5 Ways for International Students to Earn Living Expenses!

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening, everyone! Today I want to share 5 ways for international students to make money that I've gathered from all over!

I'm not holding anything back today, so here goes 🥰 ⭐️⭐️ = how strongly I recommend it～

👉Part-time work in your field: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is what I do now. The pay actually isn't high, about the same as a regular part-time job🥲🥲 but you get +4 months of experience. The downsides: the application process is complicated, the work means thinking and coming up with strategies, the risk of getting fired is high, and the requirements are higher too. You need at least enough English to communicate with your manager.

👉Regular part-time job at a drink shop/restaurant: ⭐️⭐️ Base starting pay, you can get free drinks and food, and it's not hard to get! But restaurants usually have lots of people on the rota, so you actually can't get many shifts a month, 8 hours at most🥺 Over a month that's about 8*4*10=320 pounds, which actually isn't bad! You can also make friends with coworkers. The downsides are that it's tiring, there's not much chance to build experience, you don't interact much with customers, and you get few chances to practice your English.

👉Online English/Chinese tutoring: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ You need to send a résumé and interview! I once applied to an online course platform in Taiwan, but gave up because lesson prep would affect my studies… I'd suggest students in languages or education give it a try. I remember the pay being good: platforms like longoda are hiring teachers at 15-20£, and the hours are more flexible. But preparing materials outside class is a cost too🥲

👉Working remotely for Taiwan: ⭐️⭐️ Some friends keep taking work from their home country. You keep your existing network + keep building experience, but the downside is that the time difference often causes problems with meetings and discussions. A Taiwanese salary also struggles to cover UK living costs… the hourly wage in Taiwan is only about 4.5£🥺

👉Paid internship at a company: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is the dream position. Sometimes the pay is good too, maybe up to 20£/hr. The biggest difference between an intern and a part-timer is whether someone mentors you. A good company assigns a full-time employee to help you get to know the company, and you don't have to carry KPIs. Since you're an asset the company is investing in long-term, when they hire you they consider whether your personality fits the company and whether you can adapt to the British work style (HR here really cares about the work atmosphere!)

I quietly observed the personalities of the friends who landed internships. They ask questions in class, speak very directly but often with a smile, know the latest industry knowledge, organize their thoughts quickly, are confident and enjoy discussions, and take part in campus activities. You can use these traits as a reference～ Regular internships in the UK are usually paid too (not the ones arranged through school partnerships). Besides boosting your résumé for future applications, you get into the UK workplace to learn the work environment ++ build your network!

My friends strongly recommend using LinkedIn and networking through department clubs ❤️ But most of the friends I've met who intern at companies are locals. It's really hard to find this kind of internship on a one-year master's. I'd suggest making the most of the school's partner companies as soon as you start, or studying at a school in London. ✨I think location largely decides how likely you are to find work during the term (it matters less after graduation). I hope everyone manages to survive in the UK! That's it for today's quick share～ See you next time👋