Job options for the students in Serbia

Promotions and Manual Work

Most often, students work during those months that immediately follow examination periods. And while some, either due to the nature of the job or some personal organization, work a few days each week; there are also others who work every, or almost every day during their free months, but the time before the exams they spend exclusively studying for them


By DUŠICA ANTIĆ
from Belgrade, SERBIA


Alignment of the student syllabuses with the Bologna Declaration has been carried out in most colleges at the Serbian Universities. Several student generations, who, according to the statistics, will get their diplomas faster than their older colleagues, have already been enrolled. However, there are still many of those older colleagues around in Serbia.

When the old syllabuses were in effect, a large number of students took more years than had been envisaged to graduate from college. As time went on, the economic situation of many of them changed, so they themselves had to start working because the money they got from their parents was no longer enough to cover all their needs.

Pocket Money and Summer Vacations

Maja Andjelkovic, an administrative assistant at the youth cooperative "Bulevar", says there are students who start working as soon as they get into college (some even as early as high school), others work just a few times a month, and there are also occasions when they would come, become members of the cooperative and never show up again or refuse most of the offered jobs. There are no rules, it has been stressed at this cooperative.

The age when young people start working varies from case to case. So do the reasons why. Some begin to work solely to have bigger allowances, some a piece of wardrobe, or they see it as a way to pay for their summer vacations. However, there are also others who work to support themselves or to be able to pay for their college tuition fees.

Ana Brkljac, a student at the Faculty of Philology, began to work after having had to repeat a year at college. At first, she worked only weekends, but her financial situation changed in the meantime, leading her to work six days a week. Currently, she is employed with a company for the testing of public opinion. She says that working every day is extremely tiring. The fortunate circumstance is that she has already attended all the courses at college, otherwise, as she states, it would have been virtually impossible for her to manage everything.

Goran Krljar, a student at the Faculty of Law, works as a coordinator at a marketing agency. At first, he started working in order to pay for his tuition fees, but now he works to cover his personal expenses as well. On average, he works from three to four days a week. Occasionally, when the needs of the firm require it, he works more days, but fortunately such situations occur rarely, and he has time to study.

From Double Shifts to Excursion

There are certain differences when it comes to the nature of the jobs men and women do. The jobs for young women include sticking declarations, stacking goods on the shelves and cleaning business facilities. Women are interested in working at the promotions the most, we are told at the cooperative.

Ana Jovanovic and Rada Kenic, both students at the Teacher Faculty, work as promoters. "For over six months we have been working as promoters and going to college at the same time. We work from seven to eight hours, three days a week. The money we earn is not enough for us to support ourselves, but it covers some of our personal expenses. It's not easy to coordinate work and college, but we are doing our best."

Via student cooperatives, men mostly do manual work such as unloading of the goods and moving, and sometimes less physically strenuous jobs can be found, such as the imput of data into a computer.

We are told at the student cooperative DOB that some students even work as telephone interviewers.

"From November 2006 to November 2008, I used to work for an agency that conducted public-opinion polls. At the same time I went to college. The upside was that I met a lot of new true friends during the time I freelanced. I even managed to save up enough money to go to the senior undergraduate excursion in Spain, but only because I worked double shifts for three months, from 8 AM to 9 PM- it was not easy at all!", says Jelena Jovanovic, a graduated demographer.

When the Exams Are Over

From our interviewees who do not work every day, we learn that they tend to work more during the months that immediately follow examination periods. While some, either due to the nature of the job or some personal organization, work a few days each week, there are also others who work every, or almost every day during their free months and spend the time before the exams exclusively studying for them.

Sladjana Dragicevic, a student of economics, and Mirijana Bartula, a student of medicine, work as much as their schedules allow them, but they say they avoid working and studying simultaneously. "It's either one or the other at a time. Personally, it doesn't suit me to work every day, so I adjust work with the time when I'm not studying for the exams", says Sladjana.

Beside the jobs offered at the cooperatives, there are jobs that a large number of people in Serbia can do as additional work. They are available for students as well. Catalogue sales of jewelry and especially cosmetics are a way of trading familiar with most citizens in Serbia. Vesna Zlatkovic, a medical student, says she started at this job during her fourth year in college, and, due to the nature of the job, it did not interfere with her studies a lot. "I sell beauty products of one company. I earn my own allowance. From time to time my parents have to help me because I never know when my next sale is going to be. On the plus side, the job is not time-binding so I don't find it too difficult to adjust to my responsibilities at college".

Youth cooperatives offer an increasingly large number of part-time jobs for high-school and college students. A low living standard of the citizens in Serbia and a poor economic situation are causes to a growing interest among students to find and dedicate themselves to their work-related responsibilities alongside their responsibilities at college.


(Published: 10.03.2009.)