In this article6 min read
Would you like to move from your student job to a permanent appointment? Find out how to turn a temporary side income into a solid first step on the labour market.
Many students in Belgium work for years with the same employer: first at weekends, then during the summer holidays, and eventually perhaps every free day the timetable allows. That experience and familiarity with the company are worth a great deal, but they do not automatically lead to a permanent contract. Anyone who wants to make the move needs to know when it is allowed, which rules apply and how to make themselves indispensable in their employer’s eyes.
In short: a student job can indeed grow into a permanent job, but that rarely happens by itself. The main points:
- Your role as a permanent employee has to differ in substance from your role as a student worker with the same employer.
- If you graduate in June or September, you may still work as a student worker until 30 September of that same year.
- Anyone who is visible and reliable during their student job considerably improves the chance of an offer of a permanent contract.
650 hours
The number of hours a student may work in 2026 per calendar year at the favourable student rate.
2.7%
The social security contribution you pay as a student worker, against 13.07% for an ordinary employee in the private sector.
30 September
The last date on which you may still work as a student worker in the year you graduate (when graduating in June or September).
Can my student job really grow into a permanent job?
Yes, it can, and it happens more often than you think. Employers in sectors such as transport, customer service, cleaning and financial services deliberately use students as a kind of extended introduction. Anyone who shows during the student job that they are reliable, eager to learn and ready to work is first in line when a permanent vacancy comes up.
There is, however, an important legal condition. If you stay with the same employer, your new role as a permanent employee has to differ from your role as a student worker. A student job may not be used as a disguised trial period for exactly the same job. In practice that often means broader responsibilities: from order picker to team leader, or from telephone operator to permanent customer adviser.
May I stay a student worker after graduating?
Yes. If you graduate in June or September, you may work under student status until 30 September of that year. If you graduate in January, that right lapses immediately. For many recent graduates this is a useful transition period: you still benefit from the favourable 2.7% contribution instead of the 13.07% an ordinary employee pays, and you keep the flexibility to apply for jobs without being tied to a permanent contract straight away.
Do keep an eye on the hours limit. In 2026 you may work at most 650 hours per calendar year at the student rate, which you can check on Student@work. Beyond that, ordinary contributions apply from the 651st hour. Child benefit is a regional matter and the rules differ: the Groeipakket in Flanders, Iriscare in Brussels and AViQ in Wallonia. Check the conditions with the body for your own region. If you want to stay with the same employer from October, you move automatically to an ordinary employment contract.
How do you ask your employer for a permanent contract?
Take the initiative. Arrange a conversation yourself, preferably a few months before the end of your studies or your student period, and set out concretely what you have contributed over recent months or years.
Note concrete results: have you speeded up a process, resolved complaints, trained colleagues? Figures and examples convince an employer far faster than a general request for “something permanent”.
Employers would rather hire someone who already knows how the company works than a completely unknown candidate. State clearly from when you are available full time and why you want to stay with this company, not only that you need a job.
A direct question such as “Are there opportunities to work here permanently after my studies?” works better than waiting. Many employers only think about internal progression once a student raises the subject.
“Students who show initiative during their student job and ask about progression themselves really stand out. With our clients we regularly see that it is exactly those students who come first in line for a permanent contract.”
Recruit a Student, student recruitment consultant
Common mistakes in the move to a permanent job
Staying silent about your ambitions for too long.
Employers cannot read minds. If you never say that you are interested in a permanent job, you remain “the student” to them until the end.
Losing sight of the hours limit.
Anyone who accidentally goes over 650 hours loses the favourable student rate, without that improving the chance of a permanent contract.
Expecting the same role to become permanent automatically.
Without a change in the substance of the role, a direct move is not permitted with the same employer.
Applying without mentioning your student experience.
Your student job is work experience. Put concrete tasks and results on your CV, not just the job title.
Having no back-up plan.
Even if the chance of a permanent contract with your current employer looks small, it is sensible to look more widely through a student agency or a job site.
How Recruit a Student helps you with that move
- We build fixed student pools for employers in transport, cleaning, financial services, customer service and technical work, which keeps your commitment and reliability visible with the same clients.
- Our consultants know the clients who regularly move students into permanent contracts and connect you actively to those vacancies.
- You get personal support for the conversation about progression, including tips for presenting your added value clearly.
- Through our broad network in Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent you quickly find an alternative if the move with your current employer does not (yet) work out.
Explore the possibilities and sign up free of charge as a student, or see our current vacancies in your region.
Frequently asked questions
Can I move automatically from a student job to a permanent job with the same employer?
Not automatically. Your role as a permanent employee has to differ in substance from your role as a student worker, since a student job may not serve as a disguised trial period for the same role.
Until when may I work as a student worker after graduating?
If you graduate in June or September, you may work under student status until 30 September of that year. When graduating in January that right lapses immediately.
How many hours may I still work as a student in 2026?
At most 650 hours per calendar year at the favourable contribution of 2.7%. You track your remaining hours through Student@work.
What is the best way to ask for a permanent contract?
Arrange a conversation a few months before the end of your studies, gather concrete results and ask explicitly about the possibilities. Waiting for your employer to take the initiative usually works less well.
What if my employer cannot offer a permanent contract?
Then the experience you have built up remains valuable to other employers. Through a student agency such as Recruit a Student you quickly find new opportunities at companies actively looking for motivated starters.
