero hours contract, you’re able to put in your availability for each week. For example, if you have exams coming up you may only work 6 hours a week, but at a quieter time in the year you could be working up to 16 hours a week.
How do I balance work with my studies?
Doing part-time work at the Students’ Union has definitely taught me how to manage my time effectively. One of the key things you learn is how to prioritise your tasks and understand when your studies need to take priority or when you can be more flexible with your time. Although I sometimes found this hard, I understand now that it is much better to sacrifice a week’s wages during exam period and have enough time to properly do my work, rather than try to squeeze everything in! Having said that, there is a maximum of 16 hours a week that students can work at the Union, so most 
of the time this isn’t too demanding and fits quite nicely around my work. Also, my hours are typically Monday to Friday so I always have the weekend to catch up on work if I need to and it is only term time so I still get all the same holidays as everyone else!
How does working benefit me?
One of the obvious benefits is that I am getting some extra income whilst being a student, which is always helpful! For me, I really like being independent and paying my own way – it also means I have enough money to enjoy myself the whole year and not have the worry of all my student finance running out after a month! However, there are many other positives to working, such as the experience it has given me. It looks excellent on your CV and I believe it truly helped me to get my placement year at GSK, because I had lots of examples and skills to talk about in my interview.