The decision whether to take up paid work alongside academic study is a difficult trade-off that students all over the world face. The benefits of additional income and work experience must be weighed up against the loss of hours devoted to formal study. This column exploits data from a work-study programme in Uruguay to explore the impacts of part-time employment on academic attainment and future professional success. Such programmes can represent valuable human capital investments, but their details are crucial to ensuring long-run positive impacts for young people.