Occupying the holidays

conradmum

My son will have two months spare after his gap year before going to university in October but he'll be abroad and unable to secure a job until he gets back, making the likelihood of him getting a job for the time quite low.

Does anyone have any ideas about what he could do during that time to occupy himself that doesn't cost anything? He'll have had a good holiday and doesn't want to spend the money he'll have saved for uni before he even goes there, but sitting around at home for two months is going to be very boring and demotivating I think.

Any ideas for something to do which will be constructive or even financially rewarding would be very welcome.

lynzpower

He could volunteer if he cant get temp work I dont know where you live but a bit of work will come his way if he looks hard enough, surely?

conradmum

lynzpower wrote: »

He could volunteer if he cant get temp work I dont know where you live but a bit of work will come his way if he looks hard enough, surely?

The problem is that we live a bus ride from any place that he could volunteer at, so while it'll keep him occupied he'll be out of pocket; and I can't honestly see any company taking someone on for six weeks from mid-August to the end of September. Even though he has two months, it'll take two weeks at least to apply and be interviewed etc. All the traditional summer jobs will have started in July, too, so we're both at a bit of a loss over this.

BruceyBonus

conradmum wrote: »

The problem is that we live a bus ride from any place that he could volunteer at, so while it'll keep him occupied he'll be out of pocket; and I can't honestly see any company taking someone on for six weeks from mid-August to the end of September. Even though he has two months, it'll take two weeks at least to apply and be interviewed etc. All the traditional summer jobs will have started in July, too, so we're both at a bit of a loss over this.

Get in touch with some agencies - they always have filing/date entry/call centre jobs available. Even part way through the summer you can still pick things up.

Last summer, I started the morning after the agency had found me a job (a bit of a shock considering it took me over 3 weeks to find anything)! I worked 2 weeks filing then 7 weeks in a call centre.

Oldernotwiser

Can he not stay abroad and get a job/volunteer?

conradmum

The situation is that he's currently working as an au pair. He'll be away all of July on holiday and was originally going to go back to his current job for another six weeks before returning home, but his employers have said if he'd prefer to finish before his holiday that would be okay. I can see their perspective, which is that they'll be without childcare for a whole month if they wait for him to return, whereas they could just get someone else to start when he leaves.

So ideally we'd both like him to come home for a couple of months before he leaves for uni but two months with nothing in particular to do is a long time.

Fire_Fox

Your son could easily get a job if he really wanted. If he e-mails you a CV and covering letter it can be sent out to agencies, supermarkets, pubs, etc. Then could bring an open reference home from present employer and chase up the CVs by phone the week he arrives home. I had a job before relocating from Yorkshire from Cambridge by doing this.

Voluntary work will look very good on his CV - get him a second-hand bike and he can travel to work for free (sell the bike on after the hols). Some voluntary organisations will pay travel expenses. My brother's GF volunteered in London for a whole summer in the media industry - it cost her a fortune, but on her last promotion she doubled her salary down to her unusual level of experience for her age!

Oldernotwiser

Has he got a reading list?

Idiophreak

Have to say, I'd never have been bored for the 2 months before uni - doing plenty of reading, exercise, just shaping up physically and mentally is actually quite important - nothing worse than starting a new year feeling drained...

That said, if he really wants to do something, temping may well be the way forward - many agencies will even provide transport.

conradmum

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Has he got a reading list?

I don't think so. It's a Computer Science degree.

I've taken heart from some of the posts saying that it shouldn't be too hard to find something even for that short period of time. I think I'll advise him to look into getting some temp work.

omelette451

It might be worth looking into jobs and stuff, but given the economic situation and the sheer number of desperate people about, I'd think it would be fairly tough finding something short-term. Obviously the situation is different if you or he has a 'network of contacts'.

I doubt, however, that he would get bored for two months before starting uni. It could actually do him a lot of good to have some time (yes I agree two months is a lot, but it's better than the opposite extreme of nothing) doing absolutely nothing - there's nothing quite like it to clear your head and make you focus properly on the next thing you'll be doing, which in his case is (hopefully) lots of hard work at university. And even if he hasn't got a reading list as such, there's bound to be something his tutors have recommended for him to do before he gets there.