Best employer for pay and flexible student hours

chrispyphillips

Am hoping this thread could help not only myself, but lots of others in the same situation! Might even be stickied if any good (probably exists somewhere under another moniker, but I cant find anything!)

Next term my partner hopes to start a 3 year degree. The course is full time, so she has to give up her job, but we still have a mortgage to pay off, as well as car payments and the usual other expensive bills. In all we spend about £650 a month each to cover our costs. Now, by giving up her job and studying, she wont be earning anything, other than the loan she will be given (hopefully). She wont live away as the uni is in Newport (we live in Swansea) so will commute, and since its a teaching course, she can get placement down here for a lot of it. So only travelling expenses really apply (oh, and course fee's!!)

Basically the question to this long winded conundrum, in people's experiences, who are the best employers for students to work for, for flexibility, who provide the best rates of pay, and what are the best areas of industry to work? Quite broad I know, but would Tesco be better than Sainsburys for instance, or would a local bar/restaurant be better than a supermarket? Is there more money in retail? I dont think she can be so picky as to chose what job since she'll still have to try and find £650 p/month from somewhere, paying less is not an option, its just a case of finding the right job which pays good money, is flexible in its working hours and is quite tolerant of this as well.

Any help would be welcome, I will of course provide any findings I have from my research.

Wiggynut

Dammit! just crashed so I lost my post!!!

I'll start again...

Temp agencies have part time work which they find hard to fill as most temps want full time work - also depending on skills the wage does go up.
NHS do have part time shifts too (admin jobs etc... does your local hospital have a job site - they sometimes have their own little mini 'agency' where they keep a record of peoples skills etc and then call to let you know they need someone)

pubs, cinemas, restuarants, sandwhich bars... supermarkets do offer staff discounts so you might get cheaper groceries!

there is another thread on this site about a home working job... ASA??? I can't remember the name but people ask questions via the internet or their mobile and the home worker answers it! £6 + per hour for shifts... I think they have a lot of students.

Call Centre's also have a lot of students... they do various shifts and hours - £6.50ph upwards. (tends to go up the longer you work there and pass certain quality standards etc)

I'm lucky my current employer wants me to continue part time - day & half a week which is slightly better pay than doing several shifts at a pub!
(the company is going down the pan but hopefully it will stay afloat for awhile yet ;-) I'll be able to do extra hours through breaks/uni holidays etc so I'm grateful I dont' have to do a pub job... done it before ... hate it! (I'm not the bubbly sociable type!

hope some of the above info is useful!

chrispyphillips

cheers wiggy!

Am looking for as much input as possible though here people. Share experiences of the best places to work, the best places for pay etc. Could be usefull for lots more money saving student ideas!

duchy

What has your research come up with so far ?
The most savvy students have already applied so you're a little late if looking now for THIS September with such a comprehensive wish list
A lot will depend on how many hours a week she will have free to work-first years usually don't know in advance what their timetable will be so are often unable to apply as early as the other students.
It might be prudent to look at your SOA and see where cuts in your household budget can be made as I think she'll be lucky to take home £650 a month with the hours she'll have available although a lot depends on the course. BEd is not very flexible.. Have you budgeted for things like books btw ?

GlasweJen

i work for asda and there's a form after you get the job that asks about availability with a bit on it for students to put their term time and holiday availability. At my store you get first dibs of holiday time if you're using it for exams.

lufcgirl

Usually, places like Yates' and Varisty are really good for student jobs. One of my friends worked at Tesco but were really funny about her not being able to work when they said (even though it was a 24-hour store)

Jellicat

If she's got a head for maths, might I suggest a bookies in addition to the other brilliant suggestions so far? It will also depend quite a lot on her being calm with people who can get quite rude.

I worked for William Hill for a while, it really, really wasnt for me, but the pay is pretty reasonable and the hours are very flexible. A lot of people really enjoyed working there, it was just me that hated it lol.

chrispyphillips

Jellicat wrote: »

If she's got a head for maths, might I suggest a bookies in addition to the other brilliant suggestions so far? It will also depend quite a lot on her being calm with people who can get quite rude.

I worked for William Hill for a while, it really, really wasnt for me, but the pay is pretty reasonable and the hours are very flexible. A lot of people really enjoyed working there, it was just me that hated it lol.

Definitely no head for maths! Thats out!

Basically, its all preliminary at the moment, we want to make sure it can be done before rushing into it (although she's already very up for it, in her head she's going next term) but its gonna be very hard. Theres not a lot more budgeting we can do, we've made commitments and have bills to pay for things we cant get out of, so its make this much or bust!! I think she'll put in all the work she can when she's able to (she'll have to!) but its just finsing the best job.

Thanks for the replies though everyone, I'll keep this updated and see how thigns get on!

allrmsaver

Your partner should check his uni JobShop (it might be called something else) once he registers as they usually list jobs that are available on campus and local part-time jobs. They sometimes accomodate the students lecture timetables (if its an on-campus job.)

allrmsaver

Sorry, should have written 'her' and 'she' .

popularfurball

Uni jobshop often has good little finds on it - also as said before - call centres - I was on £7.69 p/hour - which smashes retail/leisure industry generally! Also good because they are normally open until 8/10pm so allows for weekend and evening work.