Uni Student And Soldier: I Chose The Army As My Part-Time Job

Student life is a unique lifestyle that evokes certain stereotypes, some false, some very much true. The partying, the casual sex, the drinking and drugs, the debt, and perhaps the most justified, the part time jobs.

Student jobs, by and large, are not fun. You stack shelves, you make coffee, you bag fries, and you get paid a depressing hourly rate which always seems to magically turn into alcohol. We’ve all thought at some point ‘one hour down, 2 shots up’, right? Most of us can simply grind through these tedious jobs, motivated by the thought of clocking out at the end of the shift. But there are some of us, myself included, who just don’t fit that routine.

Part-time jobs don’t have to be boring and menial…

I found myself struggling to hold down jobs like the above, because truthfully, everything about them seemed so trivial. The thought of a customer whining because there are no tins of baked beans on the shelves may appear a genuine complaint to some, but to people like me, it’s irritating and petty. I won’t apologise to anyone who makes a fuss over tiny inconveniences like waiting longer for fast food or coffee, especially to those who play the ‘I won’t be coming here again’ card. Sorry, but here are far worse things happening to far better people.

But where do you go when you lose your patience with the pettiness of civilian part-time employment? Well I joined the Army Reserve.

The British Army Reserve is a godsend to any student, despite there being relatively few student soldiers. I found out about the army reserve accidentally. I had no idea it existed until somebody told me the TA had been replaced. I looked at the British Army website which presented an excellent case for applying: it’s a really flexible job to have, especially as a student, with lots of the work being based on weekends.

The role of a reservist is essentially to stay trained and ready to support the regular army. Because the army has so many roles, the reservists do too. You might have to serve, but deployments in the army reserve are less common, and almost always optional: reservists also have civilian lives outside of their military career.

My career in the Army Reserve began after leaving my last civilian job. Life really changes once you become an attested soldier. Gone are the days of the defunct Territorial Army, and with it, gone are the days of getting out of bed at 3pm, drinking into the early hours and procrastinating. In their place is the more disciplined, more efficient, more professional British Army Reserve.

Joining the Army Reserve installs every skill needed to succeed as both a soldier and a student: self-discipline, organization, mental resilience, physical fitness, focus and self-reliance. The main perk to life as a student-gone-soldier is the way other people treat you compared to civilian students. Civilian students are burdened with a general distaste from the non-student population. This changes once you become a soldier. There is no casual irritability and disrespect, nor do you have to worry about people’s petty concerns. Instead, you get a job which pays you handsomely, with offers opportunities found nowhere else: in no other part time job are you paid to use the gym, or go to shooting ranges, or go on survival weekends. You trade working low-energy shifts for a high-energy, action packed job and friendships which cannot be formed elsewhere.

As far as I know, most soldiers have weekly drill nights, along with paid weekends away and other optional, longer deployments. You do need to attend and show commitment, however not every weekend deployment is mandatory. With so much of it being weekend-based, it has minimal impact on education, and you can even do your initial basic training either all in one, or on weekends, so education can continue uninterrupted. The bases are generally close-by, although it depends which part of the army you are joining. Personally, the base which I attend is literally within 10 minutes on foot from my place of study. Applicants normally find that there are bases near their home or workplace, and with the vast range of available jobs, there’s almost always something to apply your skills to.

As in any job, you make what you earn in the Army Reserve. The rates of pay can change according to rank, regiment and length of service. There is an annual tax-free bounty for fully-trained soldiers which starts relatively low, but rises over 5 years to around £1600, provided standards maintained. It’s essentially like an annual bonus. Basic training is also paid generously, with a full daily rate and bonuses upon completion.

Next time you find yourself working a depressing shift, taking petty complaints and feeling stuck on the treadmill of a low-energy life, imagine a job where you get to serve the country, have the best laughs of your life, all the while getting paid for every minute in a role suited to your chosen career path. Get more action, get more energy, and get your application filled in to join the British Army Reserve.