If you are just beginning to research part-time job opportunities on campus, you have come to the right place. In a previous blog, I have written about finding meaningful work — something that allows you to give back to society, learn a new skill and enrich your CV. In this blog, I write about my top search spaces when I was looking for on-campus, part-time job opportunities. If you have any other tips, feel free to leave them in the comments below. Together, we can create a resource for public good!

Research centres, departments and professors: Before you become a registered student, and prior to your arrival at LSE, reaching out to professors, research centres and departments is a good place to begin. Write to them sharing details about your skills and experiences, expressing your desire to work and share your CV with them. If you can speak to former students who have worked as research assistants and inquire about projects and funding, you would be able to tailor your application better. I used LinkedIn extensively to reach out to student RAs and other LSE alums.

You can also check out LSE Careers’ resources about CV and cover letter online. I would also recommend writing to LSE Careers. While they won’t be able to tell you a lot until you are registered, they can share a potential list of websites to get you started. But fair warning, not all departments or professors are recruiting each term, and often positions are filled over the summer (meaning well before your arrival in London). 

So how do you narrow down which centres, professors and departments to reach out to? One way to do this is by looking at department news and following Twitter accounts of the centres with which your interests align the most. This is because departments and centres continuously share the news of their achievements, and updates on news projects, fellowships and funding. This would give you an idea about which department to priortise. 

LinkedIn and Facebook: As mentioned above, I used LinkedIn extensively to identify work opportunities and to network. I also used Facebook groups to connect with the graduating batch of LSE students. Since the soon-to-be alums had already spent about a year at LSE, they were able to share their thoughts, ideas and experiences. I am particularly grateful to MSc Human Rights students from the 2018-19 batch who shared internship and job opportunities, tips on housing, and referred me to their peers who were already working as consultants with multilateral organisations. Also, a huge shout-out to LSE alums Anita, Divya, Reema, Loïc and Elizabeth for taking out time and speaking with me. Thanks to UCL alum Trishla for jobs, internship and housing tips.

I also used LinkedIn to create job alerts, filtering them by location and time commitment. This helped me organise my daily opportunity checks.

LSESU: Another place to look for part-time jobs on-campus work is LSESU’s website. They recruit students to assist different teams, including Clubs and Societies, and Hospitality and Catering. Some of the application deadlines are well before Welcome week, so keep an eye out for them. On a personal note, I have loved working with the SU. The teams I have worked with are warm, non-judgemental and supportive. They try and make time to chat despite so much on their plates. This means that if you are not sure about the role, you can write to them and chat with them for more clarity.

Note: LSESU also runs students elections, including for some paid, part-time positions. Clubs and societies also have their own recruitment for officer positions, these are generally unpaid but great for building contacts and developing skills.

LSE CareerHub: If you have received your LSE IT credentials, you can access LSE CareerHub to look for job opportunities too. I used CareerHub to filter part-time work that aligned with my skills. Often, a lot of opportunities posted would be full-time. But I reached out to the point of contact to see if they would consider part-time applicants, and on several occasions, this worked in my favour. On LSE CareerHub, you will find Parliamentary internship opportunities. These are great for first-hand experience and also to get paid. 

Research ORA: There are also some paid opportunities to do research work as an ORA, or Occasional Research Assistant. You can find the application document and the application process online. 

GAPS newsletter: Gender Action for Peace & Security publishes newsletters with a round-up of opportunities in the international development space, and related fields. These wouldn’t be on campus jobs though!