Seasonal work in Malta is practically designed for university students. Everyone knows that university students have it tough: the endless assignments, the short deadlines, and the expenses can all add up to make the ‘best years of your life’ feel like an uphill battle. Add in the rising cost of living, and the meagre amount of funds available to students, and it’s no wonder that over 77% of students are now taking on part-time work to fund their studies, as well as their living costs. Textbooks, stationery, occasionally rent, going-out money: it all adds up to one giant bill, which the monthly stipend might not even dent, and the holidays make it even worse with the sudden rush to buy everyone – your friends, your family, and yourself – presents.
It may seem difficult to see your way out of it, without working part-time or during the holidays, but part-time work is the lamb in wolf’s clothing of the employment world. The benefits of part time work far outweigh the cons, and while taking on more work during the busiest period of your life can sound insane on paper, seasonal work really works to round out your employment capabilities, enhance your soft skills, and give you additional cash to help with those textbook-related costs.
Here is all you need to consider temp work your new holiday favourite.
Build connections.
A lot of job sectors offer part time or seasonal work in Malta – potentially, even in the field that you’re studying in, specifically tailored for students. These jobs usually have customisable or flexible hours, and while those hours might be less, part-time work is still a good introduction to the sector you’re interested for your future career. Building connections is important for any student preparing for life after university, and what better way to build those connections than by working alongside industry professionals?
Furthermore, consider this: when else are you going to have the opportunity to work alongside industry professionals? Breaking into any new environment is difficult, especially for students who have the necessary knowledge, but not the necessary experience. A leading cause of being passed over for that job or that internship that you really wanted is that you simply do not have the basics to begin working in the industry, and unfortunately, the only way to get that experience is either through voluntary work or, better yet, seasonal work.
No money versus a wage? The choice should be obvious.
Boost your CV – with experience in the industry!
So you’ve graduated from University with a shiny new degree, but none of the jobs you’ve applied to have gotten back to you yet. While that could be a simple case of missed connections, the more likely explanation is that employers are looking for someone with a little bit of experience in the industry; just enough that they won’t have to begin training someone from the very basics. Seasonal work is built to give you a taste of industry engagement while still allowing you to get your degree, and live your life outside of work.
Improve leadership.
University graduates already have some soft-skills – they’re part of basic university life! What you might find difficult to do is apply those soft skills to a working environment. Making the leap from leading group work to running a team is the kind of experience that will shine out from a resume, and make the interview process easier to deal with in the long run because you’ll have actual proven experience to talk about. It’ll also help you in your day-to-day life – if you’re naturally an Awkward Andy, then putting yourself in the frying pan of seasonal work can really ease your nerves about working in a consumer-based industry, and help you develop tactics to make your customer-service face almost perfect. In the long run, it’ll help you adjust to working with a number of different people and personalities in your day to day.
Become better organised.
A lot of seasonal work will tailor your working hours to your schedule, but it doesn’t mean that everything’s going to be handled to you on a silver platter! Working in tandem with university means some creative scheduling is required, and making sure to make time for both work and study. It’ll help you develop a healthy attitude towards work, prepare you for the time-crunch that is full-time employment, and also show off your organisational skills better than that one time you coordinated group work in university.
In addition, a lot of working life is creatively organising your day to maximise your input and effort without killing your health, and developing the skill to balance a number of time-sensitive tasks as well as taking care of yourself is crucial to obtaining a healthy work-life balance when you do move onto that long-term job.
Widen your knowledge.
University excels in teaching you the sort of material that will make you an expert in your field; however, a university degree doesn’t always allow for practical experience. Seasonal work makes sure that both your theoretical and your hands-on knowledge are at the same level, giving you an edge over competitors for the same position in that coveted industry position.
Even if you can’t get a job in your specific industry, those practical skills aren’t going to go to waste! Seasonal work is usually quick-paced and fast-moving, and learning how to move quickly and do things fast is useful for everything, not just your working life, and especially not just for your specific career.
Fill up your time.
Especially during the holidays, the days can seem too long, and filling up the hours isn’t easy – especially if your wallet is a little thin as a result of the season’s greetings. Having a part-time job makes sure that you’re always off doing something, and the best part about seasonal work is that you get paid to be entertained, whether that’s manning the desk at an office, or helping an understaffed store with the present-buying rush.
Get your name on their records – permanently.
Good workers will never struggle to find work. If your degree is three years, or even more, you’re going to have a lot of holidays and free periods where you can slot in a part-time job for extra money. Getting your foot in the door during one of the busiest periods in the Maltese retail calendar is important, but making a better impression is even better, because the possibility of getting contacted to fill the post again go up exponentially – which means you’ll never have to struggle to find part-time work, and if a full-time position comes up, your name and your working record might be the first thing they see when drafting together an ‘employee wanted’ ad.
Extra money.
University is expensive, and while you might excel at making your monthly stipend stretch from payday to payday, Christmas will shrink your cash down to pennies. Between buying presents and events held to celebrate the end of the year, you might find yourself strapped and empty-walleted for the majority of Christmas and the New Year, which is not an experience that anyone wants to have during the holidays.
If you have the free time, investing it in seasonal work could fill your wallet back up. In addition to the experience you get through seasonal work, and the benefits you carry into your working life, the importance of having the freedom to pay your way through the holidays cannot be understated. It helps foster independence, and allows you to experience what it’s like to do hard work, and be rewarded for it, which is a confidence boost that can help you through both your studies and your eventual long-term career.
Why do seasonal work in Malta?
Working during a university degree is never easy, especially if your degree is difficult. It can be so simple to get bogged down by work, never resurfacing from your studies to experience the outside world, and what should be an enjoyable experience will quickly turn into a prison, with you jailed up for the foreseeable future. Promising yourself that you’ll enjoy yourself after your studies are done is never going to happen – there is always something else to do, something else to prioritise – and it can be all too easy to bury yourself further and further down until you graduate.
Furthermore, graduating with a good degree is important, but having working experience is equally so. Employers look at everything, including whether or not you worked during university, and while a part-time job might not necessarily be the way to a long-term career, the benefits of working part-time are undeniable – and employers will notice that.
Part-time work will get you out of the house, get you out of your head, and put money back into your wallet just in time for the holidays. Besides that, it’ll help you socialise and prepare for the working world, so when you do make the transition from seasonal work to a full-time career, it’ll be easier to deal with: after all, you’d have already done it all before.
