What It’s Like Working and Studying at the Same Time

Hi, I’m Nohaa, a third-year Psychology student at the University of Birmingham.​

I started working during my second year of university for a few reasons: to build my skills, gain work experience, and support myself financially. Working alongside my degree has shaped my university experience in so many positive ways. In this blog, I’ll share what it’s really like balancing work and study, what I’ve learned from it, and a few tips that helped me along the way.

How it started – finding my first roles

I first started volunteering and gaining work experience on campus during my second year, after realising I wanted to get more involved in university life while developing transferable skills. My first internship was the Impact Challenge, organised by the Careers Network. It was a week-long programme in June during the summer break, which perfectly balanced flexibility with responsibility.​

During the Impact Challenge, we worked in a team with an employer - in my case, the amazing Worklink team on campus (which is a service dedicated to providing flexible part‑time jobs for students and is where I applied for all of my roles) – to tackle a real-world problem and find practical solutions, which we then presented at the end of the week. We had workshops on presentation skills, project management and business awareness, and we had a lot of fun throughout the week – and it was paid, which was a bonus.

The internship fitted my timetable perfectly because it only ran for one week in the summer. We had plenty of space to be creative, interact with different departments on campus, and plan our team meetings around our own availability and I was able to bring my own knowledge from Psychology across to the challenge.

My first paid job – Welcome Week Assistant

My second role was my first official paid job on campus: Welcome Week Assistant in ID card production with the Hub Services team. This role involved supporting new students during the University Welcome period (two weeks) in 2025/26. I collaborated with staff to produce and process around 30 ID cards per shift, with high accuracy and full data protection compliance.

I also provided clear, professional guidance to students from diverse backgrounds, helping them transition into university life and reinforcing inclusive, equality- and diversity-aware practice. Through this, I strengthened my IT, communication and cultural awareness skills. The timing worked well because we only started lectures in the second week of the role, and we were able to choose our shifts in advance. I simply picked two shifts on days when I had no lectures, or when my lectures started after my shift finished.​

Building on that – Peer Learning Mentor

My third role is as a Birmingham Scholar Peer Learning Mentor with the Academic Skills Centre. In this role, I support Birmingham Scholar events and academic skills workshops and contribute to student-led projects that enhance learning and engagement.

I provide peer mentoring on study strategies and university life based on my own experience – what worked for me and what didn’t – while recognising that we all learn differently. Hearing from another student’s experience can give a new perspective when making important decisions or trying new approaches. Through this role, I’ve developed strong teamwork, communication and problem-solving skills by regularly collaborating with staff and students.

This role fits easily around my timetable because we usually have one workshop a month, often on days when I’m mostly free. Most of the material development work is done online, so I can complete it in my own time with very flexible deadlines. Having amazing colleagues and a kind manager has made the role 10x easier and genuinely enjoyable.​

Representing my College – Student Ambassador

My fourth role is as a College of Life and Environmental Sciences Student Ambassador. In this role, I represent my College at Open Days and Offer Holder Visit Days, working with other ambassadors to deliver a welcoming, well-organised experience for visitors.​

I respond to prospective students’ questions about university life and course-specific study, demonstrating openness, adaptability and strong communication skills with people from a wide range of backgrounds. I can fit this role around my timetable easily because we sign up for shifts in advance. Some events are during the holidays, when I’m completely free anyway, and others are on weekends, which I can usually work around my social plans.​

Volunteering across campus

Alongside these roles, I do a lot of volunteering across campus. I volunteer consistently with the Islamic Society, supporting many of their big campaigns that serve the wider community.

I’ve also volunteered with the School of Psychology during Welcome Week, talking to new students about our modules and answering their questions about the course, assignments and general university life. I volunteered again with them at the Module Fair this year, supporting second-year students as they start thinking about their optional modules for third year. I gave them honest and informative views of each module, what I enjoyed most, what I found challenging and answered any questions they had about final year.

I took part in the Research Volunteering Scheme with the School of Psychology too. I worked in a team for eight weeks on tasks such as literature searching, ethics and different forms of data collection. This was the easiest role to fit into my timetable because it was directly linked to my studies – it felt like doing an assignment in a more relaxed way, and I genuinely enjoyed every part of it.

I’m also a volunteer with the Peer Assisted Study Session (PASS) Scheme organised by the Library Services. In this role, I support lower-year students during weekly sessions focused on upcoming assignments, exam tips and how to achieve higher marks based on our experiences. Fitting this in has been manageable because there are many Psychology PASS leaders, so we rotate across the semester, meaning I only run around three or four sessions throughout the academic year.