The Art of Being a Student & Having Money

Making Money at University

Nothing feels more like a bucket of cold water than when you check your bank account after a month at university – especially after the first month. You’ve gone through freshers, through the parties, paid for endless society memberships, paid for subscriptions you might forget about in a months' time, and let’s not mention the numerous coffees and pumpkin spiced lattes you get between lectures. The stress is real and shared by many. But we don’t want money to be a reason for added stress when you already have coursework, exams, and course mate drama to worry about. So here we outline a couple of different ways that you can make money at university. Because what better feeling is there than seeing money come into your account? And if that money gets there the same day, you make a big payment, then according to girl math, you’re not using any money at all.

University jobs

University jobs can be some of the best roles to look out for! The pay is good, you get to meet people from your university, the commute won’t be an issue, and because the work is at university, they may be more reasonable with your hours and shifts.

Another advantage is that these jobs can help you build your CV while you're still studying. Whether you're developing your communication skills as a student ambassador or learning how to work in a team behind the bar, you’re gaining experience that could be useful when applying for graduate roles. To find these opportunities, keep an eye on your university's careers portal, student union website, and emails, as some positions may only be advertised internally.

One disadvantage is if things go badly, you will probably want to avoid the union bar for the rest of the year, although we pray this won’t happen.

Useful resources:

Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) – QTemps: Paid temporary jobs at the university and with local employer partners.

University College London (UCL) – Working During Your Studies: UCL recommends Unitemps for temporary campus jobs and the Students’ Union JobShop for casual and part-time work.

Imperial College London – Part-Time Work: Official guidance listing job boards and opportunities for Imperial students, including JobsLive and Impowered.

University of Westminster – Careers and Employability: Careers support and resources to help students explore employment opportunities.

King’s College London (KCL) – Finding a Job: King's recommends CareerConnect for job opportunities and provides guidance on part-time work, including campus roles.

University of Nottingham – Job Vacancies: The university’s official vacancies portal for exploring roles within the institution.

Newcastle University – Part-Time Jobs: Official advice on finding part-time work, including campus jobs, Unitemps, and the MyCareer platform.

Tutoring, Babysitting, & Petsitting

For anyone who’s watched an American movie or show, the concept of tutoring or babysitting for extra cash is not a foreign concept. Petsitting has become increasingly more popular in more common times as for a lot of people, their dog is their baby. All three options are relatively fun and easy jobs to get money. But do not be fooled, these jobs require real responsibility, so take your time to reflect on whether you can do them.

Tutoring is a nice job because the hours are reasonable as not a lot of kids will want to study past 10pm. However, you may need to leave university early (around 4pm) if you’re scheduled to tutor at 5pm. This can mean missed time hanging out with your friends and missed society activities. And even more, if you’re scheduled to tutor at 9am on a Saturday, you’ve got to make sure you don’t stay up too late or have a bad hangover from Friday night. Even so, with tutoring you can more or less define the hours and days that will work for you.

Depending on the company you join or the families that hire you, you can work from home, from the student's house, or from an agency/tutoring business. Each option has its advantages. Tutoring from home online means you don’t have to spend time or money commuting. But tutoring from the students house or a business can be easier if you don’t have access or the resources needed to tutor online well. Additionally, you can look for agencies and families who live near your university or accommodation, meaning that the time you spend commuting won’t be so long. Another key thing to note is that to be a tutor that parents want to hire, you need to spend time revising or preparing for the sessions you provide.

Babysitting & petsitting can also be fun jobs. Unlike tutoring, you will most likely have to commute, and the hours you do will be the ones the parents want – although you have the option of accepting or rejecting the job. But the advantage is you won’t have to spend time preparing a lesson plan or having to answer unexpected chemistry questions.

Now how can you find these jobs? For all three, you can reach out to agencies and businesses. For tutoring, you can also reach out to schools near you and ask to place a leaflet highlighting your services. Some websites you look into further are Edumentors and SuperProf (for tutoring), Pawshake and Petsitter.com (for petsitting), and Childcare.co.uk (for babysitting).

Coffee shops, restaurants, and bars

This is such a common choice between university students because there are always places looking for staff! You can try to look for places near you looking to hire or if you want to be nifty, look at your favorite chains to see if you can get employee discounts for your Iced Matcha. You also get an allowance on food and drink during your shift, so that is once less meal you have to pay for in your budget. Some places you can even take an extra cookie that failed to be sold by closing time. A key advantage of working in food-based establishments is the tips! Of course, whether you get a tip and how much you get does change and depends a bit on your luck in customer. 

