Working as a student offers many long-term benefits, such as paying back your loan faster, gaining precious professional experience and being exposed to networking opportunities. Career Insider has selected 40 awesome part-time student jobs for you to choose from or be inspired by, and included the average hourly wage, flexibility and common soft skills recruters look for. Read on and find what part-time job may best fit your student schedule.
Food services
Food services jobs are accessible to most motivated candidates who enjoy very fast-paced and busy environments. A successful professional in a food and services part-time job will need to be energetic, social, punctual and reactive.
Bartender
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £6.7
Skills: punctual, dynamic, reactive, energetic, friendly
Bartending is a great option for night owls and extraverts! From irish pubs to cocktail bars, bartenders have multiple choices of atmospheres and styles. You might learn the art of flairing and mixology if you haven’t already mastered them. Check for job ads or even go ask in bars directly if they need your skills.
Barista
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £6.9
Skills: punctual, reactive, social, customer oriented, agile
Nothing like the smell of fresh roasted coffee and warm pastries in the morning. If you agree, barista may be the perfect part-time student job for you. You also get to make people’s day by handing them their awakening beverage. If you prefer working afternoons, barrister is also a great fit as most coffee shops stay open all day.
Host or waiter at a restaurant
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £6.3
Skills: reactive, agile, attentive, customer oriented, friendly
If you enjoy the exciting busy hive vibes at restaurants, waiter can be a good fit for a student part-time job. Restaurants often need extra help so look around your local dining spots, pizzerias, sushi bars or other lunch places if they have vacant positions you could fill in.
Catering staff
Flexibility: high
Average hourly rate: £7.1
Skills: reactive, agile, energetic, discreet, social
For anyone interested in the food industry but tending to get bored easily, catering might be a great combination of service and change. As a catering staff you may have to change venues on a regular basis, if not for every job. This is a great opportunity to explore venues around your area and attend several events. While obviously this is a job and you must be serious, you might still get a chance to discreetly network with guests.
Cafeteria worker
Flexibility: low
Average hourly rate: £6.6
Skills: hands-on, cordial, reactive, nimble, quick
Free around lunch time? Why not consider a part time job as a cafeteria worker? Check out openings at your campus’s local lunch area, which will avoid you commuting time. There may also be other schools or offices around campus which may be looking for an extra pair of hands.
Delivery person
Flexibility: high
Average hourly rate: £7.7
Skills: dynamic, punctual, energetic, good coordination, space orientation
Food delivery applications are always looking for more people to hop on their bike and deliver freshly prepared meals to customers. Being a delivery person is flexible and you can decide what shifts you cover. Plus, in addition to getting to perfectly know your city, if you’re using a bike, you are essentially getting paid to work out!
Care
Care jobs require many human skills as well as health and psychology knowledge for some of the following part-time care jobs. However, they are highly enriching and can open doors for anyone wishing to pursue a career in the health and care industry.
Specialist Note taker
Flexibility: low
Average hourly rate: £7
Skills: patient, empathetic, psychology, ability to take notes, organised
A specialist note taker accompanies children with disabilities to class and assists them in their notetaking allowing them to follow school as smoothly as possible. This position usually requires knowledge in specific disabilities and in some cases, psychology. Studying to be a nurse, a child psychologist or a teacher? Working as a specialist note take could help you learn a lot.
See All Specialist Notetaker Jobs
Childcare
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £7.3
Skills: patient, friendly, good with children, mature, responsible
If you enjoy spending time with children, playing development games, reading stories… childcare and babysitting might be the perfect student job for you. Busy parents around you are always looking for responsible adults to take care of their offspring whether after school, in the evening or on weekends.
See All Nanny And Childcare Jobs
Senior care
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £7.8
Skills: sensitive, patient, gentle, responsible, receptive
With the population aging, more and more elderly people will need care. And how enriching an experience it is to spend time with people three times your age? Look around if retirement homes or geriatric services are looking for help. Just like specialist note taker, health knowledge may be required depending on the job.
Tutoring
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £16.7
Skills: pedagogical, patient, empathetic, understanding, motivating
If you enjoy teaching, tutoring might be a great match for you. It’s up to you what age and level of advancement you teach. Therefore, you can choose to help out students a grade under you and tackle topics you enjoy and have learned about recently, or decide to go for younger students or children with any subject you master or enjoy most.
Start-up/Office jobs
For the tech lovers out there, a start-up part-time student job might be just what you need to jumpstart your career. If you’re a student or self-taught in web development, graphic design, social media management, etc. companies need your skills. Even if you are not tech crazy, offices around you also need customer service agents to be the voice of their brand, or data entry administrators.
Graphic designer
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £10.2
Skills: graphic design tools, creative, business understandings, good general knowledge
Mastering Photoshop and graphic rules comes in handy. Many companies regularly need a graphic designer to work on visual content, whether online or print. From business cards, to promotional flyers or a newsletter, a graphic designer’s skills are always valued.
