Is a part time job in 5th year a bad idea?

glitzandbits

Hi guys,

So at the start of the summer I was thrilled to get a job in a new company that was opening up, but the opening is delayed until the end of August. I was planning on working the full summer there and then deciding if I want to continue on for 5th year.

I'll probably end up working weekends and 1 weeknight and I'm worried this is going to interfere with school. I got a pretty good junior cert and I'm hoping for high points, so I'm worried the workload in 5th year will be too much to keep up with. I'll be doing an extra subject outside school. Money is also pretty tight at home and I know my mum was relieved that I would be earning money to pay for things like clothes and books. Any advice is appreciated!

nicnac

I got myself a part-time job in a coffee dock when I was in 5th year. I started out working.every second weekend and midweek. My parents were not pleased, they went to my employer behind my back about the impact on my study. Glad they did now! Years later, but they were right.

glitzandbits wrote: »

Hi guys,

So at the start of the summer I was thrilled to get a job in a new company that was opening up, but the opening is delayed until the end of August. I was planning on working the full summer there and then deciding if I want to continue on for 5th year.

I'll probably end up working weekends and 1 weeknight and I'm worried this is going to interfere with school. I got a pretty good junior cert and I'm hoping for high points, so I'm worried the workload in 5th year will be too much to keep up with. I'll be doing an extra subject outside school. Money is also pretty tight at home and I know my mum was relieved that I would be earning money to pay for things like clothes and books. Any advice is appreciated!

Huell

not really i worked most weekends during 5th year with crazy amounts of hours and never really affected my results

Raspberry Fileds

In some cases, limiting your time can make you a more motivated student. I think of all the weekends I had really ambitious plans to study which never came to pass.

JDOC1996

Go for it. As long as you're disciplined and organised it won't make any difference to your results and might in fact, as a previous poster pointed out, be beneficial to your study. The workload isn't that bad in 5th year anyway.

is mise spartacus

My advice would be to try it out for a few weeks. Then you can decide for yourself if you can balance a part time job and homework/study. Some people can, others cannot.

lulu1

I think you should take the job but come Feb or March next year cut back on your hours, but in saying that even working a few hours at the weekend shouldn't effect your leaving results.

Ps This is a mammy of a student who is waiting on their leaving results on Wednesday talking

FlushEk

glitzandbits wrote: »

Hi guys,

So at the start of the summer I was thrilled to get a job in a new company that was opening up, but the opening is delayed until the end of August. I was planning on working the full summer there and then deciding if I want to continue on for 5th year.

I'll probably end up working weekends and 1 weeknight and I'm worried this is going to interfere with school. I got a pretty good junior cert and I'm hoping for high points, so I'm worried the workload in 5th year will be too much to keep up with. I'll be doing an extra subject outside school. Money is also pretty tight at home and I know my mum was relieved that I would be earning money to pay for things like clothes and books. Any advice is appreciated!

Do kid. Continue the job. You can use the money for college, trust me you'll need it especially if your parents can't get a grant. 5th year is NOT a HUGE amount of pressure but if you're doing projects it's always good to get them done in 5th year. The real work starts the first day of 6th year. Every note and advice should be taking into account. Don't freak out buddy, it's only 5th year so take it easy

glitzandbits

Thanks for all your advice guys I think I'll start it and keep it up until the first mid term and then reevaluate. I'd still love to hear from more people who had jobs during 5th year and how it effected them

missguided

I had a job during 5th year, it's fine once you learn to manage your time and don't let it interfere with school. I'm not sure about working midweek though, it may be hard to get homework done if you're working after school.. What kind of hours would you be doing?

whoopsadaisy

glitzandbits wrote: »

Thanks for all your advice guys I think I'll start it and keep it up until the first mid term and then reevaluate. I'd still love to hear from more people who had jobs during 5th year and how it effected them

I had a job starting mid-5th year and worked all the way through 6th year, taking only 2 weeks off to do the LC. In fairness I only did 8 hours a week on a Saturday but I definitely would go for it if I were you and then re-evaluate after your Christmas tests.

The LC can't be the be-all and end-all of life for the next year and a half of your life, have something else or you will go crazy. Loads of people had their sports and their hobbies to keep them sane but I had my job, I loved where I worked and I got paid It's worth it to even learn a few different life skills while you're cracking down on your study. Take the job, suss out your situation after a little while and decide for yourself if it's worth it. It's definitely doable, being that little bit pushed for time made me more motivated but it's not the same for everyone!

DanDublin1982

Worked right throughout 5th and 6th year. I honestly wouldn't have studied a tap more if I hadn't been working so it was definitely the right thing to do. I think you have the right idea, keep it up for the time being and reevaluate as you go along.

RebelLAD1

Its awful , I did it for the whole lot of 5th year, working 2 evenings a week , training the other 3 , not even doing my homework correctly, fell behind fairly rapidly. Don't do it

Both my kids worked from Transition year onwards. I felt it gave them a break from study and that study was more focussed. The school wasn't happy, but I feel the work ethic is as important as good grades. If you're able for it, go for it. If it's not working out, walk away. You've nothing to lose and the experience will be invaluable. Good Luck.

Slow Show

I'd definitely say to keep it on, unless you have a lot of other commitments like training on other evenings. I had a job for the last few months of Fifth Year and kept it up until Christmas of LC year, and aside from sometimes feeling a bit stressed when I had a lot of tests at once, I don't think it impacted on me at all in the long run! I probably would have kept it up tbh if I hadn't been going for Medicine and needed to put some time into practising for the HPAT.

So yeah, sure keep it up and see how it goes, tbh when I first started I felt a bit flustered about the effect on school, but I quickly got used to it and arranged my time differently. Great to have the money too with college looming!

Manutd_4life

Im currently in TY and am looking for a part time job. Any places you know that hire young people in Dublin.