For years, the most popular mode for earning money for undergraduate students has been home tutorship. However, at present this is a rather unstable option for most. 

Firstly, it’s difficult finding a tutoring gig that pays well. Therefore, it’s usually rewarding only for students who can manage having multiple tutoring gigs at once.

Secondly, during the hiring process there is a very obvious bias towards students from a few reputed universities. So, not everyone gets the same headstart and that’s unfair. 

However, times are changing and tutoring isn’t the only option left for students seeking temporary employment. Many organisations, startups, and companies now actively consider freshers/undergraduates for various part-time jobs. And while they may have different requirements in terms of skills and commitment, the aforementioned bias doesn’t really apply anymore.

So, here’s a list of what you should keep in mind in order to land a part-time gig as an undergraduate student.

Part-time jobs you can expect to find

There is a diverse range of organisations that actively recruit undergraduate students and has a positive attitude towards employing youth, but the positions available seem to be similar for most. 

There is, of course, the service/retail sector that recruits students as part time employees (sales executives, baristas, delivery agents, etc.). But these jobs usually require manadatory physical presence in the workplace which may not be feasible for many.

Aside from that, content writing, copywriting, graphic design, student consultation, teaching, social media management, etc seem to be common picks for part-time roles usually offered to undergraduate students. You can definitely venture further depending on your abilities, experiences and requirements demanded; but there are reasons these are comparatively more beginner-friendly and popular as part-time jobs. 

They can be executed in a hybrid/remote manner that doesn’t require constant physical presence in the workplace. Therefore, it’s convenient to fix a work schedule without making difficult adjustments. Moreover, while you ideally need a standard level of aptitude for any of these roles, they usually don’t require advanced specialised skills/certification. For instance, a good language proficiency test (IELTS/PTE) score will give you an upper hand while applying as a part-time instructor, but you don’t necessarily need a TESOL degree to qualify. 

Who employs undergraduate students?

Virtually any kind of company can offer part time jobs to undergraduate students, but it’s important to know which ones usually do and why; so that you can align or develop your skillsets accordingly.

In Bangladesh, the kind of organisations that seem to prefer a youth-based culture are startups, digital platforms, media and creative agencies, and marketing/consultation firms. 

The part-time roles they offer usually align with responsibilities such as communication, content creation, community engagement, social-media management, etc. By design, such responsibilities are oriented towards helping these companies stay relevant, be creative in a time-sensitive manner, and effectively engage with their target demographic. 

Therefore, they prefer employees who are familiar with trends, mainstream discourse and social media, have a fresh perspective, and can adapt swiftly to changing social and market dynamics. This is why young people, and especially undergraduate students/freshers are usually prioritised given how they are comparatively more in touch with the latest trends. 

Additionally, coaching/academic centres mainly recruit current students as instructors. But if that job is related to teaching a specific academic discipline, in most cases, they prioritise people with a good academic track record instead.

Also, while applying to companies try to priotise ones you see yourself working for in the long-run. Though part time gigs during undergraduate studies not always translate to full-time work after graduation, it always helps to gather experience relevant to the sector you want to pursue jobs in future.

Skills and achievements generally valued for part-time employment

It can be debated whether organisations value academic success over extra-curricular activities (ECA) for full time jobs, but usually the focus is not on academic record for part time roles. Rather, its extracurriculars or technical and soft skills, and interview or aptitude task performance that determine whether one is eligible or not. 

In this regard, we interviewed Saima Islam Jasita, a sophomore from Jahangirnagar University. She has been working part-time from her very first semester as a communication manager for the largest book community of Bangladesh, Boibrikkho. Jasita had also previously worked as a content writer for Creative IT Institute. 

When asked what are some skills/experience that worked in her favour during the recruitment, she extensively talked about her ECAs.

“As I specifically applied for the role of communication manager, what helped are my accomplishments in debates and business competitions as a speaker and team leader. My previous experience in content writing and tutoring students also helped because it showed my prowess in critical thinking and managing people.”

As for how she was assessed during the application and interview process, Jasita added, “On the application form and in the final interview, I had to answer questions that were scenario-based and tested my situational awareness, conflict resolution potential, communication skills, and confidence.”

Extracurricular activities act as credentials for technical skills and soft ones like leadership, teamwork, communication, critical thinking, and creativity that might not always be reflected in academic results but valued by most organisations while recruiting part time employees. However, since interest in ECA differs from person to person, what matters most is how effectively one articulates and presents their skills in relation to the job they’re applying for.

Building and presenting your skillset

Many of us view extracurricular activities as something that has to be strictly associated with  institutions, clubs, or certification to have credibility. Furthermore, we assume that having previous work/volunteering experience is so important that we often don’t even give a shot to potential opportunities if we have none. 

But to an extent, both of these assumptions are quite counterproductive. Extracurricular activities can be virtually anything of value that you passionately enjoy doing beyond academics, and have something to show for. How effectively you portray the related journey and skills acquired from ECAs in your resume and interviews is what matters. 

For example, you might think having a small business which is in no way related to a job you’re applying for, is not a good enough ECA. But you can easily map out acquired skills from the business related responsibilities/tasks you do and it’ll be just as impressive as being on a club panel. You may enjoy photography or making reels as a hobby, but consider your skills to be too amateur. But if you take some time to single out your best works and create a rough portfolio, it will be vital for applying somewhere as a part-time content creator. Similarly, you may enjoy something as ‘silly’ as writing satire and making memes. But if they get positive traction and engagement online, won’t this be a good opportunity to map this out as your ability to navigate the digital space and manage social media tools? This can be quite useful if you’re applying for a part-time copywriting/social media management job.

So really, all that matters is how insightful you can be about presenting the journey and learnings of your interests as solid skillsets on an application form or interview, even if you don’t have any formal ECAs or previous work experience. 

Stay proactive

If you’re interested in a part time job as an undergraduate student, it’s a good idea to keep all the mentioned factors in mind while proactively exploring different interests, or volunteering in important communal/institutional work as much as possible. 

Although a bonus, it’s less about prolonging your resume and more about finding out what kind of work you really want to do and have a knack for. 

Additionally, there are many student-focused groups and pages on social media that regularly post recruitment updates from different organisations. Make sure to stay connected to such platforms so you don’t miss out on any potential opportunities. 

Lastly, don’t hold yourself back from applying for anything that intrigues you as long as they don’t have very specific requirements you can’t meet. Positive as you must be, foster a trial-error-trial mentality and try to stay consistent.