College..

grudas

grudas

grudas

Soldato
Joined
12 Mar 2008
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West sussex
hey

so im in a bit of a stupid situation at the moment.. im 18 (19 dec) and im not sure what i want to do in my future.. now im in level 3 IT btec national diploma 1st year.. i dont like sitting in front of pc all day and i dont want my future to be anything like it.. now my oister card cost 10quid a week which i dont have ( no part time job ) i go to college 4 days a week and now im starting to miss lessons just because if this..(no money for travel)

what part time job should i look for? im really in a big money problem atm and parents are not helping either... saying they will kick me out of house if i leave college... so im young and i have no idea how to earn money to stay in college.. i already know i wont be able to afford university (after finishing the college) what would you recommend me to do? should i just hand out my cv in shops like sainburys, Iceland etc etc (dont want to work in McDonalds) do i even have any chance to get a part time job there? and another question are jobs in IT industry possible after National diploma? or do i have to complete uni to do something like it? :confused:
 
Adrianr said:
RE: Finances, EMA? Helped me out a lot at college.
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the thing with EMA is that they keep messing it up.. one week you get something the other not.. then after two more weeks you get more again.. that will help but it's not enough.. :o
 
If you dont like what your doing why do it?

Can't you just leave and figure out what you'd rather do, if it involves college again you can just go back next september?

What about apprenticeships?
 
Living on your own is fine. I highly recommend taking a year for yourself, I did it myself and it helps get your head in the right place. Get some crap job that pays the bills. For short term quick money there are some options. Advertise yourself as a babysitter in shops or places with public notice boards. Universities often need subjects for experiments. Make an itinerary of DVDs, games etc. Sell them.

I'm not familiar with your parents but any chance you could suck a bit of pride and talk to them? Worst case they aren't helpful.
 
grudas said:
the thing with EMA is that they keep messing it up.. one week you get something the other not.. then after two more weeks you get more again.. that will help but it's not enough.. :o
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That's only if you miss classes. If your attendence is 100% for the week, they pay you. Simple as. And nothing is stopping you claiming EMA AND getting a part time job.

EMA is based on parents income, not yours.
 
skippi90 said:
That's only if you miss classes. If your attendence is 100% for the week, they pay you. Simple as. And nothing is stopping you claiming EMA AND getting a part time job.

EMA is based on parents income, not yours.
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not really i have tested it out last year.. and after the year at the end bonuses came and after that the money which they missed out paying me which was 150 for the year.. :) in not missing my classes much my attendance never goes below 85%

lemonkettaz said:
If you dont like what your doing why do it?

Can't you just leave and figure out what you'd rather do, if it involves college again you can just go back next september?

What about apprenticeships?
Click to expand...

apprenticeship is another thing i could do.. i need to speak with my parents to see if they accept it.. if not i will be trying to complete first year of national diploma but it is very hard to get motivated to do any work which im not interested on..
 
EMA owe me £200 and im 2nd year uni :p

College registers were that screwed up i apparantly didnt turn up for 11 weeks :D

World class Student Finance that!
 
Just hand your CV out anywhere. My friend got a job at mcdonalds just to teach himself a lesson. He thought he was too good for it and decided that was a stupid and unfair attitude to take so he applied there and got a job. I think he lasted about a month before he quit.. but it was a lesson well learnt and he made a bit of dosh n the mean-time :)
 
I did a 2 year IT course, passed it then got an apprenteship and started to think the same way, Dont like working with pc's now.

I changed direction and started doing an electrical installation course level 2, It's very involved and satisfying. I'd recommend a trade to anyone whether it be joinery, electrical, bricky etc. I've always loved hands on work so I dont know why I joined an apprenteship with a IT helpdesk company, didn't really want to go to work, was bored at work.

however, Have you tried student loans? I cant really say I've ever got a loan/credit card so you may have to ask other people. but beware if you pull out you may have to pay course fee's depending on your age.
 
grudas said:
hey

so im in a bit of a stupid situation at the moment.. im 18 (19 dec) and im not sure what i want to do in my future.. now im in level 3 IT btec national diploma 1st year.. i dont like sitting in front of pc all day and i dont want my future to be anything like it.. now my oister card cost 10quid a week which i dont have ( no part time job ) i go to college 4 days a week and now im starting to miss lessons just because if this..(no money for travel)

what part time job should i look for? im really in a big money problem atm and parents are not helping either... saying they will kick me out of house if i leave college... so im young and i have no idea how to earn money to stay in college.. i already know i wont be able to afford university (after finishing the college) what would you recommend me to do? should i just hand out my cv in shops like sainburys, Iceland etc etc (dont want to work in McDonalds) do i even have any chance to get a part time job there? and another question are jobs in IT industry possible after National diploma? or do i have to complete uni to do something like it? :confused:
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Right. This is coming from a careers guidance advisor who works with your age group.

Stay on your course and give it a chance, if it's first year, you've only been there a few weeks? Claim EMA and actually turn up at college (why else would they pay you?) and tbh 85% is crap attendance. Quite why you've chosen an IT course if you don't want to sit at a computer is beyond me, but perhaps get a careers guidance interview booked at your college.

The reason to stay at college is you are nearly 19, now when you hit that magical age, education suddenly becomes very expensive. At the moment, it's free. Look into local authority travel schemes to see if you can get a subsidy for travel whilst you are still in full-time education.

