Many want the part-time jobs - these are the experts' best tips for the students

– We are experiencing a significant increased interest in all of our services, but we have capacity for more, Gisle Hellsten, the leader for the Career Center at the University of Oslo (UiO), says.

The pandemic has impacted the job market; employees being furloughed, plummeting turnovers and potential bankruptcies have become the new normal. The situation is not as bad as it might seem though, Hellsten believes.

– Every day we face the media painting a gloomy image of the job market, and even though it is difficult, the entry door is not completely closed.

Hellsten talks about an unusually big interest for the Career Centers services at the end of the first month of the year. In January 2021, 1307 students signed up for digital courses organised by the Career Center, compared with the 412 students who did the same in January 2020. That is more than three times as many.

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Slim market in the private sector

In the Career Center’s experience, the part-time job market in public sector is more or less functioning normally. It is worse in other places.

– It is a poorly kept secret that the private sector has been hit hard. We are seeing that in the retail and service industry, which was hit the hardest, because this industry is closed now.

Harald Jachwitz Andersen, the director for the trade commission in Virke, the main organization for the retail and service industry, confirms this. He says to Universitas that as many as one in four employees under the age of 25 in Norway is employed in the retail industry. Amongst them, there are many students in part-time positions.

– The lockdown has led to a dry market, especially in the shopping centers. There are often many part-time positions at the shopping centers because of the long opening hours. This lockdown is therefore hitting the part-time workers especially hard, Andersen says.

The lockdown came like a bolt of lightning

– We hadn’t imagined that stores would be affected – they haven’t been closed in eleven months. We didn’t expect it, he says.

– It does affect the income

Tobias Aslaksen (21) could recently experience this for himself. The informatics-student at UiO works part-time in the book store chain Norli in a shopping center. He was furloughed for the first time at the end of January.

– I had approximately normal working hours until then, so the bookstore business/industry has perhaps been amongst the lucky ones. It seems like people want to read books and do puzzles during the pandemic, he says.

Aslaksen is furloughed until further notice, and does not know when he will be back at work.

– I have a nice time at work, so it is a pity. It also stops the income flow a bit, but it is okay for the time being.

In addition to the job at the book store, Aslaksen has another job to lean on during this period where he is furloughed. It is still only a matter of time before it will become more difficult.

– If this continues for several weeks, it will be noticeable for my income. I might have to take some action then.

– Does the situation worry you?

– I’m not feeling stressed, but I’m maybe a person who generally stresses a bit less than I should. There’s not that much I can do about it other than wait for further notice. So, I’m not very nervous - at least not right now, he says, and adds:

– But if it doesn’t look like there will be any change, I have to think more about what I spend my money on, and save a bit more.

Created her own part-time job

The UiO-student Christina Eide (24) has managed to get a new job in the tight job market. She took matters into her own hands.

– I got the job because I saw an opportunity that the employer hadn’t seen, and I took some initiative.

As the leader of the Realist association at UiO, Eide discovered a common question amongst the capital’s student associations: How do you actually get a liquor license? And which responsibilities follow?

– I contacted SiO Associations and just asked: «Hi! I see that you don’t have any courses on liquor license and the alcohol law. Would you be interested in offering a course about this?» she explains.

After a few conversations and sparring with her employer, the job was hers.

– It actually went pretty quickly. Now I am going to develop and hold the courses on this throughout spring!

The position is a semester-based engagement position, and for Eide it is a part-time job with some flexibility. She thinks it will give her something to do and also help her economically.

– It will be nice to have something to do that gives value for others now that there are so few other things happening. And it is always nice with some money in the bank. Even though it is not a desperate situation for me now, things can always happen unexpectedly - we’ve experienced that the last few months, she says.

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– Bet on the retail grocery industry

Hellsten, at the Career Center at UiO, encourages the students to continue with the job hunt.

– It is tough, and it is hard, but it is not impossible. It sounds like a cliché, but remember that society needs you, so you shouldn’t lose faith, he says.

– We have experienced negative times now – choose to join the positive one that is coming! Society is going to need massive amounts of knowledge when corona passes. You have to be ready!

The director of Virke agrees.

– It is harder to get a job now than it normally is. But at some time or another, positions will become available for students again like they used to be. We just have to cross all our fingers and toes for a successful vaccination, and that it won’t be much longer, Andersen says.

– Where do you think students have the best chances at getting a part-time job now?

– Go to the industries that so far have not been hit by the Covid-19 measures. In the retail grocery industry, it is especially grocery stores that are relevant. Contrary to most other things, the retail grocery industry has grown during the pandemic. We eat out less, and go to Sweden to shop less often.

Andersen says that warehouses, like Europris, and other stores that are outside of centers, have not been hit by the strictest measures so far.

Ask friends and acquaintances

The UiO-students Eide and Aslaksen have tips for other students about how they can get a job:

– Dare to think those thoughts and ideas that the employers haven’t thought of themselves. It worked for me! Eide says

Aslaksen had a somewhat easier entrance into the job market:

– I had a bit of luck. I knew a person who worked there who recommended me. It was pretty easy then, actually, he says.

– So asking friends and acquaintances is, from my experience, a very good tip!

The Career Center-leaders seven tips for students who are applying for part-time jobs

• Don’t give up! It is a difficult job market, but it is still a job market that has an entrance. Don’t become passive — keep being active.
• Communicate well with the employer by having a professional CV and knowing how to write a good application. This is the part of the job application process that you can control yourself, so do your best to have this part as good as possible.
• Know your market. A company is always a part of something bigger, so learn what this company wants in their employees. For example, it is important that an employee who is sitting behind the cashier in the grocery store, knows more than how to register the groceries. The employer wants traits such as service and a knack for logistics.
• Contact the employer yourself — don’t wait until there is a vacancy. We hope that there will be an ease in the job market for summer, så that means it is smart to apply for jobs that are insecure in this moment. Contact them!
• Use your network. Tell your acquaintances, aunts, uncles, and friends that you are looking for a job. Use your network on social media to look for jobs.
• Use LinkedIn. Make sure you have a professional and tidy profile. There is a function that gives you push notifications when vacancies that match your profile appear.