Coventry is fifth in the UK for the highest paying student jobs

In a study that analysed 2000 part-time jobs, CV-Library have revealed how much students are being paid and which sectors are paying the most. The online job agency looked at hourly and weekly pay, weekly hours of work, and which industries were offering the best and the worst, in a total of 15 student cities.

Leeds University came out top, with the average student earning £10.12 an hour…

From their findings, it appears that construction-related occupations cash in the most money for students more than any other sector, followed by accountancy, and then marketing, with customer service jobs coming in at fifth. In terms of which university city offers the opportunity to earn the most, Leeds University came out top, with the average student earning £10.12 an hour, trumping London students by four pence. This is compared with Coventry which came fifth, where students are earning on average, £9.84 an hour. The lowest earnings for students came from cleaning and warehouse work.

Industry-wise, the sector with the most vacancies is social care, which includes 14% of all vacancies…

In terms of the amount of jobs available, Coventry did better than most. London, unsurprisingly, has the most student jobs, with almost a third of all CV-Library vacancies originating from the capital. Birmingham came second, offering 11% of all jobs on the website, with Coventry coming joint third with Reading at 9%. Industry-wise, the sector with the most vacancies is social care, which includes 14% of all vacancies. Hospitality, education and admin follow closely behind.

These results come amid concerns of rising student debt and the difficulty of supporting one’s self while also studying for a degree. Year-on-year the percentage of students who work part-time alongside a degree appears to stay relatively high, despite certain universities, like Oxford and Cambridge, discouraging their students from having any part-time work, during term time as well as the holidays.

“What we would recommend is that you choose a job that is flexible,” Biggins comments…

However, founder and manager of CV-Library, Lee Biggins, expounds the benefits of a part-time job, suggesting that there are several ways to get around the difficulty of juggling contact hours with compulsory shift hours.

“What we would recommend is that you choose a job that is flexible,” Biggins comments, “Zero-hours contracts are a good option, or choose a bigger company which can accommodate for any shift swaps you might need to do. It also helps to try to choose something that will help you gain experience in an area you are interested in.”

He also suggests that part-time jobs aren’t just beneficial because they offer students extra cash, but because they give them employability skills that they can draw on after graduating, going as far as implying that these benefits outweigh the paychecks students get while working.