My name is Charalambos Phokou, but people call me Harry because 
Charalambos isn’t the easiest thing to pronounce. I am originally from Cyprus and before moving to the UK I did some quick maths, I realised that if I got a minimum wage job when I arrived here together with my maintenance loan I could live entirely financially independent. So I vowed to do just that.
Slight issue was I had ZERO work experience, but despite that I have now worked 7 jobs since stepping foot in the UK. So using what I have learned over the past year I have come up with this brief guide to getting a part-time job while studying at the University of Sheffield.
Get experience! You can get some through the taste of work scheme with the Careers Service here or by volunteering at local shops. In my case I worked at Sport Sheffield for a day and my mentor there acted as my reference which made it easy to volunteer at Oxfam, a charity shop.
Now that you have experience or if you were lucky enough to already have it you need to develop your CV and cover letter writing skills. We go back to the Careers Service. They are an excellent resource where you can book an appointment to go through your CV and give you tips and tricks to apply to new jobs.
With your great looking CV it’s time to apply. The Careers Service constantly
post local vacancies that are appropriate for students. My top tip is to apply to any university job that seems appealing, the pay is great, they are usually extremely flexible and also fun! You can may contacted directly about vacancies through a group email or you may have to go the university website to search for student job vacancies. Another source of jobs are local shops. I applied to everything I was remotely interested in. Getting a job is a job.
After hours of personalised applications, I got a job with Tesco through an online application and worked there for 6 months, upping my hours from 15 during term-time to 30 hours during the summer. I have since left Tesco and am currently working 3 jobs. I am a Student Ambassador for the Management School, a Global Campus Ambassador for the University of Sheffield and a Brand Ambassador for Circle.
From working hard in my first year I was able to afford a trip to Greece which was simply the best experience of my life. I was able to develop a decent CV and a strong LinkedIn page by connecting with all my employers. It’s what I’d say the best part of university, the sheer amount of opportunities thrown at you as a student. You just have to make sure you catch them.
