The many paths students take for part-time jobs.

As is customary, every summer, when academic pressure eases somewhat, students look for part-time jobs, partly to gain life experience and partly to earn extra income. However, whether part-time work is a choice driven by personal preference or necessity, there are always certain trade-offs.

A mobile coffee shop run by students.

Reasons to start...

With the development of information technology, many young people suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out), feeling left out when they are not as busy as others. Around her second year of university, seeing her friends already having part-time jobs and covering their living expenses, Phuong Mai (a student at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City - Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City) fell into a state of anxiety.

"I felt that if I didn't work and gain more experience, my student life wouldn't be complete. Since I still had time and energy after classes, I wanted to try working to the best of my ability and see how far I could go."

This fear of missing out also affects parents. Many young people confide that they don't feel the need to work part-time and want to focus on their studies, but their parents are impatient and urge them to get part-time jobs. When asked, some parents said that they don't actually need their children to earn money, but working while still in university is a different kind of learning, an important life skill to prepare their children for life.

However, there are cases like that of Nhu Thuy (a student at Van Hien University): “I didn't choose it; I was forced to. Due to difficult circumstances, working not only met my educational needs but also helped support my family. Having worked nearly 20 different jobs, I couldn't balance studying and working, and at times I fell into a crisis due to exhaustion.”

Priorities and trade-offs

The job market is always challenging, especially for students. Lacking experience and knowledge, young people are forced to take on entry-level jobs such as: sales assistant, restaurant helper, receptionist, online business... The common feature of these jobs is that there are always vacancies and they are easy to apply for, but the salaries are quite low, so most students often try to work overtime and take on multiple jobs to supplement their income.

Sharing about her peak work period, Ngoc Tram (a student at Van Lang University) said: “I still remember that summer, I worked 3-4 jobs at the same time to prepare for the upcoming school year. I worked the morning shift at a convenience store from 6 am to 12 pm, then at 2 pm I continued selling shoes and sandals about 10km away, and then I went home to continue selling online until after 11 pm.”

Like Ngoc Tram, many students say that during the summer, when others are resting and enjoying themselves, it becomes a "golden opportunity" for them to earn extra income. While happy to be able to support themselves, they also feel a little regretful about not having as much time for themselves as their peers. However, without part-time work, they wouldn't be able to afford tuition fees. Moreover, if they don't have financial security, the worry will affect their studies, leading to both of them not achieving good results.

In reality, the determination and efforts of young people don't always yield positive results. On the contrary, taking advantage of students' need for money, many part-time jobs intentionally delay or even withhold wages. Especially with online jobs, many young people fall victim to scams and join groups selling low-quality goods without realizing it. Furthermore, in some cases, the negativity of a demanding work environment and harsh, difficult colleagues negatively impacts students' mental health, causing them to lose focus in their studies and lives.

Youth is a time for experiences; every challenge and sacrifice during this period is a valuable lesson. However, young people need to be level-headed to understand their true abilities and desires, avoiding experiences that turn into regrettable consequences.

Currently, many fake recruiters are posting job advertisements with generous salaries, easy work, and attractive benefits, attracting the attention of many young people, especially final-year students. The motives of these individuals are diverse, ranging from collecting job applications to obtain personal information to luring applicants into fraudulent schemes. Therefore, thoroughly researching the job posting source before submitting your application is extremely important.

GRACE

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/muon-neo-duong-sinh-vien-lam-them-post802542.html