Choosing a Part Time Job for my MC

The main character of my WIP- Sarah- is a university student currently working on a PhD in psychology. She also has type 1 bipolar disorder. Something I need to decide is what part time job Sarah should have. It won't be particularly important to the story as the character changes up a bunch of things with their life later on and it's never the focus, but I do want to take a good look at their life and work as part of their journey.
Following on from a research thread on the subject I decided that, at least, I should not do any clinical psychology. But I haven't really figured out what to do instead and it's slowed down my writing progress.

I have done a little looking around and haven't been able to get a very clear or detailed picture of what kind of part time work one can do relevant to psychology. Because the character is supposed to be socially anxious and not very self confident, I am hesitant to do any sort of teaching, mentoring or public speaking focused job. But that does seem to be a large portion of the options.
And I'm not sure how relevant the job needs to be. Doing something relevant could tie things together well and show the character's commitment to the subject. But perhaps it would easier to just have her do something more generic? I came up with the idea of working at a book store as something vaguely interesting and vaguely relevant. I can have Sarah do/have done some amount of volunteer work in the field as well.

So, does anyone know any options that seem to be a good fit? And what do you think the most important things are in deciding something like this? Any other thoughts/concerns?

Thanks for reading

 

Well, I believe Hammer gave you good examples. However, I will suggest this and may be a risk. Maybe being an assistant at a hospital? Or even working as a personal career on a care home in the dementia session? Since she is studying psychology, dealing with people with mental illness could make her understand the disease and become a professional. Plus dealing with people could make her with time more confident, this of course, if you desire for your MC to overcome her insecurity. I hope this helps

 

Not a bad idea, though I think I prefer the bookstore idea over this as it's pretty similar but a more comfortable setting for the character and more relevant to her interests.

Marking essays is a nice idea. I'll have a look at that.

 

She has bipolar herself though so that complicates things in a bad way for her.

This job will be something she has had for a while as of the start of the story, and her work there is not going to be a major focus by any means, so it's not where I want to have the character evolve. I have a different, much more plot relevant journey in mind for her character development with her anxiety and insecurity.

 

Doing nothing.

She gets '£1500 a year' for her condition through uni. As she says 'if I worked I would invalidate...'

 

I understand. As I said it was a risk because when you mentioned psychology I associated with nursing or even being a doctor. Plus your suggestion of her had made volunteer work, sounds good to me

 

She would payments but she also has to pay for medication and potentially therapy. I don't know if this is a practical choice.

 

Depends what country? Therapy & medication would be free as a student in the UK. You will have to write 60 000 words of her introspection in a bedroom in a bedroom.

What about folk club and religious groups?

 

I think you're over thinking it. Just take a job you experienced and infuse it with your MC. I worked at a deli shop and that was the part time job for my MC. I could put in more detail and setting for my MC because the experience I had working at a deli shop.

 

Depends on the setting, mood of the story, and whether she knows about her illness/wants other people to know. Lots of people don't even know they have bipolar until it really starts to negatively affect their lives. Perhaps this is part of the growth you want your character to go through. Is it? If it's not, how is her being bipolar relevant to the story? It's not just another personality trait or quirk. A disadvantage that has something to do with the character's goals and the theme of the story is more important than a relevant side job. If the setting's economy isn't doing so wonderfully, she might not have the option of a plush, comfortable job. I read about one woman who did sex work to get by. My own dad swept the floor in a butcher shop one hour away from his campus.

 

London UK

'Life goes on' is perhaps apt.

She knows. She doesn't particularly want other people to know, but she's more concerned about herself.

It has already negatively affected her life, and that was the time she found out.

The story begins after Sarah's mom dies (from natural causes, there is no avenging here). She has been managing her bipolar well recently, but the stress of her mother's death makes it more difficult and she is afraid of relapsing.
This being an urban fantasy, Sarah has supernatural traits she is not aware of that begin to show themselves. Shocking originality I know.
Anyway, as it happens, this supernatural side is connected to her bipolar, kind of like a genetic factor. As supernatural traits manifest, it also increases her bipolar symptoms. Sarah, naturally, thinks the supernatural occurrences are hallucinations, concludes she is experiencing delusional symptoms, maybe even schizophrenic, and panics.
As you would expect, the supernatural stuff gets stronger until it fully manifests, and, with help, she is left to confront the reality of her situation.

It definitely is. Her bipolar and supernatural side, and the connection between them, is something of continued importance to the character and the story.

 

Overnight attendant for disabled/elderly. Being overnight means you have to be awake, but you rarely deal with the clients. If she has "supernatural power" they could come out at night while she's trying to stay awake.