5 Life Skills For Career-Oriented Students
One in seven students in the UK are working jobs. And the number will continue to rise. As a working student, I offer some insights into holding down a job and excelling in college.
Our busy lifestyles are becoming quite pacy with personal branding, social networking, praying for research grants, socializing, and just, well studies. I remember when I was a student. I didn’t bother pushing myself to attend school nor study. You need to be resilient.
Yet, I thought I was busy, and I had no time for socializing. Fast forward 10 years later, productivity is now my middle name, and I am no longer that happy-go-lucky. I write for a living, attend college, and handle finances from my end.
How To Handle Finances?
About 52% of students receive financial help from their parents. In my case, I pay my tuition through my salary as a content writer. And I receive enough aid from a parent to finance the grocery and household bills.
And I keep accounts of every transaction in writing. And I earmark an amount to spend on shopping. But, I shop many times in bite-sized amounts.
This leads to my life skill number one:
If you haven’t kept an eye on your personal finances, you can’t be responsible for others. Start by prioritizing your expenditures and earmarking sums. Keep accounts and get into investing quickly.
How to Keep a job?
13% of students in the UK work full-time. What’s more, some universities such as Oxford and Cambridge forbid it. 58% of working students want to spend the money on socializing and 55% on food and household bills. Either way, these are outstanding uses of extra income. However, from experience, I can tell you that if you want to keep the job, you need to have a solid reason.
Here’s my life skill number two:
If you earn, earn for a good reason. Don’t earn to show your parents that you can move out. It is because monetizing your skills takes time. Accept your parents’ advice and support. Be intelligent.
How to Balance Studies?
The premise of this article is to help students face money concerns, build career growth, and prioritize their education. First of all, prioritizing your education does not always mean following the time-tested path of completing degrees. You can always try skill courses.
Secondly, it is always good to hold a few prestigious internships to boost employment prospects after college. And finally, you will need a strategy to ace subjects. So pick easier ones instead of undervaluing yourself for doing that.
Let’s summarize these points in life number three:
Tackle skill courses in college to boost your profile. If you show any future employer that you have the knowledge and skills required to do the job, you will get in.
How to Get Regular Exercise?
This might be the least expected. But, if you are a working student, then you probably get zero time to breathe. My advice would be to go for a run and catch up on that lost oxygen. Exercise is vital for motivation as it boosts your self-confidence, fitness, and productivity. What’s more, it improves your mood by reducing cortisol levels in the brain.
Lifehack number quattro:
Go for running when you feel unproductive. It will bring your head out of work piles and enable you to explore wellness. Also, it offers you ideas for the future.
How to Set Yourself Apart from Others?
If you haven’t heard of personal branding, you might try looking it up. Personal branding is the process of utilizing social media and other channels to engage in activities that establish you as an authority in your field.
For instance, research scientists go to established colleges to give guest lectures. And they offer their expertise on research papers. A similar thing in the writing world is called guest blogging. Here you write for someone’s journal for a sum and to receive exposure.
The number five is actually a personal life lesson:
Personal branding can help you set up an audience. You may leverage this following to establish a business or propel your career.
Conclusion
However, in a critical situation, personal branding can also create alternate sources of income. If you get laid off, you will struggle if you have no contacts.
During COVID-19, many students came back home and did online classes. And the effect was much harsher on working students who had settled into jobs abroad.
