Easy Ways to Make Money as a Student in Austria

By Cim Bayer

Food at even the university cafeteria too expensive for you? Having enough money to live off as a student can be tough, so don’t panic if you’re struggling for spare cash – you aren’t alone. Here are some ways that students in Austria can make money easily.

Get a Saturday job in Austria

This job type is typical for Austria and is the most popular type of job for students to earn money on the side as it keeps a balance between earning a little bit of money and finding time to study for university.

These jobs are mostly categorized as a job where you only work a maximum of 10 hours per week. Salary ranges between 300 and 400 euros per month (which does not exceed the minor employment threshold).

Secret tip: look for a job on a Saturday at a company which operates in railway stations as their shops are also open on Sundays (which is normally restricted by Austrian law) and so the time you work on the weekend counts as double. That means that you only work five hours but it counts for 10.

However, keep in mind, you’ll work non-convenient working hours, such as Saturday night or Sunday morning.  

Get a part-time job in Austria

Part-time jobs are the big brothers of Saturday Jobs. The only thing which changes is the number of hours you have to work per week. Keep in mind that in Austria, most part-time jobs involve up to 20 working hours per week.

However, that could interfere with your interests at university and you might not be able to attend as many lectures as you wanted. You might also not be able to finish your studies within the minimum duration time.

Nevertheless, the salary of a part-time job is quite good and ranges between 800-1000 euros a month.

Get an internship in Austria

The most common way to earn some money and gain experience as a student is to apply for an internship. The range and diversity of internships are very broad. You can literally find them in every kind of field or profession. Sometimes they are even mandatory if you want to graduate from your university.

You will work up to 40 hours a week but will actually earn just a fraction of a full-time job. Internships are a good way to get a break from university and to build a solid foundation for your future professional career.

Secret tip: Hardly anybody knows that the Wirtschaftskammer Österreich (WKO) offers traineeships at the Austrian embassies for business, law and economy students around the world. In this way, they want to support students who don’t have any previous international experience. It’s on a first come, first serve basis, so be quick.

Get help from the government

There are lots of different student grants and scholarships in Austria. One of the most common ones is the family allowance. You’ll receive a certain amount of money, calculated on the income-basis of your parents, and you’re qualified to receive it up to the age of 24.

Furthermore, there’s also a scholarship for students which you can receive in addition to your family allowance. Regarding public transport, you can buy a semester-ticket for Vienna for only 75 euros and is also substituted by the government.

Take part in paid surveys and experiments

As a student you can support science and at the same time earn some money. Most surveys at university reimburse you up to 15 euros for each one you take. Also, there are a lot of experiments going on at the universities where participants get good money for a small amount of input. Keep your eyes open for these opportunities.

Donate plasma

Donating plasma maybe seems a little unconventional at first sight. But, if you consider you’ll get €25 per donation and you can donate three times a week, then it begins to add up. To be precise, you can earn up to 300 euros per month by donating plasma. At the same time, your plasma can help seriously sick people, a win-win situation!