Student hardship

What Is A Student To Do?

So you've broke up for the summer?
Put into perspective, you've spent the last six months partying,
vegging out on take takeaways and going to the occasional lecture,
right?
Now the student loans run dry, and scrounging off your parents/partner
is about as likely as England winning Euro 2000, so what now? Four long
months with no income means only one thing to many students, time to
get a job!
Ok, so now you've had time to get your head around the concept, where
do you start? Its a dog eat dog world out there.
There are positively hundreds of options open to the typical student,
but what do you want to do? and what do the advertisements actually
mean? It can be a daunting experience trying to decide between the
enticing experience of working abroad or working at ease from
home.

The most common summer job, for all types of students to look for is
retail work. Hundreds of shops will be looking for seasonal staff in
anticipation of the busy summer period when schools break up. Beware
when approaching shops, many who appear to have vacancies may be
looking for permanent work, and will be able to see through the average
student who assures them that they are too looking for permanent work.
Lying to the company in this manner is generally not advised, as they
don't take light to the situation when, summer over, you will be
leaving to go back to studies, and they are left yet again with the
hassle of finding your replacement. However their are also many stores
looking for summer staff.

The temping agencies who now days seem the ideal candidate for
students are not as inviting as they seem. With the endless
advertisements plastered on trains, billboards, radio stations such as
Kiss Fm. The newest addition, to this style of finding work, Tempz.com
(Internet based) is aimed it seems at young women and students either
now studying, or just leaving the world of education. Their young aimed
adverts promise exciting and positive work with ease it seems, and do a
good job in persuading young people to come knocking at their door.
Once all your details are typed into Tempz.com you are often advertised
with the work that they think is most appropriate to you, not the work
that you are actually searching for. Although once you are registered
don't expect the phone to be ringing off the hook. In fact don't expect
anything. Three months registered with Tempz.com brought one wishful
candidate nothing but the same standard welcoming message over and over
again. One would think that they would be more alluring, so why does
this system not work? Apart from the substantial amount of people
registered with the companies, one thing that the agencies forgot to
put in their advertisements. Upon investigation, to one of the main
temping agencies Brook Street informed us:

"We can only take on secretaries with experience as the employer wants
a professional and does not expect to take on somebody that they have
to train."

Fair enough we thought, but even the most basic of jobs, a
receptionist for example, must have at least two years experience. So
why then do they aim their advertisements at the young fresh female,
who will not have the necessary experience needed.

Working abroad in places such as Camp America, or Au Pair companies
seems a exciting and invaluable option to many, however this requires
an organised student. The decision to go abroad must be made almost a
year in advance. (Late deciders will be penalised with extra charges).
One must also be expected to ask the world and his wife for a
reference.
Two references not relations, two more character references from
different people, doctors certificate, next of kin, and so on....before
you even decide to get this far you must look ahead to the implications
of taking on such work, being an Au Pair may tie you down to
non-English speaking family, living with them in a foreign country with
no friends to keep you company and only a small child or two who may
not have been brought up with all the manners and enduring behaviour
that you may expect.
Camp America is anther story again, while their brochure is full of
happy looking people in colour photos and cute quotes from former
campers, upon reading the small print you will find that you are
practically on duty twenty four hours a day. Watching over the children
in sports, serving their meals, providing entertainment, lending a
shoulder to cry on, keeping their evenings interesting, and even being
in charge of a dorm, so that you are also a night supervisor.

While there are a number of valuable books on sale now, for the summer
job industry, one must also be aware of what these jobs implicate. One
of the many jobs in these types of books are fruit pickers, in this
country and abroad.
Fruit picking may sound like an easy time, lounging around in a field
all day with all the fruit you can eat, spending the day picking a few
berries to keep the boss happy, in an idyllic world yes. In reality you
get paid by the fruit, and we are talking pennies here, not pounds,
which means a hellish amount of fruit in a day. Not forgetting the fact
that you will be expected to spend the whole day in a field, the
unpredictable weather of this country may provide many rainy day, so be
sure to pack your wellies! Even if we have a hot summer, the average
sun worshiper can only take so much of sitting in the sun day after
day. So by the end of the summer if you are not sick of the sun, you'll
defiantly never want to see a piece of fruit again.

The options are varied. So many to choose from, but none it seems will
be able to satisfy the average students need to be physically and
mentally challenged with the combination of respectable incomes.

So to the luckier of you who do manage to find work this summer, no
matter what you are doing. If you are enjoying it or not, rest assured
that all students will be in the same place as you mentally, relaxing
in the sun on a testosterone drenched dessert island.