1. Saving for the Future

2. Basic Skills

3. Accountability and Responsibility

4. Learn the Value of Money

5. Definition

6. Balancing a Schedule

7. It’s All Who You Know

8. Experiencing Workplace Culture

The Effect of Part-Time Jobs on Students

While academics are the main focus of college students, many will also spend their college years in part-time employment. In the report "Student Employment and Higher Education: Empiricism and Contradiction," members of the American Educational Research Association reported that more than 50 percent of students attending four-year colleges work part time. The reasons for working may vary--earning funds for tuition or spending money--but many benefits exist beyond the paycheck.

1. ……

There is no standard definition of what constitutes part-time employment, but most employers consider part-time employees to be those who work less than 40 hours per week. Some companies restrict a part-time worker's hours to 30 per week. Nearly all part-time employees receive hourly pay. They work in shifts that range from a few hours to a full day's work, but may not work five days per week. Part-time employment often consists of evening and weekend hours to augment full-time workers who fill weekday shifts.

2. …...

Classroom learning is important, but the culture of workplaces and offices are hard to impart within the classroom. Holding down a regular position outside the classroom will allow students to gain firsthand experience in office culture and politics, which will be helpful upon graduation and their first full-time job.

3. ……

Balancing a part-time job while attending classes full-time will force a student to balance their schedule. A March 2009 study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics says students with part-time work reduce the time spent on homework, sleeping, socialization and life maintenance by 84 percent. A student employee will need to learn how to not let the decrease on time spent on studying show in her academic performance.

4. …….

In today's weak economy, it is even more crucial for students to make as many valuable connections as possible. Working part time for a company or organization will allow students to network outside their social circles, giving them valuable recommendations and contacts for their full-time job search.

5. ……

According to the report, "Values, skills, emotional maturity, personal identity and integrity are fostered through employment experiences." Student-employees will learn to be accountable for their actions in a non-classroom or home environment, and experience how responsibility is delegated and evaluated in an office.

6. ……

Many part-time jobs will give students the opportunity to learn administrative skills, such as phone and email etiquette, office electronics troubleshooting, and meeting manners. Gaining such skills while in school will place a student-employee ahead of the curve when they enter the full-time workforce.

7. ……

Part-time jobs help students contribute to their college expenses, which can help you and your family during the economic crisis. Although some of their money should go towards entertainment and recreation, you should still find that their contribution to their spending money is helpful to your budget. Your teens might learn to keep a budget of their own and save 10 to 20 percent of their income each month, which should end up being a significant contribution to their college tuition by the time they graduate high school.

8. ……

Teens might learn the importance of earning money by having part-time jobs. They should understand that they do not automatically have disposable incomes and that money comes from hard work. Encouraging them to spend money on some of their necessities, including clothes and gasoline, can show them that their day-to-day choices have a financial impact. They might begin to shop sales and look for better deals on the items they want. Having a job should demonstrate to them that smart shopping can make their money last longer.

Ex 1. Answer the questions and do the assignments.

1. What’s the definition between a full-time and part-time job?

2. Do you think working part-time is useful for student? For you personally?

3. Give reasons for and against students’ working part-time.

4. Study the labour market in Russia and find out the best part-time jobs suitable for students.

Ex 2. Work in pairs. Make up dialogues discussing plusses and minuses of working part-time for students.

Ex 3. Role play: You are a potential employer (choose the sphere yourself) and would be glad to hire a few students for part-time employments. Hold an interview with your potential employees trying to find out the following information:

• whether they are successful students (their academic performance);

• their basic skills;

• their interests and hobbies;

• how they are going to combine studies and work;

• their motivation;

• how much time they can devote to work;

• the qualities of their characters that could be useful for the job;

These words and word-combinations may help you: an applicant, a would-be-boss, an application, a CV, to be highly motivated, to manage a tight schedule, a dire need for additional resources, to learn valuable lessons, to broaden one’s scope, to be hourly paid, punctuality, diligence, responsibility, accuracy, discipline, an ability to work under the strain.