As an international grad student in the U.K., Alice Moscicki got a job as an assistant accountant at a local firm. She worked two or three hours per day, Monday through Friday, doing mostly data entry.
Her days were full as a working student, but Moscicki, a U.S. and Polish citizen working toward a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, managed to fit everything in.
“I got really good at reading a textbook while walking,” she says.
Prospective international students planning to study in Europe may get a job once they are abroad out of financial necessity or to gain employment experience. Either way, there are laws they’ll have to obey in the process.
[Get to know the pros and cons of earning a bachelor’s degree in Europe.]
These regulations vary depending on the student’s nationality and host country. Here are some of the major rules on the books in two popular countries for international students.
United Kingdom
Students who hail from European Union or European Economic Area member countries face few to no work restrictions in many EU nations.
When Moscicki started her program in London, the U.K. had not yet voted to leave the EU. Thanks to her Polish citizenship, she didn’t have to worry about work restrictions.
However, at this point, it is uncertain whether EU students will lose this freedom in the future as a result of Brexit, a common term for Britain’s exit from the EU.
“It is theoretically possible that EU students could be subject to visa controls and therefore also have limited (or no) work entitlements,” Dominic Scott, chief executive at the UK Council for International Student Affairs, said via email. He said there’s hope that some sort of compromise might be reached.
Students can read more about the potential implications of Brexit on the council’s website.
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International students at U.K. universities who don’t hold citizenship for EU or EEA countries can hold jobs, but there’s a limit to the number of hours they can clock. Students who hold a Tier 4 (General) visa and are studying at a degree level at an approved institution can work 20 hours per week during the semester, according to the UK Council for International Student Affairs.
These same students can work full time during breaks in the academic year, according to the council.
Though a 20-hour-per-week schedule is permitted, Maggie Dallman, professor and associate provost at Imperial College London, says that amount of work might be a lot for students to handle with a full course load. “We encourage more like 10 to 15 hours a week,” she says.
Students in the U.K. can visit the website of their university’s students’ union — a student-run organization that represents student interests and often funds campus activities as well as student clubs — for employment leads. These sites may contain postings for jobs with the students’ union as well as outside jobs in the area.
Germany
Foreign students from outside the EU or EEA who want to study in Germany will also face work hour restrictions. These students are limited to 120 full days or 240 half days of work per year unless they gain special government approval, according to the German Academic Exchange Service.
However, international students who work as research assistants on campus don’t face time restrictions, although they will still need to consult the government during the application process, according to the exchange service. But the general belief in Germany is that work should not take precedence over or interfere with studies, experts say.
[Learn six facts about earning a bachelor’s degree in Germany.]
Money earned from part-time work can go far. Greg Bousamra, a n undergraduate student from the U.S. at the University of Cologne, has an off-campus job at a consulting firm where he does translation work, among other tasks. “I finance myself on a very modest budget — paying rent, paying insurance, everything for under 1,000 euros per month, which I earn working part time,” he says.
University career services offices are a resource that international students can tap to get further tips about where to look for jobs and how to navigate the application process. This is also true in other countries, not just Germany.
For example, prospective and current University of Munich students can browse the school’s job site, which lists external opportunities in the area, as well as another university webpage that shows student assistant openings on campus.
Though many of the job postings require strong German language skills, Johannes Hoch, internship coordinator at the University of Munich‘s Career Service, says there are more jobs for English speakers than there were around five years ago.
Other European universities also maintain job posting sites. Moscicki, the London School of Economics student, found her accounting gig via a job posting site the school has for its students.
Hoch says foreign students possess traits that organizations find valuable. “They put a lot of effort into this new life in another country, so obviously they are a strong person,” he says. “They have a strong personality, and obviously this is very interesting for companies.”
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Learn the Rules for Working While Studying in Europe originally appeared on usnews.com
