Post-university Gap Year

[olympicfan]

DD is keen to have a post-uni Gap Year. Has anyone else's DC done this? What sort of things did they do? Did they go on to a Masters or work afterwards? Can you do internships during a Gap Year? Is it harder to get a job after a Gap Year?

I have only ever heard of Gap Years before university, not after... but it sounds like a great idea as you are a long time working.

I might even have one myself!

@olympicfan www.schoolnotices.co.uk/ have a whole section on gap years. I think there is even a webinar, and from memory, there were three companies mentioned, Trailfinders, The Leap and Oysters Gap year specialists.

My son had a year off between Uni and a masters , he went to America for 3 months . During which he worked at a kids camp then a group of them travelled round America in 3 weeks . When he got back he managed to get a job working for Lloyds bank on a temporary contract but it kept getting extended so it ended up being until he started his masters .

I was never keen on seeing a gap year on a CV without a very good explanation of why it was taken.

While there’s no need to rush into work it does tend to suggest someone who’s been over-indulged by their parents (most, when I asked, were funded by family) which isn’t a great indicator of commitment or work ethic.

I always advised my students not to do this unless they intended to resume their education afterwards. As said above, it doesn’t look good on a CV.

@GCHeretic surely that's only the case if mummy and daddy have paid for it not an actual adult who has worked and then gone travelling

Yes, that would absolutely have made a difference. I never came across an example of that being the case.

I didn't pay for my son to have a year off , no way could I have afforded that , he funded his America trip himself and then worked .

it was common when I was at uni. Camp American / Bunac etc run schemes you usually have to be a student or go the year after you graduate to meet the work visa requirements. Most people do go back and do more training rather than go into jobs though as it’s tricky to apply for jobs while travelling but maybe not so much now many interviews are online. during recessions it’s not uncommon for companies to pay new graduates to defer a year eg a lot of firms did this in covid - paid graduates not to start work until a year later. Not sure why firms would have an issue with it better than having burnt out employees or people asking to take sabbaticals once they are in post. For most people the student work visa is the only chance they will get to work abroad. Plus surely companies realise the covid year students have missed out on enough experiences.

I did, 20 odd years ago, BUNAC work visa in North America, it was fantastic, really helped bring me out my shell and speak up for myself.

I graduated a few weeks after turning 21, yes I went to uni early, and just didn't feel ready to settle down yet. It was self funded and I worked out there too.

Once I got home I got a full time job to earn money to help pay for my masters, started that a year later and finished up a year after that. Totally worth it, still one of the most fun years of my life!!

A number of my personal tutees have done this. They say they are exhausted from studying! But almost all of them landed on their feet, judging by requests I would start to get around eight months into the year for letters of reference. I have the sense this is al less widely used option during hard economic times, though I hesitate to say why.

I did this. Back in the 90s. I got a grad job lined up then asked to defer it for a year. Worked for them for the summer and then headed off with student working visas in hand. Came back ready to settle into a working life! Still at the same organisation now so their loyalty to me has been repaid!

I honestly wouldn’t look at it badly on a CV as long as they can account for their time - travelling etc rather than having a year to sit about doing nothing.

I don’t think asking how a gap year was funded is an appropriate question in an interview tbh, whilst I agree being funded by parents doesn’t show a lot of self sufficiency most young people I know who’ve done a gap year of any kind have funded it themselves anyway.

I did this, 40 years ago, and my DS is now on his second post-undergrad gap year ... fair enough if they are paying their way and have a vague plan for the next 40 years of work.

It's not a bad idea to see the world. Just get on with getting a job ASAP even before he goes. Most companies run their graduate schemes based on the academic year.

DD2 is planning this right now @olympicfan. She finished her Masters last year, has had a job relevant to her degree for a year and will be off to Australia at the end of the year. The working year is funding the trip (no financial outlay from me).

As for @GCHeretic's points, her explanation is that she wants to travel! And her work ethic has taken her from a not very good secondary modern school to a first-class Masters from one of the world's top universities, so I'm not too concerned about her future job prospects.

Why is it not appropriate? Someone working and saving up the money has shown planning, diligence, and the ability to defer pleasure until later. Someone whose rich parents have given them £20,000 for a year hanging out on beaches with friends has shown very little other than likely never having learned to be a self-starter or to find their own way in the world.

Which is fair enough. Going

DD has worked the entire time whilst at university and will fund the gap year herself. She has also has a job that she can do remotely, so may work and travel. She will probably 'Workaway' her way round the world so flights will be the main outlay.

I took a gap year in my late 20s, because that's when I could afford to, and I wanted to travel more.

I also did this in my twenties- worked for 2 years after uni & then went travelling. It wasn’t the best timing in terms of the career I was doing at the time - I should really have been sensible and done another year first. So I ended up taking a slightly different path when I returned but much preferred that. My manager in my second job loved travelling so I think my gap year impressed him!

Interesting, DC planning 6 months or so of volunteering abroad. He is well aware I won't pay 😁

Dd did this after graduation...she spent 4 months traveling through S America and SE Asia ( which she funded herself as had a placement with her degree , where she was paid well and saved a substantial amount to fund her travels, which she'd always planned to do following graduation )
She then had a job at Ski resort in France ( until covid cut that short!)
came back home and got job in Tesco until she got a graduate job and is now based in Indonesia in product development

I work at a university and have a lot of contact with graduate employers.

The skills most sought by employers are communication, adaptability, problem-solving and teamwork. Graduates with a track record of working well in multidisciplinary, multicultural and multinational teams are in high demand.

Needless to say, students who have taken a gap year to travel the world tend to do particularly well in graduate recruitment.

I wish I had done MORE travelling before I started work / settled down.

I think a lot of young people 'do other things' before finding their "career".

Whether you call it a Gap Year or something else isn't really important.
I wouldn't look badly upon someone who graduated even several year before they found out what they wanted to do longer term - as long as they were doing something. Indeed, in a lot of jobs, I think people are better for having done other things, outside of school and University, and gained experiences they can bring to the role.