Alongside Your Studies
Working and volunteering while you study can be a great way to develop your skills and earn some money.
Part time work and volunteering
Part time work and volunteering opportunities give you excellent examples of how you have developed your transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, organisation, and working under pressure, which will be highly valued by employers.
MyCareerHub
You can search for part-time work on the Careers Service jobs portal MyCareerHub.
Students' Association Jobs
Edinburgh University Student's Association offers a Student Employment Service with a range of opportunities available throughout the year.
Careers Service
The Careers Service website features useful advice on looking for part time work including:
- an introduction to common part time jobs and employers in Edinburgh,
- where to find job vacancies, and
- combining part-time work and study.
How to Use MyCareerHub
- Video: Using the Careers Service - Finding Jobs and Employers
- Describing how to look for part-time jobs and semester jobs, vacation work and internships, and graduate job vacancies advertised on MyCareerHub. Also explains how to identify employers in particular sectors using MyCareerHub.
Volunteering
Volunteering is a great way to develop your skills and enhance your CV. Find out about volunteering opportunities on the University website.
The Student Ambassador Role
Our Biological Sciences Student Ambassadors help to represent our School and the wider University in a variety of ways throughout the year.
This includes live events (in-person or online) such as Open Days, Offer Holder Days and Online Information Sessions, as well as ongoing tasks such as monitoring and providing content for our new student Facebook group.
Responsibilities could involve:
- answering questions from prospective students and parents,
- helping with tours of campus, or
- writing a student profile or blog post for our website.
The role gives you a chance to enhance and share your experiences from your time at University as well as a being a great example to include on your CV.
Applying
Applications are open at certain points in the year, you can either keep an eye on our newsletter, or email us to find out more.
The Edinburgh Award is the University's Award scheme which recognises your achievements outside of your degree programme. If you work part time during semester or vacation or if you do an internship you may be eligible to complete the Edinburgh Award.
You can find out more about the Edinburgh Award and whether you're eligible on the Edinburgh Award website. You can participate in the Edinburgh Award purely through virtual experience .
There are many different varieties of the Edinburgh Award, details of activities and versions are available on the Edinburgh Award website.
These courses offer a reflective framework for students to gain academic credits for co and extra-curricular experience and to develop their own set of personal and professional skills and attributes through this experience.
Students as Change Agents (SAChA)
Students as Change Agents is a safe 'living lab' approach for students, staff and external partners to tackle real-life challenges and generate fresh thinking.
Students as Change Agents (SAChA)
FreshSight
Interested in getting experience in consultancy? FreshSight is a student run consultancy working to provide innovative business solutions for socially conscious organisations.
If you are interested in a research project you will need to reach out and make contact with the supervisor.
Generally these research projects are unpaid, but you can find details on external funding sources via the Biological Sciences resources page on Careers Service Plus.