Part time job during university years

[Silverfoxlady]

Hi all,

My daughter is looking to go to university next year for maths. My DH gets a good wage but we have lots of children (5DCs) so this doesn’t mean much for day to day spends.

She currently has a part-time retail job, and we are hoping that she can carry on while she is at university to cover her food and spends (around £400 a month minimum).

We both worked when we were students ourselves (a long time ago), but all the university students we talked to said it wasn’t advised. We are very perplexed, as we couldn’t have gone ourselves if we didn’t work.

Does anyone have any advice on this? Do your children work while at university?

We have another DC starting the year after, and so this is a tough problem. I might have to get a second job at the weekend while DH looks after our toddler.

Would love to hear anyone’s opinions.

DS didn't work in term time he did a high contact hours degree and there were not many job vacancies. He did work in the holidays and saved a decent amount. His flatmate took a night stacking job at Tesco but that really screwed up his sleep pattern and mental health so he had to quit after a month.

If you’re topping up her maintenance loan to the full amount then fair enough OP - apologies. I thought you were expecting her loan to pay for accommodation and she pay her own living costs. It might be worth looking for somewhere where accommodation has some cheaper options though. Or London as the max loan is higher.

Warwick seems to have some halls at less than £600 a month though which should be manageable? Second and third year housing can also often be cheaper than uni halls.

@Thethingswedoforlove and @Clary She does the punting tours on the river, selling them and taking about 5 a day. Its zero hour contract and they apply for shifts but she almost always can get whatever shifts she wants and normally does 5 a week in the holidays. Its quite complicated the pay but it pays very well and she gets tipped a lot, some tips have been £100. Its commission based with a guaranteed minimum. Peak season is in the summer. Its a lovely job, she gives a history talk on all the colleges and gets to punt 5 hours a day and has done the fireworks punting and the bat punting. I quite fancy doing it myself but not sure they want middle aged women when they can get beautiful sporty young people. She started at 16 and was good as they don't reduce pay for age and first year she got £19,000 during her A levels, second year she got very little as was doing her A levels and university applications so didn't work much. She did say the boss of the company told her she was the highest earner but its commission based so its how much you can sell. She does get dodgy rich guys trying to get her number but she's good at dealing with that and has managed to get big tips off them but not give her number.

Brilliant @SilkiePenguin never heard of that a a job but I love that! and while it's clearly not a job you would want to nor could really do all year and for the rest of your life, her sales ability, customer liaison skills and general savviness will stand her in such good stead in whatever she does end up doing. Well done to her!

Could she tutor maths? This would demand a far higher hourly payment than retail/hospitality, so she can work smart - less hours, more pay. My eldest is a good rider and schooled horses for £20/hr+ while her friends were on NMW at 18/19

My Dd is starting uni this month and has transferred her job in a chain over to her uni town - only 4 hours a week but it’s £13 an hour so a nice top up of £52 a week which should pay for her nights out etc and we pay the rest of the expenses (plus the loan). I expect she’ll be able to pick up more if she wants it when others are off sick etc. I’m very pleased for her as it takes the pressure off financially but not so much it will disrupt her studies.

My 3 DC worked part-time around 12-20 hours during term time and full time.during holidays throughout uni with exception of the final year for DD where she dropped her term time hours to around 4 (but did 60 hour weeks during Christmas holidays.. All went to 2nd and 3rd tier unis (two BSc, one BA).

For the middle one's current grad employer (US tech), amount of work alongside degree counted positively in their selection algorithm. For the other two, current employers more focused on work experience relevant to job (both did placements).

Warwick (particularly if you live in Coventry) also offers cheaper options!

I remember a thread where the OP had asked Imperial during an online talk to prospective students about working in London. Apparently the lecturer discouraged them and said that if they couldn't afford it they shouldn't study at Imperial because of the workload which the OP found very offensive. I had also seen a campaign by Imperial students to have their workload lessened so they could have time to work.

