What part-time jobs and hours do uni students typically manage?

[Echobelly]

Obviously I know there is bar work/wait staff working stuff, but interested to know what people's kids who are uni students have done for work and how many hours they tend to do?

Oldest DC starts uni this year - we will pay for accommodation but want them to get a job for 'fun money' because for one thing we won't have much to spare after paying for accommodation, especially as they are probably going for a London uni. Also I think it will be good for them to learn money management (which they're not great at right now).

As I said, I know people will do bar working/wait staff, but DC is possibly autistic, and very sensitive/overwhelmed by loud noise and late nights, so bar staff may not be ideal. Do people manage to work as baristas, shop staff or delivery riders as well? They can ride a bike, though haven't done it for years - I think they should pick it up again over summer for both p/t work options and maybe saving travel money.

Both my children work fairly full time hours in a shop at home during the holidays. They don’t work at uni other then being student ambassadors at open days (which is well paid).

10 years since I finished uni but I worked in retail while I was there.

I was in uni 9-5pm for 4 days and 9-3pm for one.

I worked 6-9pm one night, 4-9pm on my short uni day, 8-5pm on a Saturday and 11-5pm on a Sunday.
Shorter retail shifts are definitely getting harder to come by though.

We mid assessment -I don't think they'll quite pass the threshold as I don't think they'll be considered to have significant enough social or learning deficits, but I'm still fairly sure they're on the spectrum given there's quite a lot of it about on both sides of family.

They're very independent, I'm not worried about that - I suspect we'll hardly see them once they're at uni!

They haven't worked yet as, AFAICT there's not many places you can get work in London under 18 (might be different elsewhere).They have done some voluntary behind-the-scenes work with a small museum.

DS1 worked at JD Sports from turning 16. He went away to uni, they kept his job open for when he came back and he worked during Xmas, Easter and summer holidays. Kept this up until he left uni. DS2 worked at Papa Johns from turning 16. They also kept his job open and he worked Xmas, Easter and summer holidays.
So both no work at all whilst away, but could practically pick and choose their hours on return. Both very lucky.

Cleaning is well paid and flexible.
2 of mine, who are at uni, work as cleaners.

It’s a long time since I was at university, but I am also autistic and found it too hard to work and attend uni at the same time, but did work in the long summer holidays. It’s obviously very seasonal, but I worked at a theme park which was actually not that overwhelming, and they have a range of roles, including some that involve very little dealing with people.

I think they're happy to deal with people (they joke about ending up working in Lush) but I think late and very noisy work like bars, pubs or clubs would be a challenge. I'll definitely mention cleaning to them as I think it might be a good option with them being an early riser.

DD does a few jobs - rowing coaching for her university, student representative for her university for widening access, punting tours, looking after 2 children, one school refuser 1 day a week. She is NT and very sporty. My asd one would not manage it.

DD has found it pretty tough to get a job. She applied for probably 80+ and has got a zero hours contract...which mostly means zero hours. On the rare occasion she gets a shift (retail) she really enjoys it. She did have a different retail job last summer and hated it.

Job situation in Manchester is dire. Dd has worked as a barista for 3 years back home and can’t get a job. I see loads of stuff on the Manchester reddit from locals and students being unable to find shop work, bar work, etc.

Supermarkets
Weekend staff at hotels / pools

Do they have any specific skills? They tend to get better paying work.

E.g.

Teach swimming
Teach music

It’s the same in Liverpool.

The current advice for young people looking for work is to get out there and ask in person rather than a scattergun approach with a cv. Many smaller companies still do not have a website but may be looking for help,

Many years ago when I was 14 I took a job in a local chip shop. I was late in looking and all the little "saturday" jobs in retail had gone. I did not go to uni until later life. However the chip shop job was something I could easily pick up shifts from when I was saving for something special. I worked there on and off until I was in my early 20s. Flexible hours, 5 minutes walk and cash in hand.

Eldest gave have Spanish lessons (mfl degree) , did waitressing , pool attendant, cat sitting .
Dd2 did other students nails for a fee, worked in retail , worked at the uni helping a lecturer with the phd research , was a student ambassador ( got paid for it ) , worked as a pool lifeguard.
I’ve told our youngest she needs to find work too .

DD worked in a coffee shop but more taking orders on the till and waitressing than barista coffee making. Friends and flatmates worked variously in a book shop, clothes shop, other types of retail, receptionist in a swanky hotel (no idea how she managed that one!), a supermarket, and bar work.

My DD has only worked during the summers, as her course is full on plus the other non academic stuff she’s involved in, plus the jobs are not that abundant. But she is doing a paid internship next term, which she found on whatever page the uni has about internal opportunities. So maybe think ‘outside the box’. But your DC could work this summer to save enough for the coming year.

DC works in retail but has worked in hotels as a waitress, kp,barista, receptionist.

ASD diagnosis doesn't depend on learning deficits, though if their social skills are relatively good you are right your DC may not meet threshold. But that's as it should be, because if you aren't disabled by your differences then you don't have a disability. Lots of people don't like noisy clubs!

Anyway as I've said there are definitely non club/bar jobs.

My daughter worked in a childcare setting in the holidays, she couldn’t work whilst at Uni due to placements.

ds did his door staff qualification before he went to uni and did that for a bit. Then he worked in a small factory doing a 6am-10am shift which worked really well around lectures. He had worked before going to uni so already had quite a bit of experience.

I have a second job doing remote call centre work, and we have quite a lot of students on the weekend/evening shifts which fit around their university commitments.

My dc have done waiting on, online tutoring (much better paid), teaching their instrument, being a student ambassador and speaking at open days and the like, Christmas staff at outside Ice rink.

online tutoring is much better paid than any of the others

Part-time jobs for students are hard to get these days. DD has been applying since the summer and got nothing.
Fully remote customer service roles may suit? But he'll need resilience as most places don't even respond.

This is a long time ago but when I was at uni I did a lot of call centre jobs. Mainly outbound. It’s easy money.

I did quite a full on degree in that it was long lab days and lecture days on site with not much down time. I managed to do pot washing for 2 hours twice a week for some fun money which was all I could honestly manage but it was something!