I made it my mission to find a job!

Before coming to university, I had a part time job in a local fish and chip shop. However, I wasn't able to save up money before I went. However, I would recommend others to do so. Even if you are getting a grant and an overdraft, you want to be able to use your overdraft as a last resort and not something that you are purely living off of.

However, once I came to university, I made it my mission to find a job. However, I was lucky and the first job I applied for I got but it's not always that simple. You have to be dedicated to finding one and going to different places. At the end of the day you have to think 'How much do I need the money'. The job I got was at the Union bar. I approached a member of staff and asked were there was any jobs going. I was informed there was and I was to return the next day and talk to the manager. 

However, although I got this job, the bar wouldn't give me enough hours that I wanted. I remembered at the fresher's fair I applied to be a student ambassador. Taking this into account, I went and enquired further about this. A student ambassador is an excellent way to get extra money. The role is to show prospective students around the campus or go into a school (or the schools come to the university) and encourage the children to come to university.  Although it's not regular work, it gives you extra pay certain weeks which really helps. You can even choose which events you want to do if any at all. So it's always a good idea to enquire about the student ambassador service at the University.

Another good idea is to go into the union building and ask a member of staff about jobs as there are normally opportunities in the café, bar or even at the reception desk.

Outside the university, bars seem the best bet in getting jobs. I have a lot of friends that have jobs in bars. Obviously stereotypically students like to drink and in a city like Birmingham with 3 universities, there are a lot of bars and clubs that are trying to get students to come in. If you go to Broad Street at lunch time and just go from bar to bar enquiring this is a good idea. Alternatively, if you don't have the time to do this, find out the addresses of all the bars from somewhere like www.yell.com and write to them. Use the same letter and just explain that you are a student and require a job for the term time.  Alternatively, if you don't want to work in a bar, try local shops for sales assistant jobs.

Another way to find out about jobs is through the university's job shop. If you go to your union page, it should be on there. It's a place that lists jobs that are available in the area. The job shops are really good with helping you with CV skills etc, so they are always a good source of information. If this fails, in Birmingham there is a temping website set up by Warwick, where universities put jobs that are available and even The Nec etc. The website www.unitemps.com requires you to register but some of the temping jobs actually turn into permanent positions. If they don't then the money is always good while you are still looking for another job.

My experience of working while at university hasn't been that bad. Some people experience trying to balance the two; work and studying. However, this is mainly due to the fact they take on too many hours at their job. They feel they need more money and so work more hours and convince themselves that they can manage.

I however wouldn't do this. Although the money is good, you still need to have a social life and be able to study. On average you need to study a lot and if you work when your meant to be studying, then when your not working you will want to go out and have a social life, this leaves little or no time to study. For this, you should make a planner that you stick to. That way you can slot in work and studying as well as lectures' and a social life. University isn't just about studying and working, it's about having fun. However you should never forget the aim of the adventure, to come out with a decent degree.