Casual Work as a PhD Student

PhDs aren’t known for being well-paid. If you’re reading this, you probably know that already.

As an international PhD student at UNSW, I managed to get by financially for most of my candidature. My husband and I both had scholarships, and with some careful budgeting and split rent, we were okay. I was never swimming in money, but I could focus on my research without worrying too much about bills.

So, for most of my PhD, I didn’t look for casual work. I told myself it wasn’t worth it — that I wanted to give my research my full attention, and that working side gigs wouldn’t add much to my CV anyway. I thought I was being strategic. In hindsight, I was being short-sighted.

Because once I submitted my thesis, reality hit. Hard.

No scholarship. No income. Still on a student visa, so no full-time work. Suddenly, all those casual jobs I’d ignored started to look a lot more appealing — and necessary.

This post is for the PhD students who haven’t submitted yet. The ones still in the middle of it, maybe thinking the same things I did. I want to tell you what I learned too late — and what I wish I’d done differently.

Casual Work: More Than a Side Hustle

Let’s start with the obvious: casual work helps pay the bills. But more importantly, it does something else — it keeps you engaged, gives you structure, and opens up networks you won’t find sitting alone in your office staring at your data.

Over the past few months, I’ve explored the casual job landscape at UNSW. Here’s what I found. Some of these gigs I took. Others, I wish I had.

1. Teaching (Highly Recommended!)

My top recommendation is to look into teaching-related roles. These include:

• Lab demonstrations
• Tutoring
• Teaching assistant roles
• Marking assignments or exams

Let me be blunt: if you want a future in academia in Australia, you need teaching experience. Full stop.

I was told this many times during my PhD, but I brushed it off. My school didn’t offer courses directly tied to my research, and I wasn’t particularly interested in wrangling a room full of undergrads. I was busy, research was demanding, and teaching felt like a distraction.

But here’s what I didn’t realise: you don’t have to teach your topic. You just need to teach. UNSW is a big place. There are plenty of courses across faculties that welcome PhD students as tutors, demonstrators, and markers. You just have to ask.

Reach out to lecturers. Email course convenors. Most will be happy to hear from someone enthusiastic and reliable. Even if they don’t have openings immediately, they’ll remember your name next time.

Tip: Teaching roles follow the academic calendar. If you want a spot in Term 2, start asking in Term 1.

Nervous about teaching?

I was too! I highly recommend training programs like UNSW’s Beginning to Teach. It was low-stakes, supportive, and helped me understand what goes into planning a class — the prep, the pacing, the expectations. Turns out, teaching isn’t just about speaking confidently. It’s about designing a session that works even when you’re not at your best.

2. Outreach

Another fulfilling option is participating in outreach programs. These are often aimed at high school students, the general public, or underrepresented communities.

I volunteered with the UNSW STEMM Champions Program and participated in events like:

• Pint of Science – where I gave a talk about my research in a pub!
• Science in the Swamp
• STEMM Champions blog (here’s a link to my post!)

Friends of mine have been involved in SciX, Open Day, and other public-facing events.

Some of these gigs were voluntary. Some were paid. All were worthwhile.

You learn to talk about your research in plain English. You meet people outside your field. And you start to remember that science isn’t just something we do in isolation — it’s something we share.

3. Exam Supervision

Here’s one I hadn’t thought of until recently: exam supervision.

My friend Mariana told me about it. I was curious — I’d never taken an exam at UNSW, so I wanted to see how it all worked. Turns out, exams here are supervised by a separate team, not the teaching staff. And most of them are online — which is wild if you’re used to paper exams and proctors walking around with clipboards.

I only did two shifts. It was chaotic at first — you’re thrown in and expected to learn fast. But it was fascinating. I even ended up supervising a computer science exam on machine learning, which I love, and had a great chat with one of the students.

Some Final Thoughts

Here’s the thing: I thought ignoring casual jobs was helping me focus. In reality, I was isolating myself.

Teaching, outreach, even admin jobs — they connect you to the university in ways that research alone doesn’t. They give you experience you can actually use. And, crucially, they remind you that you have skills beyond your thesis.

I’m not saying everyone should take on loads of extra work. Burnout is real. But a few hours a week of something different? It might be just what you need.