A levels and Saturday Job

Jagraf

Teens having a Saturday job whilst doing A levels (or equivalent).

Is this good for experience in the real world of work?
Too time consuming?
Affects grades?
Too tiring?

What are your thoughts / experiences?

theoretica

Surely it depends on the student and what he or she would be doing otherwise, and also on the job. For some people it will be more important for future life and career than the A levels themselves, for others valuable bonus points for admission to oversubscribed university courses, and for some the time would be better spent otherwise.

Tigsteroonie

Didn't stop me getting good grades at A-level. Then again, I did work in a book shop :cool:

indsty

TBH I always found that the youngsters who had a busy life, working, sports teams, orchestras etc, were the ones who did best in exams, and also later on at uni etc. They learn to use their time sensibly, don't mess about nearly as much on social media, and appreciate being treated like young adults and not kids.

Dird

I'd tell him to quit in Jan/Feb so he can start focusing on studying then

Rosemary7391

It set me up financially for and during university (I went back in most of the holidays), and also opened doors to more interesting temporary jobs for holidays and post university - a workplace reference is so so useful. That was 12 hours a week - ideally I might've liked fewer hours, but I also liked the money No need to quit to study - you'll get paid holidays, so can take off the night before the exam for example. Good employers will understand that, and time management is a good skill to learn, as are effective revision practices (as opposed to endless revision ...). You'll also want to be in place for the summer, as overtime is often available and will be useful for all those start of university expenses!

balletshoes

I think it depends if they actually spend their Saturdays studying - if they don't, I'd encourage the Saturday job idea.

System

It probably depends on the job. Fast food places for example are very stressful and don't pay well. (However a university friend found it useful when working at McDonalds in Vienna, as it helped her to learn German!)

I was lucky in that I got a job in (what was then) a record shop. I loved music so I felt like I was being paid for doing something I like.

Serendipitious

It can be done. While at 6th form college, my DD worked weekends and the occasional weekday evening at a local restaurant. It was part of a national chain (not a fast food outlet) and gave her a nice uniform, meals at work, a regular pay packet and as many hours as she wanted during holidays. She was there 2 years.

It didn't affect her studies. When she left to go to university, they invited her to take their management training programme instead, but she declined as she wanted to do her degree.

She really enjoyed it, met lots of people, developed customer service and team-working skills and had good references from HQ. And she liked the money.

chanie

I worked through my a levels and university. I loved my part time job and it was some of the best times of my life.

I think it's good for young people -other than the money, working teaches discipline, responsibility and a good foundation of skills for future careers.

susancs

Most of the students doing A levels in my DD school had weekend jobs and they did well in their A levels. DD worked in a chemist and she got a lower offer on grades for pharmacy at Uni due to this.

It gave her more confidence and she developed a lot of transferable skills such as time managment, good time keeping, working with all ages, team work, negotiating skills, cash handling etc.

She is a typical teen in that if she does not have to be somewhere and doing something, she has a lie in. I think if she did not work at weekends she wouldn't have got up to study and would have just slept in. Instead she was getting valuble working experience and earning her own money. She did use her paid holidays on a couple of weekends around her exam time.