A student job in Marseille: the right way to finance your accommodation ?

Freedom is yours! Come on, say goodbye to mum and dad, you're off to study in Marseille next year! You can picture it already, drinking your coffee on the old port and swimming in the Calanques National Park! To cover the cost of renting your accommodation (you don’t want to live in a slum), consider finding a student job in Marseille.

How to choose your student job in Marseille?

Leaving the cosy nest of mum and dad (keep those tears in) is amazing! But not so fast, leaving home also means having to pay your rent (or at least part of it if your parents are nice). Unsurprisingly, accommodation is the biggest expense for students in Marseille and elsewhere. So, before you start dreaming of aperitifs on the terrace (and paying for rounds), you’ll need to find a student job with a fixed salary each month. There is some good news: Marseille is a lively city, so there’s no shortage of student job offers. Sign up on specialist websites, look at the advertisements posted at the CROUS (It might be old hat but it works), check out the offers in the newspapers, talk about your search on your Insta, in short, get moving!

 The criteria to keep in mind when looking for your student job: 

• Choose year-round contracts with flexible working hours (your schedule will change from one semester to the next)
• Don’t consider full-time contracts (you can’t study properly if you’re always at work) or underpaid jobs (student or not, the minimum wage is still a thing!)
• Be proactive: first come, first served!

What sectors of activity recruit students in Marseille?

Obviously, the dream student job should be as lucrative as possible and consume as little time as possible, so you still have some free time (we all agree). But as dreams don’t always correspond to reality, target the sectors of activity in Marseille that recruit students. Hotels, restaurants, retail, education, tourism, cultural information and leisure facilities recruit students every year.

Student jobs with one-off assignments (you’ll finish just in time for the beach party) can help you make ends meet. Distributing leaflets, tutoring (you’re smart and a future teacher), childcare, dog-sitting: there are plenty of options!

Choosing awesome accommodation within your budget

To successfully finance your accommodation through your student job, you also need to pick a flat that fits your budget. If you're aiming for a 100 m² loft in the old port, that might be a bit of a stretch... Before signing a lease or an employment contract, get your calculator out and work out the salary to rent ratio. Remember to include all utilities (water, electricity, etc.) and property tax (except for university accommodation, which is exempt) in the accommodation cost. Rest assured, it is possible to find a student residence in Marseille that’s affordable and comfortable in a great location. An excellent option? The Nemea Appart'Etud residences.