Gap year a good option?

willhub

willhub

willhub

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Hi.

I'm 20 now, and thinking of having a gap year, not a gap year to go on holiday, but to get a normal part time or even full time job, be it in a supermarket or typing in data all day, to earn some money and get some work experience onto my CV.

Would this be a good or bad idea? I was talking to my flatmate and they seem to think it would be a bad idea, but I've left UCAS far too late (my own pproblem), and I'm really struggling to find something I want to do at uni, and thought maybe a gap year would give me time to properly decide what I really want to do.

Any thoughts? I'm 20 and have not had a propor job before, apart from I volunteer as much as I can for the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, and usually it's 9-5 work unpaid, so I'd think that would help on my CV but not enough for a propor job after uni.

If I did have a gap year I'd move back home and I'd have around 1200 quid left over from uni that I'd use to help pay board etc...

Thanks
Will.
 
A gap year spent "chilling" is a VERY bad idea.

A gap year spent developing as a person and learning about life in the real world is a brilliant idea, it should be compulsory :)

Get a menial job in a hospital, hospice, care home, etc.; hopefully you will learn to appreciate and respect the people who work in this type of role year in, year out for low pay.
 
I was thinking for a job I'd go around town looking in shops and that and handing in CV, and put my CV up on those job sites.
 
hiya willhub

A year out can often prove a good move for a lot of people, it'll let you save some money for uni plus it'll give you some time to work out what exactly you want to do at uni. I'm currently on a placement year now between my third and second years of my degree and am very glad i chose to do so.

If i was you i would very much look to find a job that has some relation to what you might want to do when you finish your studies. For example if you want to go into the IT industry it would be worthwhile looking for a gap year job in this area as oppose to a supermarket. This will give you relevent work experience which will put you above a lot of other students out there that normally don't have relevant work experience just worked in a shop etc or have no experience at all.
 
skippy2421 said:
hiya willhub

A year out can often prove a good move for a lot of people, it'll let you save some money for uni plus it'll give you some time to work out what exactly you want to do at uni. I'm currently on a placement year now between my third and second years of my degree and am very glad i chose to do so.

If i was you i would very much look to find a job that has some relation to what you might want to do when you finish your studies. For example if you want to go into the IT industry it would be worthwhile looking for a gap year job in this area as oppose to a supermarket. This will give you relevent work experience which will put you above a lot of other students out there that normally don't have relevant work experience just worked in a shop etc or have no experience at all.
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Yes I'd like to do a gap year job in the IT industry, just I think I'd struggle to actually find anywhere due to my lack of work experience, really only one thing I have ever done apart from work experience in school/college. Also I worry that getting a job, what if I'm out of my depth, as in, I have no idea what I'm doing or have problems with some specific aspect in a job, I'd be in trouble then.
 
skippy2421 said:
If i was you i would very much look to find a job that has some relation to what you might want to do when you finish your studies.
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Read this and then read it again another 5 times mate. I made the mistake of not working in a related area when my knowledge was still fresh but now I'm fuzzy on things I learned (even things I used to excel at) and I'm lacking relevant experience.
 
willhub said:
Yes I'd like to do a gap year job in the IT industry, just I think I'd struggle to actually find anywhere due to my lack of work experience, really only one thing I have ever done apart from work experience in school/college. Also I worry that getting a job, what if I'm out of my depth, as in, I have no idea what I'm doing or have problems with some specific aspect in a job, I'd be in trouble then.
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Generally a business is not going to throw you in at the deep end, it's not in their best interests to, as long as you don't lie about your abilities they wont ask nothing too demanding of you.

