Find your Master Programme!

More information

Do you want to learn more about studying in Europe? The following websites can help you to find your study programme in Europe.

MastersPortal.eu - find and compare Master's in Europe

BachelorsPortal.eu - find and compare Bachelor's in Europe

ScholardshipPortal.eu - find scholarships for your studies in Europe

PhDPortal.eu - Find PhD opportunities in Europe

Study & Work, are student jobs an alternative?

If your studies abroad start to get a little bit too costly for you, the scholarship simply doesnt cover it all and the city or country you re living in is known for being expensive, what other alternatives are there?

Sure, one option would be to start making some changes in your lifestyle to save some money but in most cases you start looking at possibilities to make some extra income, in other words start looking for a student job or part time job.

The difference between a part-time job and a student-job.

Basically, as a student you should be looking for a student job. This generally implies more understanding and tolerance from your employer, different benefits, a more flexible program and most importantly smaller or no taxes to pay for your income (however, this is different from country to country within Europe), but keep in mind that salaries range between 400 and 600 Euros.

A part-time job implies that you are considered an employee with full rights and responsibilities, you are expected to support taxes (again this varies with each employer and country) but in this case you might expect the salaries to be a little bit higher.

Think twice before making this decision

It is understandable that once you are looking for a student job you make it out of necessity but you should really think well about it before taking this decision. How important are your studies for you and is it worth risking failing your exams in order to make some income?

Student or part-time jobs can be pretty exhausting and time consuming so you might risk ending up investing more time and energy in your work than in your studies which might make you lose valuable credit points or even your degree.

Where to look?

Sign up for personal updatesOnce youve decided you want to make this step, you should start looking for a job that best fits your schedule and that doesnt intervene too much with your study program. Places to search for jobs are various; the internet is packed with different sites offering jobs for students or part-time jobs.

Also look in local news papers, announcements in the university etc. Some university web-pages even have their own job offering section so that would be a great place to start looking.

Last but not least, ask around, ask friends, colleagues, teachers, everyone you think might give a helpful tip, you never know maybe your chance is just around the corner.

How should I choose?

This decision is again very personal and everyone should choose the type of job that best suits him/her.

Some might find it easy to work in restaurants, other in office jobs but its advisable to look for a job that is as much as possible related to your study field. In this ideal case you make some money and you get some valuable experience in your area that is worth mentioning in your C.V.

Internships or practical placements are always a good idea to start gaining money and valuable experience. Some faculties are also constantly searching for student work forces, so you might be able to earn a little bit of extra income within the university by helping researchers, teachers, PhD s or Master students in gathering data or laboratory work. Making money within your research can also be possible.

If you choose to work on a Bachelors or Master thesis within a bigger project that has some funding from the university or third parties such as companies, you might be able to get some extra cash for your work. You can also look for possibilities to teach your mother language, English, Spanish, German are pretty popular and people are happy to learn them from a native speaker. Again, keep your eyes open four announcements and always ask around.

Stay safe!

If you are coming from a country outside the E.U check with your embassy if you are allowed to work, what working visa is required and how long it is valid. Always ask your employer for all the necessary working documents and check for their authenticity. Refuse working without any documentation and make sure that your worker's rights are respected.

Do I have another choice?

Remember that there is always an alternative and you dont necessarily have to search for a job. Start looking for scholarships and other funding possibilities. The European Union has invested a lot in education and funding so you should start looking for one! There are pretty good chances that there is something out there for you, you just need to start asking the right people and searching in the right places.

More information

Do you want to learn more about studying in Europe? Have a look at "Why study in Europe?" or the numerous other articles on the STeXX website. Besides, the following websites can help you to find your study programme in Europe.

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The author

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Alexandru Giurca

studied Forestry at Transylvania University (Romania), Georg August Univeristy Göttingen (Germany) and University of Eastern Finland