Student jobs

Student jobs

 
As we are supposed to give you an insight to our life as a student here in Germany, we thought of a basic need that every student has and that is money. Probably most of us are being supported by their parents or the government, but that money usually doesn't last long and if you want to enjoy the good part of being a student you will eventually have to find a job.
This topic also gives us the opportunity to later compare our results with the experiences you have made with jobs in your country. Therefore we would really appreciate if you gave us information about your situation after you have read our blog.
First of all we will tell you something about the jobs some of our group members work at and later on we will briefly talk about a survey that we have made on Facebook concerning the salary of different jobs that students of our university have.

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Lucca:

"During summer time I worked in a climbing park in my hometown.

      http://www.hochseilgarten-kletterwald.de/anbieter-fotos/kletterpark-bad-neuenahr2.jpg

Depending on the day I had three different jobs to do. I either had to explain adults how the climbing system works and what they were supposed to do or I had to watch over the children climbing in a different area especially designed for them. On some days I had to be the cashier, which was in my opinion the busiest job. Before I could start working in those different sectors of the climbing park I had to learn the important facts about the security system and how I was supposed to explain it to the customers. 
The advantage of such a job is that you are always outside and you meet a lot of people. If you like climbing and you are not scared of heights such a job will be perfect for you. During the winter season the park is closed."

For more information about the climbing park check the following links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AqWyViDcBk
http://www.wald-abenteuer.de/bad-neuenahr/

Unfortunately the YouTube video and the webpage are only in German.



Angie:

http://www.regioactive.de/img/35/193796/full/club_a_g.jpg

"In order to extend my allowance I am doing a sidejob as a waitress and bartender. Generally, I work at the alternative restaurant/bar/club ‘Circus Maximus’ in the center of my hometown Koblenz. I can either work behind the bar mixing cocktails, preparing other drinks, or as a server where I directly have to serve the customers and in the end, of course, I have to cash up. According to that, it is a crucial benefit that I am allowed to keep all tips I get during one shift. Finally, I earn 7,20 €/hour plus tip.

In summer, I work in a cocktailbar at the city beach which is kind of a subsidiary of Circus Maximus. Working there is really appreciative as you can enjoy the sun while earning money. Another beneficial aspect about working at the city beach or at the bar is that actually I only have young colleagues with whom I get along very well. Furthermore, it is a stress-free and especially pleasantly atmosphere to work with my friends. 

  http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=420520361344133&set=a.420519211344248.98602.153237784739060&type=3&theater

However, it is still a disadvantage that as a student the only time I have left for work is at night or at the weekend. Usually, it is possible to manage working, learning and sleeping in the right relation, but as you can never tell how long the last shift will last, there are always exceptions where I do not get enough sleep in order to be fully aware of the next lecture’s content."


Brian:

"To be able to spend some money beside the university I decided to take a job right after I finished
school. I work as a vendor in a running store which is only one of many branches in Germany.

In my shop I don't have to only sell the shoes and running equipment but also help the customers finding the running shoe which fits them the best. To achieve this there are many ways given by the shop-gadgetry. For instance a treadmill which is connected with a camera-system and with a pc. In this way customers can watch themselves running with the different shoes and the vendor then is able to evaluate whether the shoe is good for them or not. 

Another useful gadget is a board with two imprinted footprints. By stepping onto these footprints without shoes the customer creates a heat image of his or her feet, which is of paramount importance for finding the right shoe, because it is fundamental to know whether the pressure of the bodyweight is placed regularly on the foot or if there is a special dent. 

Nevertheless, vendor and customer should basically focus on the comfort of the shoe because a shoe which fits perfectly to your running-style but feels like a plank with nails isn't a good thing at all...

All in all I am very happy with my job because it's very customer orientated and you get in contact with many different people and I do of course hope that I will make enough money with this job to make ends meet."



Alexis
 
"I work as a bartender in a café in my hometown Bonn. Unlike other cafés, this one works with a self-service system. You order your beverages or dish at the register and get it immediately after it has been prepared by the ‘milkman’.

    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=156869847673174&set=pb.156308277729331.-2207520000.1352751016&type=3&theater

 
As you can see, the main work goes on behind the bar. There are three kinds of ‘working stations’ behind the bar:


                  - The cashier:   He takes the order and fills a freshly  
                                   made espresso shot into a cup or a glass,  
                                   depending on which coffee you’ve ordered.

                          - The ‘milkman’:   He’s in charge of preparing the coffee with 
                                     the right ratio of milk and milk froth. 
                                                          A good milkman is able to create artworks 
                                     like a heart, a tree or other incredible stuff 
                                     on your milk froth.

                          - The ‘dish-washer’:   He’s responsible not only for cleaning the dishes,
                                         but also for the tidiness of the café.


On hot summer days, when a lot of people like to sit outside at the terrace or cold winter days, when a lot of people need a coffee to warm up, the help of even 5-6 workers is needed. It might not seem like it, but there’s actually a lot of work that needs to be done. A good advantage about this job is that you get in contact with a lot of people, you get to know how to make the perfect coffee and - probably the most important fact – you learn how to work in a team. 
The reason why we’re telling you all these details about the jobs is not to bore you by explaining how a coffee-house works, but to show you how much work is being demanded by a usual student.

This leads us directly to the disadvantages of student jobs. A lot of students who work as a waiter in a catering service, do not earn a big amount of money. You could actually even say they’re being exploited in a kind of way. Most of the time they don’t get more than 6,50€ per hour, although they have to work up to 8 hours a day. A student cannot work from Monday to Friday because of classes, though. 

So where’s time left to work then? – Only on weekends! And the fact that you also need time on weekends to study for yourself and do researches, reduces the possible working time probably even to 5 hours a day, which results in the end to 260 € a month. An amount that covers possibly the monthly bill for your dorm room."

Now we will give you some information about the survey we have made. 

We tried to find out what different jobs students of our university have and what they earn per hour and asked those questions on Facebook:

As you can see most students that participated in our survey work as a waiter or a waitress in restaurants or bars, but there are also some other job opportunities, that most of the time require a lot of background knowledge. The salary spreads from about 5 € to over 8,5 €. In fact those jobs are a good way to earn some money beside your studies, but it is usually tough to combine your studies with a job, because you'll always only have time for one. Now we are interested about your experience with jobs while studying !