How to Make Money at UBC – Part 1

First of all, there’s no quick trick to success. Making money is hard work and even with all the loose money thrown around at UBC, it’s still an arduous process. Be prepared to invest time if you’re serious about making a few hundred quick bucks on the side. This guide is by no means all-encompassing. The stars are sort of random, but they’re quite pretty so I’m using them.

1. Workstudy Jobs

By far the most lucrative job on campus, “UBC Work Study is an employment program that provides students who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents with the opportunity to work on campus in a variety of jobs and earn additional income to help finance their education. Students can work a maximum of 10 hours/week and earn up to $3,000 for the Winter Session (September – April).” I applied for a few but didn’t get them, and slacked off on applying for the rest of the year, heh.

Profitability: Workstudy wages are superb for a students. At the low end there are opportunities for simple sitting-down for $12/h; most are around $16/h while those that require course and/or technical expertise can go up to $18-$20+/h.

Time: Maximum 1 work study job/year, usually maximum 10 hours/week. Perfect for a full time student with a medium course load!

Skills/Difficulty: There is competition to a degree for these jobs, and many of them require upper class credits or understanding of financial modelling, for example. Some of my friends have really easygoing supervisors and allow them to work from home, while others have to adhere to strict hours and standards. These jobs have intellectually glamorous titles which would add some great sugar coating to your already sweet resume. But we’re not doing it for that, are we? It’s all about the experience baby!

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Weekend

This is what my schedule looked like this past weekend.

Friday:
Classes 9am – 12pm
Work in Richmond 1pm – 4:30pm
Meeting (back to UBC) 5:30pm – 7:00pm
Wandering around campus looking for parties (more about this next entry) 7:30pm – 9pm
Work on contract job 10pm-2am

Saturday:
Volunteer 7am – 12:30pm
Work in Richmond 2pm – 10pm

Sunday:
Volunteer 7am – 12:30pm
Group project 1:30pm – 6pm
Got home 7pm

Three Day Total

Spent working: 13.5 hours
Spent volunteering: 11 hours
Spent bussing: 8 hours
Spent sleeping: 10 hours

Although I’m exhausted and am coming down with a cold, I loved every minute of my weekend, especially the volunteering part. I only wish I live closer to the school =(

How was your weekend?