Other posters whose kids went to KCL also said the same or that it was extremely hard to find a job. DS found that they all wanted him to be available any hour under the sun and with lots of experience which he didn't have. Their timetables change every week which only leaves evenings and weekends. DS's friend had managed to get a job at Costa but he had to work 14 hours on a Saturday and more hours some week day. I don't know how he managed to find time to study. From all of DS's yeargroup linkedins only 1 of them worked at McDonalds. A few others either mentioned tutoring (Maths which I guess your DD could do?) or just volunteering and societies.

You need advice from the course. It’s specifically not advised for medicine, other than in the main holiday.

Holiday jobs are fine, IMO term-time is not. You want them to have plenty of time for the course and also be part of at least one society / sport. Employ-ability isn't coming from one part-time job, it is coming from being well-rounded. You need at least a 2:1, you need relevant work experience, you need to demonstrate an interest in your subject area beyond the core content, you need to demonstrate responsibility (leading a society, captain in your sport) and holiday jobs also look good.

If you need a part-time job for money in term-time fine, but don't feel your YP must have one to secure a future role.

I recruit graduates every year.

Ds worked and saved in the summer holidays, before he started at university. He did get a job there but the pay was lower than London and he found it difficult to miss out in social stuff plus his course became quite intense, so he stopped doing the job.

He was lucky to get something that took him back each time he came home.

Actually yes Warwick not so £££ as Bristol and Bath.

Ds did a few different jobs at uni. He had his door security license when he started so did that for a bit, worked in a factory doing a 6-10 shift for a couple of days a week that fitted around his lectures. It really helped him financially and he also worked in the holidays. A couple of shifts somewhere a week is double but the jobs may not be that glamorous.

Only 2 unis have punts on a river that I know of. What should other dc do?

I was lucky that i didn’t need to work during term time but looking back it would have been really beneficial, especially as my course wasn’t contact hours heavy at all. Friends did voluntary work for a local charity and I imagine this would have given them a boost on their CVs.

I worked during post grad studies and it was fine, taught me to manage my time better and even enjoyed it.

Some universities now have internal agency work which takes students on an ad hoc basis, for example, serving at large events. Might be worth looking into.

Why are they looking for unis that aren’t financially viable without £400 from working when lots of students can’t actually find any work?

DC1 has quite an intensive course with very high contact time. They work in the holidays and over the Summer break rather than whilst they’re away. It suits them so far.

Expecting her to earn £400 a month to cover food and going out isn’t very good though. Suppose she is ill and can’t work for a few weeks and do her course? Will she have to choose work so that she can eat?

Thanks @Clary Very kind of you. Its worked well for her so far and suits A levels / uni holidays / year out if you are commutable to it and sporty. There is a lot more work available in the summer months though you can do it more of the year if the river isn't too high and there's enough demand and you are OK with getting wet. Some of them including DD had second jobs in catering at the university colleges for the winter months but those are only just over minimum wage though did include a free meal and sometimes food to bring home.

DC1 was at Imperial Colkege and the workload was huge. Not only that, exams were timed to make Easter and Christinas working unadviseable. They did work in the summers though but had no time during the term.

DC2 is at another London uni also doing a science subject. The workload is a lot less. They work every Sunday for 12 hours as a lifeguard. DC2 also had a gap year and worked full time as a lifeguard and saved most of the money. That was honestly a very good move.

Damn sure I wouldn’t be working a second job and juggling a toddler so my kid didnt need to work!

My oldest tried to work in term time but everywhere wanted at least 16 hours per week which on top of his course, study, sports, just wasn’t possible. He did do it for a couple of months but it wasn’t working. He has worked most of the last 2 summers instead so he can support himself a bit, although we do pay for most things.

My yp works during the holidays. They are lucky to have a job where they can pick up shifts when they are home. This is their spending money. Their loan covers their rent and we cover food shopping.

There are apps such as Stint and GivemeDough that allow people to pick up ad hoc shifts in retail and hospitality which works well around studies, societies and sports commitments. They show shifts available in many uni cities/locations without having to commit to same time every week.

With the push to get rid of zero hours contracts as well as bringing in Renters Rights Acts this is another area where students will be stuffed soon!