How useful is it to do a vacation job? Is it necessary to do a job whilst still being a student? Does it affect studies? What are some of the pros and cons of doing vacation jobs? What kind of jobs can people take up? These are some issues that I will tackle in this article, based on my personal experience with a part time job and the views of college students that I know. There are a variety of jobs available for students. Magazines and newspapers are usually on the look out for people with good writing skills, so are advertising and PR organisations. Call centres, restaurants etc provide vacation jobs for students. You can always seek work in any career you are interested in pursuing. Ask eminent people already working in that field to give you short trainee jobs. Paid internships in various fields are also available for those who seek them. Is it necessary to do a job at this stage? Well no, but it can be quite useful. From my personal experience it really helps, especially if it's a field that you are interested in pursuing later. For me, journalism is something that I'm interested in doing, so this job helped me a lot in terms of the practical skills that I would not have learnt otherwise. For example, learning to interview people, learning to edit articles, developing my writing style and so on. These are skills that you cannot learn by merely reading about them. Also doing a job gives you an idea about what it is like to work in that field and this can help you to clarify your doubts and whether you want to pursue it as a career.

The experience of actually living out the role that you've dreamt of playing can be very gratifying. And it takes you to an entirely new plane of work. It's a taste of the real world- you meet a broader range of people and it gives you a lot of confidence. All this experience is definitely an asset when it comes to actually working later- it gives you an edge over other graduates. And of course, the fact that you are earning money is very gratifying. Even if you are not selected for the job, just the experience of appearing for an interview is a big confidence booster.

 It is not easy to handle a job along with college life. You have to be careful that your studies do not suffer. Taking up a job can be stressful and balancing studies, college activities, the job and family commitments can be quite challenging. You need to cultivate time management skills and work on organizing all aspects of your life. Another thing that can occur (especially if it's a job you do not particularly enjoy) is that you can get burnout or be fed up with work overload very soon while still in college. College years, say many, are the last 'fun' years in one's life before the person starts a professional life. It may be silly to take up a job during this time which might not allow you to fully enjoy college life (except for people who need to do a job to finance their education). Also, jobs like those in call centres may be a source of great income, but they may be a waste of time, because they may not contribute to a person's development in any way. Do we really want to spend important years of our life in a job that we get nothing out of except for an attractive pay packet? So you need to prioritize your goals and clarify your reasons for taking up a job whilst still in college.

It's important to think about what it is that you are looking for in a job. Do you need to do a job to support your education and family? Or do you want a job that will help you in your future career? Or is it just the fact that doing a job adds value to your resume that excites you? Accordingly you can decide what kind of a job to do. You also need to think about whether you will be able to handle the extra demands that a job places on your time and energy and then decide whether you should take up part time employment while in college. Maybe you can take up vacation jobs if you feel juggling work and college life will be too difficult. Also, one needs to carefully evaluate various factors about the job, such as whether the job will really give you what you're looking for, what the work atmosphere is like, whether you can handle the work timings and so on.
The basic message is that doing a vacation job can be both very exciting and very stressful, so one needs to consider this decision carefully and then make an informed choice.

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