Financial Struggle and Support 

Money is one of the key factors for international students in their educational journey. In an international student’s point of view, for example when spending money, most of them try to covert how much they’re spending to their home currency to decide to spend a certain amount of money or not. Coming to a whole new country, the students might not always have sufficient money with them or in simple terms, a few might be broke. So, in this article, they key issues of financial struggles, support and simple budgeting will be addressed. 

Struggle and Support: 

Struggling to find a job to earn money: 

Many international students tend to look for work as soon as possible after they arrive. Few students might have support from their home country which is great! But for the students who search for jobs, it is difficult to get their first one here in the UK. 

Down below are the commonly job searching platforms: 

• Unitemps: 

Being a student in Staffs, the go to platform for jobs is Unitemps. It is known for having a lot of professional job opportunities e.g., web developer, data analyst etc. There are both part time and full-time job opportunities available. Also, if you want to be a Student Ambassador, unitemps is where you apply for it. So, make sure to subscribe to their email so that you get notified frequently about the openings! 

https://www.staffs.ac.uk/business-services/unitemps 

• Indeed: 

This is the most used job searching platform across the UK. There are a lot of job openings when looking in indeed. You might not always find your ideal job here, but it is something to get started with. Indeed, has both professional and casual jobs. It is very ideal for students who are looking for part time jobs. There are always loads of opportunities in Indeed. So, make sure to always keep an eye on it. 

https://uk.indeed.com/ 

• LinkedIn: 

LinkedIn is commonly used across the country. LinkedIn is quite helpful for making a good portfolio page when you’re moving along with your career after your studies, let it be getting you an internship or placement or at the same time you can find a suitable part time job for you as well.  

https://uk.linkedin.com/company/linkedin/jobs  

• Students Union: 

The students’ Union opens employability opportunities every summer, if you want to be part of our amazing team, keep an eye out on the recruitment portal for the job openings.  

https://www.staffsunion.com/getinvolved/jobs/ 

Budgeting: 

It is hard to find your first job in the UK. Or maybe you found one, but the money is not sufficient. This is the place where budgeting our expenses would act upon the students. What is budgeting first of all? To put it in simple and relevant terms, planning out your expenses until you receive money from your next paycheck. Few students might be good at it but other might not. And being an international student, it might be difficult experience budgeting due to the difference of currency and costs from their home country.  

There is a service, ‘Blackbullion’ which provides resources for ‘how to budget’. As a student it is free to use and worth making use of it. 

https://www.staffs.ac.uk/students/money-matters/blackbullion   

And if you need more information and develop your skills on budgeting, go through the link below where there is a lot of information which is extremely helpful. 

https://staffsuniversity.sharepoint.com/sites/STUDENTSUPPORTANDEXPERIENCE2/SitePages/Advice,-Links-%26-Support.aspx  

Scams: 

Coming to a new country, you always must be aware of your surroundings. People may take an advantage of you for money, so you must be prepared. From the link below, you can find all the relative information regarding scams and how to be aware of them. 

https://staffsuniversity.sharepoint.com/sites/STUDENTSUPPORTANDEXPERIENCE2/SitePages/Scams-to-be-aware-of.aspx 

Emergency crisis resources - SU 

If you have no food and no way of getting food, the Students’ Union’s FoodHub may be able to help. Speak to Student Advice https://www.staffsunion.com/advice/ or the Money and Guidance team https://www.staffs.ac.uk/students/support/student-support-and-experience/home if you need this in an unexpected crisis. 

If you have cash needs in a crisis (for example to keep fuel flowing through token meters), there is a small pot if SU Crisis Loan money. It is a loan, and the most you can borrow is £50, but it’s interest-free. Speak to Student Advice Team https://www.staffsunion.com/advice/ if you need this in an unexpected crisis. 

-Other information: 

The University’s International Team has created a SharePoint for the international students where a lot of useful information can be found. 

https://staffsuniversity.sharepoint.com/sites/STUDENTSUPPORTANDEXPERIENCE2/SitePages/International.aspx 

To sum up everything, if you are struggling with anything, you can overcome it with three simple steps: 

• Find out: Find out what it is you’re struggling with and how the university services can help you. 

• Reach out: Don’t be afraid to Reach to them because they can and will help you out. 

• Take action: Take action and overcome the hurdles you’re facing. 

If you do need help with anything else, don’t be afraid to reach out to studentengagement@staffs.ac.uk .