One potential disadvantage of these jobs is the hours. Working part-time, especially at the start, you will have to stick to the hours you agreed to. However, as a student you get to give them an idea of your schedule, for instance when you are off class, and they will align your shift against your availability. That said, sometimes managers can be sneaky and try to push a shift you didn't ask for because they're understaffed - be comfortable enough to say no. And they especially won't care with you going over your 20 hour allowance, so you're the one that needs to keep an eye out for how many hours you are scheduled to work per week.

But on the bright side, unlike tutoring, babysitting, or petsitting, you have a consistent stream of money that isn’t dependent on whether a parent wants a night out, or whether a student happens to be struggling with algebra. It can also be more intense jobs; at peak hours cafes and restaurants can get really busy, meaning you will have a lot of work to do in a short amount of time.  Additionally, some places will be pickier, wanting to hire students who have more experience, so here making sure your CV accurately shows your experience in hospitality, or clearly shows transferrable skills will be very helpful! It's also great to go to different places, ask if they're hiring, and leave your CV with them. This is a more personal and potentially time-consuming strategy, but it shows that you’re eager. It will also be the perfect opportunity to talk to a manager and explain how despite your lack of experience, you are a fast and eager learner. 

Tip: A lot of local restaurants/cafes look to hire people who live in close distance so arrive on time and could be called in for a short-noticed need for an extra hand - so mention your proximity when you reach out.

Working retail

For fashion lovers this might be a perfect job for you! Similarly to food-based establishments, there are so many stores around London looking for staff. Of course, retail doesn’t mean only working in clothing stores. If you know your niche, something like video-games, you can look for video-game stores looking for staff - I cannot emphasise enough how much more enjoyable it is to work in something you at least find partially interesting. Even better, a lot of stores come with employee discount benefits, and some will give you a commission. However, key thing to note is that not all stores have the same approach when it comes to commissions. Some will give you a bonus on top of item you sell. Most others will give a commission to the whole team’s final pay check if they manage to go over the monthly target. Similar to the food-based establishments, some retail places will be pickier in the people they hire based on their experiences. But here once again, the advantage of creating a representable CV comes into place (university careers advice come handy here!).

Tips:

Admin jobs

Administration roles in an office or reception setting can be more relaxed compared to the food-establishment jobs. You will still be dealing with the public, but it won’t be as intense as a Starbucks barista at rush hour. Additionally, you still get that consistent revenue stream, although the perks, like employee discounts may not exist or be as relevant to your interests. Another potential disadvantage is learning how their systems work, learning the different tools like Excel, and making sure you’re confident using everything. However, one could argue that each job will have a beginning period where you have to go through some struggles before you settle in. A disadvantage of these jobs is that they are harder to find. These jobs are usually advertised in a one-off situation, so the best thing is to contact businesses directly - the power of putting yourself out there should never be underestimated. Locality can once again be an advantage here!

Research Roles

Although not as established in the UK, in countries such as the US, there are a lot of student research roles. The key advantage to these jobs, aside from the consistent money source, is that you get additional experience in your field of interest. Moreover, while any reference is a good reference, a reference from your lab manager could be the perfect thing for you to get that future research assistant role when you finish university. One issue with these roles is that they can be harder to find, similar to the admin roles; they are not as widely or loudly advertised. So the best technique is to keep an eye on labs or research teams that interest you, and better yet contact them directly via email. In research, sometimes people won’t have the money to hire you, but if you are nice enough, they might be kind and tell you where you can find a role.

Other one-off streams: Vinted, Competitions, and Luck

There are other ways one could make money such as selling your items in stores like Vinted. You can also participate in competitions, like essay writing challenges and hackathons. And of course, there is always the much-desired euro-million prizes. All of these are potentially good ways to make money, however it would be important to consider that these won’t necessarily stick out for your 3-5 years of university.

The important thing when it comes to making money at university is knowing that it is very doable. You were bright enough to get into university, so you can most definitely find a job that will give you the money to survive, have fun, and meet your goals. You just need to do your research, have a well represented CV, potentially a good LinkedIn account too, and show employers that you are enthusiastic to work. Remember, a good attitude can take you a long way. At the end of the day, employers want to hire people they know they’ll enjoy working with and spending hours around every week (and help meet their KPIs).

Here are some useful websites and resources to help you find student jobs, explore different ways to earn money, and make the most of your time at university.