6 perfect student jobs ideas to fit your schedule

Before we get into the roles themselves, here are some generalised tips for searching for student jobs in New Zealand:

• Filter for part-time or contract roles: when job hunting with Trade Me Jobs, you can filter your search results by ‘job type’, which essentially means contract type. Given that you’re unlikely to be seeking full-time work while you’re studying, you might want to set this to part-time or contract. The latter will also include casual roles, where you can pick up and decline shifts depending on what your schedule allows.

• Create a cover letter: you might think that picking up a bit of bar work a couple of times a week doesn’t mean you need to bother with writing a cover letter, and that a CV will do. Our advice? Go the whole hog. If someone else applies and does write a cover letter, who will the owner think is more interested in the job?

• Don’t get disheartened: you might think that student job search is easier in bigger cities like Auckland and Wellington as there are more businesses in these places. However, these places also have bigger student populations, with lots of people applying for similar roles. Don’t give up if you aren’t successful at first, there are plenty of roles out there, you just need to keep looking.

Another staple student job is working in retail. In practice, this means working in an environment in which you’re selling products to customers – this includes everything from big highstreet chains like Cotton On or a small family run souvenir shop. Depending on your skills, you might be on the shop floor interacting with customers, or helping with the online side of the business, by packaging deliveries or receiving stock.

Retail is another industry that typically involves shift work, meaning that you can often fit it around your university schedule without too much difficulty.

Skills you’ll learn:

• Communication
• Customer service
• Team work
• Till operation
• Time management
• Conflict management
• Attention to detail
• Inventory management
• Sales skills
• Organisational skills
• Product knowledge
• Money handling.

Looking to turn the tables on the whole teacher-student thing and do some teaching for yourself? Tutoring roles make for perfect student jobs for a number of reasons. Firstly, you can earn good money – you’d typically expect to earn more per hour working as a tutor than you would in sectors such as hospitality or retail. In addition, look really good on your CV, particularly if you’re looking to go into any form of teaching job in your career. And, again, the hours tend to be pretty flexible, and often based in the evening.

There are often a wide variety of tutor roles available, because people have all sorts of different interests or needs when it comes to learning. So, whether you’re a whizz at coding, guitar or teaching foreign languages, there’s a good chance that there’s a great tutoring side hustle out there for you.

Skills you’ll learn:

• Subject mastery
• Communication
• Emotional intelligence
• Patience
• Leadership
• Organisation
• Positivity

One of the beauties of freelancing is the flexibility to take on work as and when you want it, and then dial this back when you’ve got other things going on – exam periods, for instance. You’ll often also be able to do these jobs from the comfort of your own home (top tip, you can search specifically for work from home roles on Trade Me Jobs).

Common freelance jobs include copywriting, photography, videography, editing, graphic design, web design, data entry, and social media marketing.

One of the downsides to this is that it can take a while to build up a pool of clients to take work from. However, there are a number of websites out there that cater specifically to freelancers, and where businesses come when they’re looking for someone to employ on this basis. These include:

• Upwork
• Fiverr
• The Freelance Village
• Bark
• Unicorn Factory

What you’ll learn:

• Communication
• Finance management
• Invoicing
• Subject mastery
• Relationship building
• Organisation

From Uber Eats to DoorDash, there are plenty of food delivery services currently operating in Aotearoa New Zealand, and all of these businesses need people to get the food from A to B. And this is where you could come in.

These roles offer real flexibility, allowing you to essentially work as much or as little as you want, according to your needs and schedule. In many cases, you can see how much you’ll earn before you accept the job, making this an efficient way to earn. Plus, if you choose to deliver by bike, you’re getting paid for a work out!

Skills you’ll learn:

• Time management
• Communication
• Customer service
• Organisation
• Working under pressure

Looking for something a little more exciting? Lifeguarding makes for a great student job, particularly if you’re after a role to take you through the summer, perhaps at an outdoor pool?

This role looks great on your CV, as it comes with real responsibilities – looking after peoples’ health and safety. In addition, it’s another job that will help you stay fit and healthy. Win-win.

What you’ll learn:

• Communication
• People management
• Leadership skills
• Emotional intelligence
• Attentiveness
• First aid skills (a requirement to be a lifeguide)
• Patience
• Teamwork
• Problem solving