Students who also work - How many hours do you work on average a week?

jahalamo

Im a second year and I'm obsessed with saving, I work at my main job anywhere between 14-35 hours a week and often miss lecture to go in. I know this is bad but I really like where I work and find I don't learn anything in lectures and of course I like getting a big pay check each month.

I also work for the uni and so get reduced rent for barely any work and have another job which I go to once a week and occasionally have to do a full weekend or friday night which doesn't pay me much but I get lots of qualification's at the end (uni run thing).

My problem is I'm obsessed with saving and spending money, I aim to save £5,640 each year and so far have managed that without a problem and go on ski trips/spend loads of money on unnecessary things.

This is definitely affecting my studies as its now the end of term and I'm not really sure what we are supposed to know, but when I didn't have any job in the first year and I was in exactly the same position if not worse with my course. I do a pretty demanding course (M Engineering) but find that with my uni it all comes down to self study anyway.

Saying that I definitely need to focus more on more on my course however I feel that cutting down on hours at work won't help as I'll probably just go out more and watch more tv.

Vent over.

dizzyrascal

jahalamo wrote: »

Im a second year and I'm obsessed with saving, I work at my main job anywhere between 14-35 hours a week and often miss lecture to go in. I know this is bad but I really like where I work and find I don't learn anything in lectures and of course I like getting a big pay check each month.

I also work for the uni and so get reduced rent for barely any work and have another job which I go to once a week and occasionally have to do a full weekend or friday night which doesn't pay me much but I get lots of qualification's at the end (uni run thing).

My problem is I'm obsessed with saving and spending money, I aim to save £5,640 each year and so far have managed that without a problem and go on ski trips/spend loads of money on unnecessary things.

This is definitely affecting my studies as its now the end of term and I'm not really sure what we are supposed to know, but when I didn't have any job in the first year and I was in exactly the same position if not worse with my course. I do a pretty demanding course (M Engineering) but find that with my uni it all comes down to self study anyway.

Saying that I definitely need to focus more on more on my course however I feel that cutting down on hours at work won't help as I'll probably just go out more and watch more tv.

Vent over.

I'm amazed that you have not been disciplined for what you have described above.
Lecture attendance is carefully monitored theses days and all the students who I know that do an Engineering degree have very full timetables/lab time.
You are not at university to save money! You are there to study.
I would be surprised if you got on to the M year as your grades have to be consistently good to progress. I wouldn't be surprised if you got demoted to a BEng.

atypical

dizzyrascal wrote: »

I'm amazed that you have not been disciplined for what you have described above.
Lecture attendance is carefully monitored theses days

I'm not sure this is the case. I always thought the attitude was that it's up to the student to take responsibility for their own learning.

dizzyrascal

atypical wrote: »

I'm not sure this is the case. I always thought the attitude was that it's up to the student to take responsibility for their own learning.

No you may not realise it but absence is recorded and if you don't turn up you should produce a sick note or have asked permission.
It will be in your course or module hanbook. If you are repeatedly absent then your personal tutor will be intouch

jahalamo

dizzyrascal wrote: »

I'm amazed that you have not been disciplined for what you have described above.
Lecture attendance is carefully monitored theses days and all the students who I know that do an Engineering degree have very full timetables/lab time.
You are not at university to save money! You are there to study.
I would be surprised if you got on to the M year as your grades have to be consistently good to progress. I wouldn't be surprised if you got demoted to a BEng.

For some reason this year I only have 16 hours stretched over 2 days and 2 half days. Also my average so far this year is not hugely but definitely above the requirements to stay on track for the Meng.

In terms of being disciplined, I haven't heard anything or been contacted.. however I agree that this is not acceptable and things need to change.

Part of the problem is how the course is run, its a top ten university but as you can clearly see they don't pay much attention to who attends the lectures or what is being taught or rather not taught. I think part of the reason I have 'got away' with not attending would be because I still maintain a 2.1 with the coursework from the first semester.

Anyway... I have told my boss that I am only going to work weekends now as I want to spend more time on my degree and also on my other commitments. I have put down my savings to just £3000 a year (regular saver) which should make a huge difference in how much I will need to earn.

I know your saying I shouldn't be saving but Im constantly worried that I will be completely stuck after uni with no money to back me up and nowhere to live, at least this way I have the necessary finances to intern or move to another country if needed. Also if my third and fourth year are a lot more demanding I would like the option of having no job and concentrating on my studies but to do this I will need financial backing as rent where I study amounts to nearly double my student loan, hence the need to work to get reduced rent.

VanyaHargreeves

I do 15 hours a week - 3 days a week, 5 hours per day.

Lokolo_2

I finished my degree this year, got a 2:2 which is not amazing, and I think overworking outside Uni is definitely the main reason behind not obtaining a higher grade. Most weeks I worked 30hrs+ and for the last 2yrs even had 2 jobs sometimes working 50hrs+ a week. I only attended a handful of Lectures per term and the group meetings I had to attend for Coursework, Uni never hassled me about lack of attendance (Nor did I want them to at the time!)

I might have a substantial amount saved up but at the cost of a degree which may now not get me anywhere, so make the right choice people! :cool:

DannyWhoWorks

Lokolo_2 wrote: »

I finished my degree this year, got a 2:2 which is not amazing, and I think overworking outside Uni is definitely the main reason behind not obtaining a higher grade. Most weeks I worked 30hrs+ and for the last 2yrs even had 2 jobs sometimes working 50hrs+ a week. I only attended a handful of Lectures per term and the group meetings I had to attend for Coursework, Uni never hassled me about lack of attendance (Nor did I want them to at the time!)

I might have a substantial amount saved up but at the cost of a degree which may now not get me anywhere, so make the right choice people! :cool:

This is a pretty good point! How much have you saved may I ask Lokolo?

misspointy

I'm a first year nursing student at uni 5 days a week 9 - 5. I try and work at least 14 hours a week (paid work). Last time I was on placement I was in uni one day per week from 9 - 5, working placements at 30 hours for free per week and then paid work 14 hours at weekend.

Not sure if i'll keep it up as I progress as it's pretty tiring.

mmmsnow

One of the guys I went to uni with (the first time!) had a job as a night watchman. He would work 8+ hour shifts every night and sleep during the day. He missed most lectures, almost all labs (this was for a science course) but did so well on the written exams (because all he did for 8 hours each night was read over his friend's lecture notes and the course books) that they let him through year after year. He ended up with a first class degree and the rest of us were very annoyed! I remember missing two labs (both in the same week and both as a result of a sudden death in my immediate family) and being hauled over the coals.