If your 16+ teen has a job as well as a levels what do they do?

[Theas18]

And how much do they earn?

Ds would really like to earn a bit of money. He has tried to utilise his skills- but has failed due to terrible performance anxiety. ( see other posts!) . Had he succeeded he'd have earned 20-25 quid maybe a coupe of times a month for a Sunday morning work.

What do other teens studying a pretty academic A evel commitment manage to do and hoe I'd they manage to get these coveted under 18 jobs?

[Floralnomad]

My DS worked in retail from the June of the first year of A levels . He did all day Saturday ,Sunday and Thursday evenings . He was studying IT, English LIT ,BUsiness and geography. He got good results and has gone to a local uni ( good one ) and has kept his job . Infact he has even had a promotion at work and does lots of overtime. He got the job by constantly checking online with all the major retailers.

[Ponders]

mine all had supermarket jobs - the most recent one, now 19, worked 9 hours on a Saturday & was paid nearly £5 an hour (which is a good rate at 16). He did 4 academic AS levels in Y12 & 3 A2s in Y13 & managed his time easily enough.

His job was at Booths, which is a small NW chain & recruits by putting a notice up outside the entrance. He did once apply at Tesco - that was by picking up a form from the local shop - but heard nothing. (I don't think they were actually recruiting at the time mind you.)

Sainsburys do it all online now which makes it hard to find the jobs. If you have Waitrose might be worth trying there.

Otherwise he could look for waiting on or kitchen work?

[Rumplestiltskine]

When I was doing my A Levels (five or so years ago, not prehistoric) I used to go to a farm every Sunday morning to muck out the horses so the farmer could have a lie-in. It only took a couple of hours and I got £12 each week - enough for a couple of pints of snakebite on Friday nights. I got the job because my dad knew the farmer through work. My sister did a paper round when she was a similar age, she found that by responding to an advert in the newsagent's window.

[Theas18]

Floral that's bril! Well done hin

[Ponders]

oh, DS2 did a small Mon-Sat morning paper round before the supermarket job. That paid incredibly well, relatively - I think he got £25 a week . He did get fed up with the early starts though as he got older.

[blondiedollface]

I am 23 and worked from 16 in retail, weds and thurs eve and both sat and sun all day! I Studied 5 A Levels and got 3 A's in Music, Spanish and French a B in Business and a C in Classics. I found that having a job and therefore money enabled me to do all the trips and out of school things I wanted to do including driving lessons and buying my first car!!

I went to a really good uni 230 miles away from home and worked the whole time I was there too gaining a 2:1 in a French, Italian and Spanish degree.

It's possible if you're focused enough :D

[Doilooklikeatourist]

DS works at a local health club , a couple of hours on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings , and 6 hours on Sunday .
Doing A levels and Welsh Bacc .

[Floralnomad]

Yes he's doing uni debt free , he lives here for nothing and we pay the fees. Having said that he saves well and will probably have a deposit for a house when he finishes although he reckons he's not moving out. !

[Doilooklikeatourist]

PS . He earns £55 a week .

[noblegiraffe]

My sixth formers tend to work in shops. Build a Bear and Disney like hiring teenagers, as do shops like Homebase and B&Q.

[Theas18]

Thanks all. That's given me food for thought.

Ds works really hard and his Saturday's are taken up by music too. He has limited time to earn money. I think I shall increase his pokey money from almost nothing ( he doesn't pay anything out of his own pocket though) to a rate that will support a couple of evenings out a month.

Realistically the only earning opportunity he had was today's application and that failed.

Hmm maybe I'll be training him to clean better, pay him for it and give him skills he can the sell on .... As long as it doesn't involve him tidying is bedroom it'll be ok!

[Floralnomad]

Perhaps he could see if there's anything local for leaflet drops , that would be more flexible.

[MedusaIsHavingABadHairDay]

Both my girls worked through A levels. One did a sunday job in a garden centre and that was it (she was doing 4 sciences and is now studying medicine at University so it was very full on)
The other did 8 hours a week in Fatface and then sundays in the same garden centre, working extra hours at holiday times. She is in her first year of University doing Nursing and has managed to transfer her FF job there so is working as she studies... she finds it hard but is a lot better off than her sister!

They had to constantly apply online until something came up. The only one which I think was TOO much was MacDonalds.. DD1 worked there in her holidays after her first year at Uni and they wanter her to work long hours every single day and it nearly finished her off as she had to study too.

[TeaDr1nker]

Could he become a tea time help for a local family with young children? I have had a level students come 2-3 times a week to help with the kids. Typically they did about 6 hours a week, I paid £6 hour.

[BackforGood]

Both my dc deliver the free local paper. Pay depends on the size of the round and the number of leaflets each week (eg, this week, there were 6 leaflets so they get paid more than another week where there may be 2 leaflets, so they get paid less). Basic pay is min wage for their age, but for about an hour and a half after school one day dd gets about £7 - £7.50 each week, and ds (has a bigger round - takes him about 2 hour) gets about £11 a week.
As well as delivery, they have to stuff the leaflets into the papers, but this tends to be done in front of the TV, or, if they are busy, they bribe theri little sister to do it for them.
ds now also has another job cleaning up in a local shop - he works about 50mins from 4pm each night 4 times a week, then about 5 and 1/2 hours on a Saturday. He gets £35 a week for this. Great as he has no travel expenses and it's almost on his way home from school so not even any added journey time. Course, he was pretty lucky to just be in the right place at the right time to get the job, but, on the other hand, it's not a particularly "fun" job, so he earns his money IMO. He's doing 4 ASs and also has hobbies.