Developer
Flexibility: high
Average hourly rate: £12.5
Skills: focused, organised, structured, curious, reliable In a world where tech and services are booming and everything is going digital, developers are not ready to see robots replace them just yet. If you know how to code, your skills are valued by many companies and businesses around you. Working as a part-time student developer might be your best way for you to earn money while studying.
Web designer
Flexibility: high
Average hourly rate: £14.0
Skills: creative, reliable, good business understanding, logical
Today, few companies and industries can survive without a website. This is why web designers are very sought after. It helps if you are a little bit business-minded in order to understand different companies’ goals and pain points and create the best website to fit their brand and needs.
Paid search
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £22.5
Skills: creative, analytical, fast-thinker, on top of trends
If you’re a marketing student and enjoy anything digital, helping businesses out with SEM and SEA is a good option if you are looking to make money while studying. There are even certifications you can get online if you feel like you need extra credentials to sell your knowledge and services to companies.
Customer service advisor
Flexibility: low
Average hourly rate: £7.4
Skills: social, friendly, patient, good listener, diplomatic
Do you love interacting with customers, answering their questions and solving their problems? Then customer service advisor may just be your ideal part-time student job match. Whether by email or telephone, it will require patience and calm to deal with some angry customers, but you can get a lot of personal satisfaction if they leave pleased.
See All Customer Service Advisor Jobs
Call centre agent
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £7.8
Skills: persuasive, effective, articulate, social
If you have the soul of a salesperson, are target-oriented and enjoy talking with people, check out call centre agent jobs. Companies need motivated people to reach out to new clients all the time and help their business grow. Schedules are flexible and can ideally fit in to your busy student life.
See All Call Centre Agent Jobs
Surveyor
Flexibility: low
Average hourly rate: £8.2
Skills: articulate, focused, accessible, go-getter, dynamic
Before selling a product or improving a service, marketing departments need to do serious market and customer research. Working as a surveyor can significantly help professionals better understand potential clients and market trends. A great advantage for you is that you learn as much as the people employing you.
Brand ambassador/PR
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £6.8
Skills: reliable, sociable, friendly, approachable, articulate
Customers don’t trust brands as much as their peers. This is why companies hire student brand ambassadors as their on-campus voices. There is no better PR than a trusted class or schoolmate extolling the merits of a product, and brands understand this. A part-time student job as a campus brand ambassador might also open doors for your future internships or jobs.
Writer/Blogger
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £8.2
Skills: writing skills, creativity, adaptability, business mindedness
You know what they say, content is king and written content is up there wearing the crown. From blog posts to newsletters, or flyers to digital campaigns, if you have good writing skills and are able to produce stellar copy, you are in possession of a rare competence and companies need you.
Data entry administrator
Flexibility: low
Average hourly rate: £8.5
Skills: meticulous, detail-oriented, patient, serious
As a data entry clerk (or database administrator) you are in charge of updating and maintaining information on computer systems and in archives. This is an important role because information in these systems is only valuable if it is accurate, up to date and useable. If you are detail-oriented and meticulous, this can be a part-time student job to consider.
See All Data Entry Administrator Jobs
Local business
While applying to bigger companies may seem like an easy or obvious choice, don’t forget you are surrounded by local businesses that could also need your skills, knowledge and time, and be willing to put in the necessary wages. Keep an eye out for offices in your area as well as stores and supermarkets.
Social media for small companies
Flexibility: high
Average hourly rate: £10.0
Skills: serious, creative, analytical, on top of trends, business mindedness
Social media may be obvious to you but not everyone grew up with it or has a natural comprehension of it. If you know how it can grow a business, small companies may need your knowledge on the matter so look around where to sell your skill-set.
Translator
Flexibility: high
Average hourly rate: £12.7
Skills: serious, focused, cultured, reliable, multilingual
Do you master more than one language? Being bi or multilingual is not only a cultural asset, it can also be worth a lot of money depending on the language but also the technical and industry knowledge one has. If you enjoy words and language subtleties, look for companies that may need your translating skills.
Cashier
Flexibility: low
Average hourly rate: £7.0
Skills: accessible, serviceable, reactive, aware
Stores and super markets are often looking for extra help at cashier desks. If you are service-oriented, like being around people and are quick and reactive, maybe you could consider a part-time student job as a cashier.
Receptionist/Front desk person
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £7.5
Skills: reliable, accessible, polite, discreet, amicable
Whether at a hotel or an office, a receptionist takes and transfers calls, welcomes visitors and makes sure they follow required processes. Schedules are usually flexible and you can choose to work mornings, afternoons or evenings, allowing you to get organised with your uni work, readings and activities.
Mystery shopper
Flexibility: high
Average hourly rate: £7.2
Skills: discreet, professional, reliable, precise
Ever wanted to try out fancy clothes and jewellery? Or go for free meals at restaurants? Consider a part-time student job as a mystery shopper. Companies pay agencies to send out undercover shoppers to test the quality of service and customer experience of their stores.
University and on-campus jobs
If your campus is far from a big town or city, chances are your university offers options for students willing to work part-time. This can go from being a research assistant to library work or even dorm receptionist if your alma mater has on-campus housing.
