As a full-time student, you are allowed to work part-time! Read this blog to understand how working part-time in your field as an international student will help you hone your skills and garner exposure.
Most countries allow students to work part-time for 20 hours a week, where they gain the skills and exposure that will help bolster their resume. This is especially useful if a student works in the same industry as their field of study.
For example, if a student is taking up a culinary course, they might work as an assistant cook in a local eatery. This way, apart from learning the course itself, the student is exposed to practical knowledge in the workplace. It is useful for students to understand work ethics and develop the discipline accordingly without hampering their academic studies.
Nowadays, Canada allows full-time work during vacations and on holidays. If a student gains experience as a part-time worker, it becomes easier to get full-time jobs in the future.
No one can ignore the monetary benefits of working part-time and full-time as an international student! College tuition fees and other expenses are already putting a dent in your monetary resources, so earning money on the side can relieve a lot of burden on parents and guardians who are responsible for your financial well-being.
What’s more interesting is that when you work full-time during vacations, you can relieve your tuition loan or save some money to help you pay the loan in installments.
Working in the same industry as your field of study will help you understand and learn the skills you need as an expert in that field. Sometimes, the subject you are studying in college is even more in demand than the conventional professions.
If you are taking up Bachelor in Veterinary Science, and Canada Vets are in high demand, then you can be an intern to a veterinary doctor to gain experience. When your studies and related professions in your field are in high demand, then getting work may not be difficult.
A student is allowed to do 20 hours of work in any given week as per the Canadian government rules. No student is allowed to exceed that limit under any circumstances. On weekends it may extend to any number of hours. So a student may have enough time to take out their living expenses while living in Canada.
On vacations, you are allowed to work any amount of time. There are two types of employment opportunities that are available for the students, i.e. on-campus and off-campus jobs. In off-campus jobs, you can find work in coffee shops, retail chains, etc. Canada is a highly developed country with ample job opportunities for part-time working students.
There are a lot of sources through which you can find off-campus jobs as an international student, such as online job boards, news advertisements, etc. On-campus jobs are usually presented by the internal sources of the university like the employment department, bulletin boards, etc. They range from being a receptionist, editor, etc.
Also, there are co-op courses in Canada that allow a person to do full-time work as part of the Study program. There is a paid work term with your studies that help you gain valuable work experience in your field of study. With these courses, students can easily make networks and repo with managers that can help them get jobs.
The main disadvantage with co-op programs as an international student is that it becomes a little complex to get admission into a co-op program. The Canadian study permit allows an international student to get into a co-op program if the work is necessary to complete the study and if working is 50% or less of the overall course work. If these conditions are met, a student can then enroll in a co-op program.
There are other hurdles yet to cross before you get into a co-op program. It is crucial to have some work experience in the field of study and a prepared resume from the student. You not only have to impress the colleges, but also the employers to give you a job. Colleges give you a list of organizations that have good relations with the colleges and allow job and co-op courses.
Your employment opportunities are not limited to these companies. The paperwork for co-op courses also increases incrementally. Once you get into a co-op you will start an entry-level position in the organization. Managing lectures and classes is also one of the challenges because certain courses will be present only at a specific time of the year. The degree would take longer to complete compared to a regular student.
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