Finding Part-Time Work in and around Canterbury
Kent Union Jobshop is a completely free employment service provided by Kent Union for students studying
at The University of Kent in Canterbury and Medway. Our aim is to provide all students with access to job
opportunities that will enhance your future employability.
What can Jobshop do to help?
 Jobshop is here to help you find temporary, part-time and seasonal work whilst you are a student, as
well as provide you with advice and job hunting tips.
 Our jobs are not all campus based, many external businesses and individuals will also advertise with us
because they have jobs suitable to fit around your studies.
 We have all sorts of jobs including admin, IT, bar & catering, teaching, health & care, retail and more.
1. Email Alerts from jobshop@kent.ac.uk – Sent out every Friday, our Jobs of the Week email is just a
snap shot of what's on offer.
2. Exclusive access to our Jobs Board - By signing up to Jobshop you also have exclusive access to our Jobs
Board which is for Kent students only. The website has full application details for all our jobs on it. We
update the website weekly, sometimes daily. We recommend that you log in and check jobs at least
twice a week to ensure that you don't miss out.
3. Facebook - (search for jobshopkent) Have you liked us on Facebook yet? We update Facebook by
posting jobs available in the local area with direct links to their website, jobs page or advert so that you
can apply to the company directly online. These jobs aren't available on our Jobs Board because these
jobs tend to be with large local companies and are available to everyone, not just Kent students (so be
extra quick to apply if you see anything of interest!).
4. On Facebook we also share tips on job hunting, CV’s, interviews and networking.
For campus jobs also check:
University and Kent Hospitality jobs: https://jobs.kent.ac.uk
Kent Union jobs: www.kentunion.co.uk/employability/
What sorts of jobs are available in Canterbury town centre?
As a tourist town, Canterbury offers numerous opportunities for casual work. Most will be in retail,
restaurants, hotels and bars. Due to the high foot fall in the city centre, most retail outlets as well as bars
and restaurants based centrally advertise themselves either via a “help wanted” sign in their window or on
a countertop or via their own web page on the internet.
Canterbury is not just about retail, bar and restaurant jobs though –
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There is also a big conference trade in Canterbury and the University as well as large hotels and
boarding schools; they tend to have a high demand for catering, cleaning and housekeeping staff.
Many of the visitors to Canterbury are language students and the language schools regularly seek
part-time English and European Language tutors as well as social activities organisers.
Top Tip: Be vigilant and regularly check as you walk down the high street. Don’t “spray and pray” your
CV to every outlet, be selective and make a list of the places that you’re interested in working in and why,
then google their webpages and check their career page at least once or twice a week!
For further information, go to www.kentunion.co.uk/jobs or email jobshop@kent.ac.uk.
Around and about East Kent
If you have your own car and are prepared to travel outside of Canterbury and across East Kent you can
find opportunities within the travel and leisure industry around Dover and Ashford; there are many call
centres around Ashford, Folkestone and Thanet; and manufacturing such as fruit picking, packing salads/
food items and assembling goods in close proximity to Canterbury by car; as well as a large retail park in
Ashford just 15 minutes by train from Canterbury West station.
Recruitment agencies can be helpful, particularly if you have secretarial, typing, admin or computing skills.
Some agencies also recruit for jobs requiring no specific qualifications or experience, such as cleaning, silver
service waiting or fruit packing.
Recommended websites
When you're job searching there's numerous job and agency websites - some good and some not so good.
Here are five that I think will give you the best results:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Jobsinkent.com
Indeed.co.uk
Reed.co.uk
Totaljobs.com
Monster.co.uk
Supermarkets and major chain stores will recruit through their own websites. Google search “jobs at
…..” to find the jobs page for where you are interested in working.
Here are a few to get you started:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Morrisons.jobs/
Jobs.walmart.com/uk/canterbury/asda-jobs/
careers.marksandspencer.com/careers-at-m-and-s/
debenhams-careers.com/join/
jobsearch.tesco-careers.com/
primark.com/en/careers/search-and-apply
Worth keeping an eye on 1. For loads of retail jobs try Bluewater(near to Chatham): bluewater.e-cruitnow.com
2. For Jobs in Whitefriars shopping centre: whitefriars-canterbury.co.uk/jobs/
3. For jobs in Ashford retail outlet centre: mcarthurglen.com/uk/ashford-designer-outlet/en/careers
Happy Job Hunting!
Tina and the Jobshop Team 
Top Tip: Nearly all companies now have the facility on their job vacancy page to sign up for regular
job alerts, so do this for each of the companies you are interested in working for.
Create a list of websites and check at least once or twice a week. Jobs change daily in fast moving
industries and areas of high competition for jobs such as Canterbury.
For further information, go to www.kentunion.co.uk/jobs or email jobshop@kent.ac.uk.
COMPETENCIES
It is estimated that over 70% of students work at some stage during their course. Most of these
part time jobs are simply to earn some money to help pay your way through University but still
provide useful experience and insights and are helpful in presenting future employers with
evidence of skills such as team work, working under pressure, dealing with people and balancing
the demand of work and study.
Every job, no matter how unconnected to your future graduate career it may seem represents the
opportunity for you to sell yourself and demonstrate you have skills and experience gained in the
“real world”.
Some examples of core competencies sought by graduate employers and how your student job
can demonstrate you’ve gained the skill –
1. PEOPLE SKILLS – dealing with customers; managing tricky situations; listening to, persuading
and advising customers on products all show you have good interpersonal skills.
2. RESPONSIBILITY – handling money and locking up in a shop, bar or office demonstrates you are
trustworthy and responsible.
3. LEADERSHIP – retail, bar or cleaning supervisor roles show you can guide, direct and motivate
others.
4. TEAMWORK – retail, bar and cleaning jobs all require high levels of team work and cooperation
and shows you can work towards a common goal and support others.
5. PERSUASION – negotiating with your employer, colleagues or staff to agree mutually beneficial
outcomes shows you can manage conflict and find solutions.
6. FLEXIBLE – shift work, unsociable hours, taking cleaning/retail/bar work shows you are flexible
about how, when and where you work.
7. DETERMINED AND TENACIOUS – sticking to your work and study schedule shows you can cope
with long hours, deadlines and pressure.
8. WORKING UNDER PRESSURE – working during busy trading times, working to targets etc shows
you can handle stressful situations at work and up your pace when the situation calls for it.
9. TIME MANAGEMENT – arriving at work on time, juggling work with study and other
commitments shows you can manage yourself and your schedule.
10. COMMERCIAL AWARENESS – working for any organisation will give you an insight in to how a
business is run and will demonstrate you can follow company policies and procedures.
Top Tip: Use your part-time work experience to demonstrate on your CV that you have some
“real world” experience. This means you have worked towards commercially driven
objectives and experienced a professional working environment with rules and regulations.
Ask employers in advance of graduating if they will be your future referees. A good
relationship with your line manager now will pay dividends later on with an excellent
reference. They can help you demonstrate to future employers that you have the skills and
abilities graduate employers are looking for.
For further information, go to www.kentunion.co.uk/jobs or email jobshop@kent.ac.uk.