Lack of meaningful things for undergrads over the summer.

[Coffeeonloop]

My YPs are finding it hard to be occupied over this summer, despite putting in effort to get paid jobs / volunteering experiences well in advance.

Is it harder because the job market is tighter generally?

What are other people's undergraduate YPs doing over the Summer?

My DS (recently graduated engineer) got a cleaning job at the end of the second year. There always seems to be a shortage of cleaners. It was fulltime and it definitely taught him a lot! It is more difficult this year though.

It's also too hot to waste time providing information that isn't needed or wanted because the OP has been so vague.

If your advice to your DC is similarly vague, perhaps they are not as clear about the best way to hunt for jobs as you think they are?

Mine’s a Camp America again this year. There’s Camp Canada too if USA isn’t their cup of tea.
It’s already recruiting for summer 2027.
She gets 4.5 months off university so I’m personally glad she’s doing something like this although I do miss her.

I’m never impressed by DC whose CVs reek of money and nepotism. Only the rich can do lots of the far flung suggestions here. Nearer to home there are things but they might be volunteering. They take time but no plane ticket. Many areas maintain volunteering opportunities and local magazines do too. Eg the local carnival might like organisers, they can visit an old folks home, they can volunteer for NT, lots of things that teach skills and reliability outside the home. Paid jobs can be very difficult now.

Camp America is great fun but doesn’t earn the student any money once you’ve shelled out for the flights & visa so isn’t great for a lot of kids who need to be earning to make ends meet term time.
Mine are both working part time in jobs they have been doing since 6th form - farm shop and life guarding. One is also volunteering in Peru for a month which she has paid for entirely by herself.

Dd is cleaning rooms at a hall of residence at our local university. She also works as a swimming teacher (course completed last summer holiday) and tutors maths.
Ds graduated in 2021 and was lucky to secure two internships, but you do need to apply in October/November as the recruitment process is often combined with graduate recruitment.

A fellow invigilator said her son struggled to find a job, but then had the bright idea of advertising on local Facebook pages to do gardening/odd jobs. That has worked well for him as he has received lots of work through recommendations. Ideal if you have access to a car.

They need to think about where the seasonal demand for jobs is locally. If you live near an airport they need a lot of seasonal staff. The hours are antisocial but the pay isn't bad.

Have they joined employment agencies like Pertemps? Mine never needed to but I spoke to someone who works for them this week and they still do lots with students.

No one cares whether you are impressed or not. However, they do care what future potential employers think and desirable employers rate international experiences and opportunities to have worked in high performing companies very highly indeed.

Looking for jobs in the summer isn’t unusual. It shouldn’t be this hard to get one. The market is bad for young people.

I think this is well worth doing. Actually call in to the agency in person with a CV. (This is different to calling into a coffee shop with a CV (which my DS would hate to do) as this is the purpose and modus operandi of a recruitment agency). The agencies around here always seem to have a lot of ad-hoc jobs advertised.

Round here

• cleaning- the agencies always need extra people for holiday lets
• labouring (possibly sexist but almost always men- not sure if they dont employ women due to lower strength-weight or women just don't want to work in that environment)
• Relief work on the bins/recycling trucks to cover holidays (usually agency so need to find out which agency but it is well paid).
• Festival/event work through agencies.
• Holiday clubs if you like kids.
• Tutoring GCSE students (but somewhat A level grade and Uni status dependent, rightly or wrongly)

Volunteering- environmental charities often need volunteers for one off projects like invasive species clearing or charity shops (sorting donations etc).

If YPs get the opportunity to manage others (even if that is groups of children) or deal with demanding customers, that is a way more valuable experience to graduate employers than a pure labouring job

They still get some wages even if they opt for the flight included package. Skills like lifeguarding usually pay more. My dc is getting more as a returner.
I agree it’s not a way to earn serious money.
Mine travelled after and still came back with money from it. Plus as a parent she’s not costing me anything for 3 months as her accommodation and food is covered.
It’s definitely not a wealthy demographic, some yp have never flown long haul before.
The yp are working long days/6 days a week. Responsible for kids. Plus they need to have been organised and apply months in advance and navigate visa process etc.

DD did a job two summers ago as a tour guide and always has had work as a tutor.

She nearly did work for Barracudas and for Buckingham Palace but their requirements for no days off for the entire time clashed with a family wedding one year and an interview another year so she had to turn them down as they were so inflexible.

Most internships precluded her by nature of socio-economic or other category.

Of the Undergraduates I know:

• Working in a local farm shop/cafe over the summer. applied and secured at end of May.
• Working in a bar, and also a waiter for a large hotel who hosts weddings and conferences. The waiter job he does all year round as its ad-hock depending on when the hotel needs staff. The bar job he picked up at the end of May. He is staying in his university flat over summer as he has to pay for it anyway.
• A paid internship for 8 weeks with a local accountant (organised at Easter)
• Golf caddying at local high profile resort. No idea when he secured that
• Chambermaiding at university halls which are rented out to tourists over the summer, they did this last summer and have gone back to it this summer.

I was in Edinburgh yesterday and loads of shops and restaurants had cards in the window with bar jobs or shop jobs. I suppose it depends a bit on where in the country you are. A number of the charity shops also had signs up saying volunteers needed. If they want something related to their careers choice (which I'm sure isn't that identifying) then it may be more challenging. But if they just want a job, and the associated work experience and skills that come with it, then there does seem to be positions out there.

Paid internship. Which she also did last summer. She’s a Laidlaw Scholar and did a research project first summer and a six weeks educational internship abroad for the second summer. She pocketed all the money last year but needs much of the funds from this summer to support herself while abroad. But she’s doing a paid internship at uni this past term so will have some money from that (separate to Laidlaw). My son who didn’t go to uni got jobs at a café and retail by walking in and applying in person then going in every week afterwards til they gave him the jobs!

My DC did a mix of internships, travel and casual paid work related to their sports. DS did tennis coaching and hitting practice and finance summer internships. DD did a stint helping at a ballet summer school assistant and worked shifts as an indoor climbing assistant. She qualified as a diver locally and then joined an OPWALL project for teo months. In her final uni summer she spent a month working in her tutor’s labs.

DD spent all year applying for science internships and got nothing. There is nothing available in our home town for summer work. DS who is 17 has been applying for himself since he left school and can’t get anything, nor can his mates. DD can work for me for the money, but I feel she needs more for when she applies for actual jobs when she graduates.

I’m a student right now. I’ve loads to do. Temporary job, volunteer weekly at the food bank, sell jam for the WI once a month, I’ve signed up for a sewing course in July (£150).

Have they tried signing up to temp agencies? That’s how I’ve had work… everything from car park stewarding to answering phones for a sports event to occasional admin work.

Walking down our local high street yesterday there were several household name shops with cards in the window advertising summer jobs.

Also check out any new hospitality venues opening - this is how both my dc found jobs. Both dc, although now several years post university, say how valuable the experience of working in hospitality has been.

Having said this, I agree, it does seem to get harder and harder for young adults to find casual work. Maybe because of the hike in National Insurance for employers.

Volunteer marketing assistant. He approached local charities and firms offering his time to review their website, exploring how many hits they were getting, how long people stayed on each part of the page, how many went onto buy something, then wrote a report with recommendations for them to optimize their customers online experience. Not related to his degree, but looked good on the cv, and could be done in his own time, fitting around his sports coaching, which brought in some money too.

Working, she has a great weekend job, seeing grandparents. Managing the house for me so I can work and enjoy the weekends off, a camping trip booked and seeing some friend’s. Hopefully she’ll get a bit of overtime at work too