Student View: Part Time jobs

Why a part-time job within the Queen Mary Students’ Union is one of the best things you can land during your degree

Part-time work is a big part of university for many students, and our Student Union provides many great employment opportunities for its students, from bar staff and baristas to photographers and gym staff. I worked as the Women’s Football Development Officer over the past year. This means I ran football sessions as part of This Girl Can, co-chaired the QMSU football development committee and supported and promoted women’s football within our university. More broadly, however, I think there are four aspects to any SU job that really stand out:

Location: I was very lucky to find a flat 10 minutes’ walk from Queen Mary in my final year, so working on campus was an added plus. If you happen to live on or near campus, being able to work locally makes your life so much more simple. It took any commute factor out of my day, leaving me with more time to study or catch up on whatever I needed to do that day.

Pay: Additionally, the pay is another great incentive to work for QMSU. Queen Mary was the first accredited university in the UK to pay a real Living Wage (an hourly rate independently calculated on the basis what it costs to live and support a family). This means all staff at the University are paid the London Living Wage at £10.55 per hour. You can read more about the research done by a former Queen Mary Professor, Jane Wills, here https://www.qmul.ac.uk/geog/livingwage/.

Community: It felt great to be able to work as part of Queen Mary and meet other students through the sessions I ran. Working as part of your SU means you are constantly in the ‘whirl’ of activities and people on campus and it was always a pleasant encounter to run into the students you meet through your job in other places on campus.

Fun: Lastly, I couldn’t really believe I was getting paid to do what I love — play football. I realise football isn’t everyone’s favourite thing to do, but that’s another cool thing about the SU; the variety of jobs it offers means that most people can find a role they will feel satisfied in. If you don’t manage to find a permanent role on your first attempt, don’t get discouraged — have a look at QTemps (https://q-temps.co.uk) or stay on the lookout for student ambassador shifts or volunteering roles, which are a great springboard into paid opportunities.