[TheWoollybacksWife]

DD1 did voluntary work at a dance school on a Saturday and worked (for pay) in a soft play centre on a Sunday.

One of her school friends worked as a tutor. This was very lucrative and looked great on her personal statement for Uni.

[sashh]

Students I have taught did a lot of shop work, being willing to do unsocial hours seemed to be the key to getting work. One worked at M and S and told me, "I don't know if we are having a flash sale tomorrow, but I have to be in work for six".

Other jobs, washing up in a local pub, taking the money on the M6 toll, stacking shelves at 5am.

[gelo]

ds had a lifeguarding job, worked at a kumon centre and did some theatre ushering all through sixth form, towards the end he played at a few weddings in various ensembles too, which was by far the best paid. Dd does lifeguarding and did a little au pairing over the summer. They both do/did various forms of volunteering too. We are lucky that jobs for young people aren't as hard to find around here than in some places. Managing the usual compliment of A levels or more as well can be challenging at times, a lot depends how much homework they need to put in (varies a lot from child to child imo). DD has been finding it tough and has just cut back on her lifeguarding and volunteering commitments a bit - it's all about finding the right balance that works for you.

[prettydaisies]

I struggle with this a bit. I think DD ought to have a job so she can have a bit of extra money to buy things that she wants etc. But it is so hard fitting things in. She is rarely home from school before 6, she's a chorister at the cathedral which takes up some of this time and also Saturday mornings. She often has matches for school on Saturday afternoons. On Sunday morning she usually likes to come to church with us and that really only leaves Sunday afternoon or late nights in the week. She also has lots of HW to do as well as music practice. Think I'm going to be bailing her out for a while yet!

[TaggieCampbellBlack]

DD1 is doing IB. Very full on. She also does 2 x 2hrs a week at an elderly residential home collecting snd washing up and recently started in Waitrose doing 6 hours on saturday afternoon, plus extras if they ask her (ususlly another twice a week 4 hours after school).

She does 2 hrs ballet once a week plus the IB CAS requirements. Fitting it in so far but i'm watching carefully that she doesn't fall behind.

[Theas18]

@prettydaisies. This is part if the problem. The girls are/were choristers and so continue to sing and earn their bursaries - dd1 did all the way through fom 11-18 and still has a choral scholarship at uni, earning a reasonable sum doing what she loves. Ds can't do this. He does a lot if music too. I think he's going to need a bit more parental support . He's alo oing 2hrs/week volunteering that he needs for UCAS.

[hellsbells99]

Hi. What music does your Ds do? DD1 earns £5 per half hour teaching piano. She currently has 4 pupils so £20 per week. She is only grade 6 but is teaching 7-9 year old beginners. DD2 has just started giving guitar lessons to a local 11 year old who justs wants to be able to play pop music dtc and learn basic chords. Could your Ds do something similar?

[3boys1cat]

My DS1 (17) works as a lifeguard and usually does a shift on Saturday, Sunday or both. He earns about £250 per month. He also does a bit of babysitting - boys really like having a teenage male babysitter! He worked all the way through year 12 and is managing OK with Year 13 as well.

[poshfrock]

When I was doing A levels ( 20 years ago) I worked in a care home every Saturday. I'd say it was quite easy to fit in around school work because they obviously need staff 24/7 so they have shifts available at all times of the day. It was great because they always needed cover in the holidays when other staff were away so I had a guaranteed holiday job for 5 years. I came back from Uni every holiday ( summer, Easter & Xmas) to work. I quite often used to work a triple shift say 2-10pm Sat, sleep over Sat night ( paid half time for sleeping )and then 7-2pm Sunday. There was extra pay on bank holidays so I regularly came back for things like May Day as I would make enough to cover my travel and have plenty left over. I worked every Xmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Eve for 5 years when the regular staff with families didn't want to. I didn't mind - if I was at work I wasn't spending money in the pub so win-win and left Uni debt free ( this was in the days when you didn't have to pay fees though). I was promoted to a senior role whilst there and was responsible for giving out medication to the residents. Always good to have things like that on your CV.

[Theas18]

Teaching/tutoring is an interesting option. He's working with yr7 as a " chemistry guru" Within school so has a little experience of younger kids. He's also CRB checked via his voluntary work (I know it means zilch but parents would like it) .

So far I've had a hellish week re work and I've got him a cleaning schedule for tonight as he has 2x free lessons at the end of the day so a " long evening" available. I'll pay him and if it's good cleaning it'll be really helpful (if it isn't he can have anothe go!)

Will care homes pay an untrained un qualified nearly 17yr old? If so that's a really amazing thought...apart from a few £ it'll look really positive for uni applications.