Finding a job
How do I look for a student job?
- Talk to people: parents, friends, neighbours … Word of mouth is one of the best ways to find a job. If you know people who work in a company, they may be able to help you too.
- Send a curriculum vitae and a cover letter to the companies you are interested in or to those who are looking for students.
- Read the advertisements in the local papers but watch out for jobs that are too well paid to be true!
- Register with a temping agency, they usually are on the look out for students to satisfy their clients.
- Surf on internet, some specialized sites have job vacancies, contact the “Jeunesse” & “Affaires sociales” (youth and social affairs) service of your municipality. They sometimes need help for administrative work or for child care.
Keep in mind all these different possibilities!
Which company? What type of job?
There is no precise answer to this question. You can apply for a job in a supermarket, cafe, restaurant, in a company that needs to replace employees during the holidays … You can work as a waiter, cashier, animator, delivery person… you have a large choice! You can also find a job in relation with your studies: a student nurse may want to apply for a job as an orderly.
However, some sectors are more privileged than others :
- Agriculture, silviculture : seasonal employment: fruit picking, beet campaign...
- Industries : material handling, transports, production worker …
- Shops : cashier, stock counting, shop keeper …
- Hotels and restaurants : waiter, barman, cook-helper, kitchen-hand, employee in a fast-food restaurant …
- Post office and telecommunications : sorting post, telephone operator…
- Business services : industrial cleaning, receptionists, advertisement…
- Public administration : some administration services need students for administrative, maintenance tasks or for animation …
- Health and social action : orderly in old people’s homes, playground leader…
- Sanitation, waste management : work in container parks…
- Cultural, sporting and recreational activities : work in a theme park, lifeguard, sightseeing guide…
When is the best time to look for a job?
It is easier to find a job at certain moments of the year …
- Apply in June or July to pick fruit in September
- In February, look out for vacancies in theme parks.
- Send your CV as of the Easter holidays to work in a playground.
- Apply for a summer holiday job in a shop or industry as of January.
- In March, the tourism sector and restaurants will already be looking for you services.
Whatever you do, do not wait until the last minute when applying for a job.