Just because you don't have experience now don't let it stop you. Everybody has to start somewhere, i'll use myself as an example here. I actually work in planning statistics now, however before i got this placement (which i had to arrange off my own back as plymouth uni suck for sorting placements) i had no relevent experience to this job, the only work experience i had was being a road worker over a couple of summers. However now i have had this placement it stands me in good stead for getting another stats job or another job within the civil service.
 
http://www.yini.org.uk/

Go here! I did a placement through them after finishing school, you can get relevant work experience and get paid. You have to pay a one off fee (£25 IIRC) but they will help you with writing a CV and then send it to the companies that are offering placements.
 
willhub said:
YI have no idea what I'm doing or have problems with some specific aspect in a job, I'd be in trouble then.
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wouldn't happen, especially at this level. there is always someone who will help you until you get used to the jist of things.
 
Thanks all. I might try that yini website, I really don't have any idea where to look, apart from that website posted, posting on sites like monster.co.uk.

I'll be moving back to York (if my parents will let me), I'd not be able to afford living on my own, hopefully there will be opportunities in the area, leeds included.

fonzee said:
wouldn't happen, especially at this level. there is always someone who will help you until you get used to the jist of things.
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That's good, I get the impression from most people that you get dumped in jobs at the deep end.
 
stockhausen said:
A gap year spent "chilling" is a VERY bad idea.

A gap year spent developing as a person and learning about life in the real world is a brilliant idea, it should be compulsory :)

Get a menial job in a hospital, hospice, care home, etc.; hopefully you will learn to appreciate and respect the people who work in this type of role year in, year out for low pay.
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Agree with that. I'm a student myself and it winds me up when I talk to people my age, in their early twenties who say they are going to do a gap year to chill out. IE. Sponge off their parents and do nothing to get a job and nothing to get an education. I can't comment on the job front because at the moment I don't have a part time job, but at least I'm in full time education.
 
fonzee said:
:eek: sounds the most boring job in the world ever!! :p

is plym uni really that bad?
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lol it's not too bad, i get to play with other stats and economics data too.

Plymouth is fine if you're doing IT where they have a dedicated placement team, however if you're studying something else like maths as i was you get hardly any help infact i ended up going to the IT departments placement office to do the relevant stuff. I still report to them now (they like to check up on you). However i believe this has changed now as IT and maths have merged into the faculty of technology and science or something so they share everything so if you're looking to do a similar thing you may have a different experience to me.

EDIT: don't get me wrong plymouth is a great university just most departments don't help much with placements, however things could have changed in the past year.
 
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Please do something other than retail, for the sake of your sanity.

I done 2 years at college and landed a brilliant part-time placement working with an interactive agency but finished with both and decided on the gap year option. I went into retail at senior level because I wanted some life experience and confidence, it was a year of hell and despite being back at Uni, I'm still stuck there part-time.

My GF also took this year out working in retail and she's so utterly run down and depressed. It's horrible to see.
 
Moses99p said:
Well just don't go to uni until you know what you want to do, 'cause if you do it'll end badly!
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Not quite sure what you mean by this. If you mean don't go to uni until you know what course you want to do, i figure that's pretty given as you have to pick a course, if you mean don't make that decision lightly you have a fair point as nobody should do a course they don't have any passion for and like you said it would end badly.

If you mean don't go until you know what you want to do after i'm going to have to disagree. Most people i go to uni with have no idea what they want to do when they come out. Admittedly it helps if you know what sort of sector you want to go into (IT/finance etc.). As long as you don't select a degree that restricts your options too much i can't see a problem.
 
I'm assuming you have completed uni. why on earth would you work in a supermarket over an IT job. A rubbish It low paid job, is going to be far better experience than a supermarket.
 
AcidHell2 said:
I'm assuming you have completed uni. why on earth would you work in a supermarket over an IT job. A rubbish It low paid job, is going to be far better experience than a supermarket.
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No, that's why I'm looking at a gap year, I'm currently on a foundation degree in computer systems support at The Manchester College. I am currently totally unsure what I want to do at uni, I have spend each day looking and I've found some courses at Sheffield Hallam and MMU, but I'm not 100% sure, some of the aspects are not what I like and tbh, I don't know what I want to do after uni.
 
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