You know exactly how to earn money - you've pretty much said it in your OP. Don't bother with CVs for part time work, all the chain retailers you've mentioned will be online application, and the smaller chains will have company-wide applications forms that you should pick up in store.

You will have trouble finding work at the moment, because quite frankly you are up against an employers market. They can pick and choose between unexperienced, unqualified teenageers, or people with many years experience and knowledge behind them that may have been made redundant.

You need to lose the 'not working at McDonalds' mentality. It's money, it's a decent employer with a good training scheme and reasonably decent benefits for young people. How people won't work at McD's but will work somewhere like Iceland is beyond me to be honest!

Your best bet however is to make an appointment with a college careers adviser, or better yet if your area has one, Connexions.

Best of Luck!
 
DailyGeek said:
Right. This is coming from a careers guidance advisor who works with your age group.

Stay on your course and give it a chance, if it's first year, you've only been there a few weeks? Claim EMA and actually turn up at college (why else would they pay you?) and tbh 85% is crap attendance. Quite why you've chosen an IT course if you don't want to sit at a computer is beyond me, but perhaps get a careers guidance interview booked at your college.

The reason to stay at college is you are nearly 19, now when you hit that magical age, education suddenly becomes very expensive. At the moment, it's free. Look into local authority travel schemes to see if you can get a subsidy for travel whilst you are still in full-time education.

You know exactly how to earn money - you've pretty much said it in your OP. Don't bother with CVs for part time work, all the chain retailers you've mentioned will be online application, and the smaller chains will have company-wide applications forms that you should pick up in store.

You will have trouble finding work at the moment, because quite frankly you are up against an employers market. They can pick and choose between unexperienced, unqualified teenageers, or people with many years experience and knowledge behind them that may have been made redundant.

You need to lose the 'not working at McDonalds' mentality. It's money, it's a decent employer with a good training scheme and reasonably decent benefits for young people. How people won't work at McD's but will work somewhere like Iceland is beyond me to be honest!

Your best bet however is to make an appointment with a college careers adviser, or better yet if your area has one, Connexions.

Best of Luck!
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Code: 
Quite why you've chosen an IT course if you don't want to sit at a computer is beyond me

^^ well I've been in the college for 2 years now started on level 1 because of my English and mats as at that moment I've been in UK just for 1.5 years and my English was a problem (it still is) so at that time i didn't know what to or where to go as i know a lot about computers i obviously choose IT but then i found out new things which i enjoy doing (Graphics design or 3d work) after the 2nd level 2 i was worried that i wont be going higher because i achieved Merit and needed distinction to join level 3 but they give me a chance and now i've done an English test level 2 one.. which again proved that my English is a problem (54%) :( that really killed me and i dont want to do anything else.. i've spoken to my parents earlier and they understand the way i feel about not being interested in all the computer stuff college teaches me..

Now what i decided to do is stay at the college and give it a go.. if i fail at it then let it be.. i was trying.. if i success then that's a different story.. the skills i've learned wont make my life worse... im still young i can change a lot.. but as you've said everything will cost after the age of 19.. which i already knew about... i just cant get over it... if i had money in my pocket it would be easier.. ill try and apply for some part time job.. i might just get lucky.. :) anyway thanks for advice :)
 
grudas said:
Code: 
Quite why you've chosen an IT course if you don't want to sit at a computer is beyond me

^^ well I've been in the college for 2 years now started on level 1 because of my English and mats as at that moment I've been in UK just for 1.5 years and my English was a problem (it still is) so at that time i didn't know what to or where to go as i know a lot about computers i obviously choose IT but then i found out new things which i enjoy doing (Graphics design or 3d work) after the 2nd level 2 i was worried that i wont be going higher because i achieved Merit and needed distinction to join level 3 but they give me a chance and now i've done an English test level 2 one.. which again proved that my English is a problem (54%) :( that really killed me and i dont want to do anything else.. i've spoken to my parents earlier and they understand the way i feel about not being interested in all the computer stuff college teaches me..

Now what i decided to do is stay at the college and give it a go.. if i fail at it then let it be.. i was trying.. if i success then that's a different story.. the skills i've learned wont make my life worse... im still young i can change a lot.. but as you've said everything will cost after the age of 19.. which i already knew about... i just cant get over it... if i had money in my pocket it would be easier.. ill try and apply for some part time job.. i might just get lucky.. :) anyway thanks for advice :)
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Well done for what you have achieved :)

If you do well with level 3, you can potentially head on to higher education should you want too, and possibly look at a degree in graphic design or 3D modelling. They of course still involve sitting at a computer but you need to do a bit of thinking if you want something totally different - which is where some careers guidance may help.

It's a little lame, but have a look at www.fasttomato.com which might give you a few pointers towards jobs that might interest you :)
 
Re: The sheer incompetance of the EMA system, Myself and everyone on my course went through the exact same thing. And every time the problem was at the COLLEGE end. Granted it took 5 minutes out of my Tuesday, but I made a point of going to see the nice lady who dealt with scanning, checking and sending off our sectors registers to EMA. Often the machine would scan things wrong, resulting in a non-payment. Often the teacher would get it wrong, resulting in the same thing. It was a slight task but turning up every tuesday to say "Any marks against my name are wrong, I've been in all week", was worth getting £30 on the button every week without fail. All bonuses too.
 
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