Looking for a part-time job?

These days, finding a part-time job is not that hard anymore. There are call center companies that accept second year college students. Fast food restaurants accept even fourth year high school students. I know that most cafes, internet cafes, coffee shops and other coffee and pastry places hire college students as well. There are so many options for a student to support himself/herself nowadays.

Back when I was still a student, I tried applying for different jobs. But without a backer, it was impossible to get a part-time job back then. Thanks to my aunt’s husband who has a lot of businessman friends. I was able to get a job related to my course. I didn’t need to fix a cup of coffee for someone. I was actually tasked to do something (bookkeeping) that would really be a work experience for me.

If you are looking for a part-time job, find one that is related to your course, if possible. You can list that down as part of your work experience. And it will be a big advantage once you apply for a job after graduation.

Tags: Looking for a part-time job, Part-time Work

The worst job I had, part 1

Let me share with you a unique work experience I had more than two years ago. It is a traditional Filipino company. A large one that employs a big group of Accounting and Finance people. If my memory serves me right, we were about 15-20 in our group. That’s already a large group for an Accounting and Finance department. This particular department is used to multi-tasking that more often than not, work intended for two to three persons is being done by a single Accountant. Don’t believe me? Ask your Finance person in the office when you get the chance.

So I worked for this investments company as an Accounting Manager. There were four of us and I head the group for the real estate business side. The four managers share staff, which in itself is normal for most companies with more than two managers. Except that each staff handled more than five companies each. It is a conglomerate and it has numerous companies under it. Some are operational and really big. Some are dormant and would just need monthly financial reports for statutory requirements. Each manager handled at least two large operational companies. Which was fine with me. I’ve handled five operational companies when I was still in a BPO so it was small amount of work for me.

The problem lies not in the work itself but with the attitude of the people under me. You see, the staff has been with the company for years. One even was with the company during its pre-operational stage. And that’s more than 15 years already. Imagine that! But these people were never promoted. Salaries increased but their positions remained the same. They were not given a chance to rise above their station in the company. I believe the reason is their educational background and lack of license. The company used to employ non-Accounting graduates. They were the ones left behind…

Part-time work

When I was still in college in the University of Santo Tomas (UST), I was lucky enough to get a 7am to 11am schedule, Mondays to Saturdays. From 1st year to 4th year college, that’s my schedule.

That’s why I was able to work part-time when I was in my 3rd year in college. My aunt’s husband knew a businessman who’s willing to take in an inexperienced bookkeeper. He recommended me and I was lucky enough to get a 1pm to 9pm work schedule. It was hard. But there were days when the boss would allow me to go home early. Or there were days when he would allow me to do my school work in the office or study for an exam.

I did most of the bookkeeping for the company. Up until I graduated in college. I only resigned when I had to start reviewing for the CPA Board Exams.

Doing the part-time job was a big help for me. Financially, I was able to support myself somehow. The pay was not great but more than enough to support my daily expenses at school. Career-wise, I was able to practice my profession early on. While my classmates were still pondering on the theories of Accounting, I was already applying what I learned.

But again, it was not a walk in the park. You really had to work doubly hard. Even when I felt like just going home after a brain-draining exam, I still had to go to work. When my friends were excitedly talking about going to the mall and seeing a movie, I had to squelch the envy I was feeling because I really had to go to work first.

Looking back, it was all worth it, to be honest. I learned a lot from working while studying.

Tags: Bookkeeping, Part-time Work, Theories of Accounting, University of Santo Tomas, UST College Schedule, Working while studying