Managing work alongside study

To achieve the flexibility that I need to keep up with my degree requirements, as well as being able to support myself, I have a number of different part-time jobs. These range from weekly commitments and seasonal work to ad-hoc work.

Hi, I’m Sarah, and I’m in my second year of a part-time Masters in Vocal Studies. Having taken a year between my undergrad and my Masters to work, it was important to me to maintain the career progress that I made during this year – a big part of the reason why I decided to study part-time.

Studying part-time came with a lot of advantages, such as allowing me to access University facilities for an extra year. It has also allowed me to develop real world experience in a variety of areas alongside the academic development of my degree.

What work do I do? 

Primarily I work as a private tutor and instrumental teacher, working mostly remotely with students of all ages. I currently specialise in working with Year 10-13 students in preparation for their GCSE and A level exams. This is generally quite predictable work between late September and early June and has the advantage of flexible scheduling. This means that I can choose the time slots that I want to offer students to fit alongside my academic timetable.

During the summer, when both teaching work and university commitments are a lot quieter, I tend to spend at least half of the season working in residential summer schools. In the last couple of years, I have worked both on music courses and for international summer schools. This is a great way to fill the quieter months productively, whilst enjoying a change of scenery.

I also have several options of ad-hoc and one-off work, which adds great variety to my schedule, allows me to make extra money during any unexpected free time that comes up, and to gain a more diverse range of experiences. The University offers a great range of work to students, depending on their skill sets. For example, this year I’ve worked as a concert steward, and as a student ambassador for University visit days, amongst other things. I’ve also had the opportunity to do various pieces of work in my field. These have included running music workshops for local school students, providing exam accompaniment, and performance work.

What does a typical day look like? 

Generally my days tend to look very different day to day, and week to week, meaning some are a lot busier than others. Quite often, I will start with a couple of lessons in the morning (working with international or home-schooled students), before heading to the University. Here, I’ll generally get some music practice done, and then go to a lecture, rehearsal or singing lesson, depending on what I’m in for that day. I’ll then head home to teach some more. I make sure to leave at least a couple of evenings free every week so that I can spend time with friends (with board games or music activities being some of my current favourites).

Tips for part-time work and balancing your time 

One of the most challenging parts is ensuring that you have enough time to balance work, studying, and doing the things that you enjoy. Having worked alongside studying since the second year of my undergrad, I’ve definitely made a fair few mistakes in this regard. The best way to manage this definitely varies from person to person, and from degree to degree. However, these are a couple of the most helpful things that I have learnt:

1. Set time off and stick to it. It becomes very easy when agreeing work hours to forget that you’ll need some time off eventually. I’ve definitely been guilty of agreeing to work at the beginning of the academic year and then being stuck with it when the workload increases and being unable to drop it. I try and give myself one day a week where I don’t accept any work to give myself some flexibility and time off.
2. Talk with the University. Studying part-time can be challenging, especially when sudden timetable changes – such as campus relocations or rescheduled lectures due to staff illness – conflict with work commitments. As a part-time student, I have to try and prioritise both the degree and my work equally, sometimes meaning I can’t attend rescheduled lectures. Having spoken to my lecturers however, they are usually more than understanding, and help me catch up with anything that I have missed.