Good day all,

I’m planning to take a Master’s in Counselling next year (not sure which uni yet) and I was wondering would it be okay to have a part time job when I’m doing my full time studies?

If so, what are some of the suggestions?

Would doing Grab be sufficient?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions and advice.

It depends on how intense is your program, whether it’s coursework or research and your supervisor.

When I did my masters n PhD, I juggle between being a tutor, part time at the university IT center, a lead at an agri tech startup, running my own design and contract manufacturing business, and studies. Mine was mix coursework and research, I was able to managed it as my supervisor was pretty chill, coursework part wasn’t that bad except a few crazy subjects, so I spent the rest of my free time working on other stuffs

Grab would be tough if you’re trying to hit the numbers… what about doing tutoring?

Thank you for the reply and it seems that you really had a lot to handle, glad that you made it through well

I’m guessing for mine would be a mix of coursework and research as well.

Thank you for your reply 😊

I’ve not done tutoring before and I’m not sure if I have the capacity of knowledge to teach.

The other thing that I was thinking of was doing freelance copywriting.

I think ultimately the key to this, IMVHO, is whatever part time work you do should not detract from the ultimate aim and ideally should be related.

In my own case, I did locum jobs at hospital emergency departments and walk in clinics while I was studying for my masters in medicine. Every patient that came in received a specific examination on the area of concern following the masters of medicine’s examination requirements.

Essentially, I got paid to prepare for my exams in a manner of speaking.

That would be the idea scenario.

Good luck with your own journey my friend!

While I'm not too familiar with your field (am in computer science), do look out for any opportunities that could best complement your current expertises and future goals, ask around potential supervisors, labmates/students in your field about it. networking would be essential.

Found and lobang my way into a lot of nice part time roles, like tutoring, IT support in the uni though professors and senior postgrad peeps
like IT support, usually it's pretty quiet unless it's the start of the new academic year..basically paid to just sit there and just do your own studies if there's no ppl.

this. ideally it would be best.

Thank you once again for your great feedback, I’ll definitely keep this in mind 🙏🏻

Thank you, it’s been great knowing that I’m able to get jobs by asking students and potential supervisors; I did not think of that.


Greatly appreciated friend.

Being a part-time tutor would be the best if especially tutoring those subjects within the same field. It helps you with your postgrad studies and research.

Thank you.

I’ve not thought about this surprisingly so it’s good to hear from all your feedback.

This post has been edited by 6996: Jul 24 2024, 08:01 AM

Hey there!

I can't comment on your part time job much.

However, I understand the requirement for counselling programme at least. I think for the first year, while you are still studying the theoretical part of counselling, you should be okay to do your part time job. However, in the second year you'll have to do both practicum and internship, which will restrict your time honestly. For counselling students, practicum and internship is important as it determine whether or not you can actually go for your licensing interview in the future. To make sure you even qualified for the interview, you need to meet the minimum hours stated in the Lembaga Kaunselor Malaysia handbook so in this case, time is a challenge. I studied counselling full time during degree and the time to find clients, advertise your service, do reports, administer psychometrics, conducting other activities like mental health campaign will generally take the bulk of your time, so do take note of this.

Additionally, unless you have a background in counselling at degree level, it's pretty hard to apply for tutor roles as well.

Just a heads up in case you are not aware of the commitment that goes into Counselling degrees. Too many people are not privy to this and they are shocked and quickly burned out during practicum and internship.

Thank you for the very detailed reply, really appreciate it.

Just to ask as well, are you a counsellor now? And how is it so far?

No worries.

Unfortunately, I did not pursue a career in counselling after I graduated. I found my passion in Learning & Development and applied my skills there. Currently working as a consultant for a psychometric company while also pursuing Masters in IO psychology.

I don't want to discourage you but the field of counselling in Malaysia (and all over the world honestly), tend to be low paying. Coming from a financially disadvantaged family means that I don't have the luxury to stay in the field especially since you need a hefty time investment to improve your counselling skills and get better pay in the future. You will probably be aware of this when you pursue your Masters. Lecturers in this field love to say things like "If you want to be rich, you are in the wrong field".

However, that does not mean it's a bad career, far from it. I would say the jobs are meaningful and fulfilling. My peers are content with what they are doing, improving lives one client at a time. Our society's awareness towards mental health is increasing and expanding, meaning clients needing help will increase as well, so the demand for this field is there. Not to mention for niche counseling field like Drug Abuse and Marriage, both lacking specialists. Plus, there are quite a lot of good paying counselling positions in the private sectors, particularly those high end clinics, hospitals, rehab centres and corporate companies. So the job opportunity is there, but as always, temper your expectation.

Hopefully that answers your question. By all means, reach out to other counsellors in real life or social media to get a better glimpse into the field and its prospects. They can give you better view compare to me.

All the best!

This is really a well written reply and again thank you for the insights.


And yes I might be going in to the addiction field and work in private rehabs or specialise in youth counselling once I get my masters.


Have a great weekend and really appreciate it!