Making the most of part-time work opportunities at Birmingham

One of the big questions at university is how to get a job and earn some money alongside your studies. So when I got to University, I looked for career opportunities to support me in my studies and my CV. I want to share these experiences with any prospective or current students in this blog!

My journey started at Worklink, which is a platform where the University advertises current job vacancies. The benefits of working for the University are the flexible times that take your studies into consideration and give you holidays in line with the University.

Through Worklink I have been able to work during welcome week, as a Student Ambassador and as part of the Public Programmes Student Panel at the Exchange (see picture), a University institution in the city centre. I think it is important to note that in my process of applying for jobs I faced some rejections. Please do not let this bring you down, some people are simply more suited to jobs than others and it is not a reflection of who you are as a person! Keep in mind that you will be likely to find bits of work when campus gets busy, during graduations and welcome week especially.

While I was waiting for replies from the jobs I had applied for, I realised that the easiest way to gain work experience is to do volunteering. While you might not get money for your time, you get valuable experience for future jobs. As a music student, I volunteer at the university as a concert steward. Otherwise, I volunteer in the city at Birmingham Contemporary Music Group at a children’s composing workshop. I recommend finding something that will both bring you enjoyment, and teach you important skills.

My favourite volunteering opportunity is being on the University Music Committee as a content creator. This is valuable experience for my CV and it is such a fun role! You can also think about joining a Guild society and supporting it as a committee member, I would highly recommend it!

After being involved in many extracurriculars (which are also a good way to build your CV and have fun), I learnt about the Birmingham Award. You can apply for this certificate, which will show future employers that you are a well-rounded person outside of academia as well.

Through the Birmingham Award I learnt about the Birmingham Project, which is another good opportunity for building your CV. For one week in June of your first undergraduate year, you work on a project with other first year students. The project focuses on a problem a real company is facing and at the end of the week you present your project to members of that company. I took part last year and created an event for Condé Nast/Vogue with my team. While we did not win, we gained great experience, a certificate and had lots of fun together!

These are just a few of the career opportunities to find at the University of Birmingham. I'd highly recommend you investigate the areas you are interested in to find out how you can use University to its fullest potential.

It’s an exciting journey waiting to be explored!