Collegians struggle to juggle work, study

By Kim Tae-jong

Many university students are challenged to earn as much money as possible through various part-time jobs to cover rising tuition. And a growing number of students prefer jobs where they can work for longer periods.

With well-paying part-time jobs rarely available, collegians must sacrifice time they would spend studying for long hours toiling away for what is often less than minimum wage.

To get a slightly bigger paycheck, students are taking on riskier jobs.

Kim Hyeon-jun, a 24-year-old university student in Seoul, participated in a bioequivalence test at a hospital last January.

What he did was to take medicines and have his blood taken regularly while staying at a hospital for six days. For this, he got paid 350,000 won ($324).

“I first thought it could be a little bit risky, but I was curious and the job was so attractive given the pay. It was boring as there was nothing interesting to do at the hospital, but I guess the job is quite popular for those who want to make good money,” Kim said.

Having completed his military service, Kim has had various part-time jobs such as a telemarketer, a stint at a moving company and working as a surveyor. He is now working at a clothing corner in a department store.

He believes a range of part-time jobs teaches him many things, which he can’t learn from textbooks or at school, but he is also worried that taking the time off from studies will delay him from entering society.

“When I graduate and get a decent job, I may be older than the others that are newly hired. It’s a huge dilemma, but it’s almost impossible to study on your own without financial support from your parents or while holding down part-time jobs,” he said.

Working to study

After saving money from the current part-time job, he plans to go to Australia on a working holiday visa. He wants to learn English there and save money for tuition so he can return to school.

In the past, most collegians relied on their parents for tuition. Some worked part-time jobs to earn extra pocket money.

But it’s different these days. Having some sort of a part-time job has become a must for most students.

Nam Doo-in, a 25-year-old university student living in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, chose to temporarily shelve his studies to work instead.

He is now taking a year off from school and working at a bank as a security guard. He wants to save money to study abroad next year. Nam plans to get another part-time job when he comes back.

“Last year I had to work to pay my tuition. It was really difficult to pay some 5 million won a semester, twice a year,” he said. “Most of my friends are getting part-time jobs, too. Otherwise, it’s too much of a burden on their parents.”

In the past, most students wanted to get a part-time job to earn pocket money to cover their personal expenses but nowadays they are serious about what kind of job they do.

“Some years back, students wanted to get a job to earn extra money to pursue a hobby or to go out and usually worked for only a short time,” said An Su-jeong of Albamon, a part-time job information website. “But now they take it quite seriously as many of them have to work to save money for tuition and even make a living as well.”

Another important change is they now want to work longer, up to one year at a time, taking time off from studying completely, and they are willing to take physically-demanding, risky or night-time work as long as the paychecks are satisfactory, she said.