Teaching assistant
Flexibility: low
Average hourly rate: £8.3
Skills: responsible, mature, organised, committed
As a teaching assistant, your role will be to aid your teacher in many different ways, mostly in organising classes, exams and paper grading. This is hard work that requires commitment but the benefit of helping out your professor can be huge and open a lot of doors.
See All Teaching Assistant Jobs
Research assistant
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £10.3
Skills: serious, methodical, analytical, reliable
Research assistant positions are open to postgraduate students in their specific field of research. This is a good part-time student job for scholars willing to further their knowledge of a topic, and even better if they are willing to pursue teaching or research. If you don’t find postings, your professors should be able to inform you on positions.
See All Research Assistant Jobs
Library work
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £8.5
Skills: organised and structured, cultured, cooperative
Love books? Why not work with them? Your university may be looking for students to help with the general good keeping of the library as well as making sure users are informed and finding what they need. If you enjoy quiet environments, check your local library for any offers of part-time student work.
Dorm receptionist
Flexibility: low
Average hourly rate: £7.8
Skills: responsible, reliable, trustworthy, ethical
If your university offers on-campus housing, chances are they are looking for dorm receptionists for surveillance and general maintenance, ensuring the place is kept clean and safe. Some university dorms also offer reduced accommodation for anyone working for the dorm. Be sure to learn about all options about being a dorm receptionist.
Sharing Economy
With so many service applications popping up, opportunities for making extra money are blooming. If you have a car, double as an Uber driver. Know a thing or two about plumbing? Help out your neighbour out with his kitchen. Get creative, there will always be someone in need of your specific skills.
Driver
Flexibility: high
Average hourly rate: £7.7
Skills: friendly, open-minded, respectful, punctual
If you own a car, you can do more than drive your friends, you can also get paid for it. This might especially be useful on alcoholised nights out. Why not be the guardian angel that safely Ubers back students back to their homes? Extra bonus, you are independent and choose when to work.
Outdoors, events and sports
If you would rather be outside or moving around a lot, you might consider your part-time student job as event staff, a charity fundraiser or a field researcher. Those jobs require thoroughness, a good level of energy and sociability.
Event staff/Festival staff
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £8.5
Skills: energetic, organised, customer-oriented, friendly
Staff needs at events and festivals are big and it is important to hire organised and energetic people to manage the huge flows of festival-goers and provide them with the smoothest and most unforgettable experience. Events and festivals value being punctual, so you need to anticipate and get organised with your university work.
Sports events usher
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £8.5
Skills: energetic, enthusiastic, customer-oriented, friendly
Turns out you can get paid to attend sports events and maybe also enjoy the show if you’re lucky. Just like festivals, sports events need a lot of staff to keep everything running smooth and safe. Check out your local stadiums and sports venues if your hands and legs are needed.
Fitness instructor
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate: £7.4
Skills: motivated and encouraging, positive, energetic, health and nutrition knowledge
For all the fitness fans out there, have you considered being an instructor yourself? While it is not a job you can improvise as you need to be certified, your local gym may need fitties to help out with coaching. How about getting paid to make people healthy?
See All Fitness Instructor Jobs
Charity fundraiser
Flexibility: high
Average hourly rate: £8.9
Skills: negotiator, good argumentation, empathetic, motivated, good listener
If you care deeply about a humanitarian cause, you can easily help make a difference by becoming a charity fundraiser. This job is ideal for students as it is flexible. You are also working in teams that care as much as you which makes the work even more motivating.
See All Charity Fundraiser Jobs
Pet care
Flexibility: average
Average hourly rate:
Skills: good with animals, responsible, reliable, mature
If you love being around animals, many people are looking for available and responsible people to take care of their beloved pooch or kitty. Dog walking, cat sitting or feeding a snake while the owner is away on holiday are good ways to make money when you are a student.
Arts
Have an artistic talent? Why not monetise this and turn talent into money? Surely somewhere on campus or in your area are people looking for music or drawing teachers, photographers or even film extras. Look around for job offers or even put an ad out yourself to offer your services. Nothing better than combining your part-time student job with your passion.
Music teacher (or anything artistic)
Flexibility: high
Average hourly rate: £25.0
Skills: pedagogical, good listener, patient, understanding
Are you a musician, a singer, an illustrator? Do you love your art so much you wish to not only share it but teach it too? Good news, people want to learn or perfect their singing, drawing or piano techniques. You might even help others discover new passions.
Photographer
Flexibility: high
Average hourly rate: £10.4
Skills: creative, good listener, observant, empathetic
Weddings, christenings, sports events, official company pictures… photographers are hired for many types of events. If you are good with a camera, be on the lookout for various photographer jobs. One of the perks being you can choose your events according to your busy student schedule.
Film extra
Flexibility: low
Average hourly rate: £20.0
Skills: basic actor, patient, discreet, punctual
How about working as a film extra? If you are in a big city, you are in luck as more films and shows are shot around you. Smaller towns may however also receive the visit of a set and need locals in the background. Note however that you must be willing to stand at the exact same place, doing nothing and remaining quiet for an entire day, or more. But how fun to be in the credits!