Gaining experience and earning money on the side is perfect for students with spare time. There’re many winter jobs for students out there.
Retail and Bar Staff
Many students take on a retail or bar job whilst at university. They also give you a range of skills to add to your CV like multitasking, teamwork, working under pressure and problem solving. They give you the chance to gain work experience, and many have flexible hours available for students. Even if you’re on a contract with low hours, many places offer more work during half term. These jobs are also a great opportunity to meet new people and make friends. Another perk is staff discount and free drinks!
Housekeeping
Housekeeping can cover different activities like vacuuming, shopping, washing dishes, doing laundry and general cleaning. Many people need a housekeeper like busy parents and individuals with disabilities. Many housekeepers work for an agency, which can be easier than being self-employed. This is because it can come with extra steps. For example, if you earn over £1,000 in a year, you need to declare this to HMRC.
Alternatively, you could housesit for someone. This might be for a short period of time whilst they’re on holiday during winter break. Or it could be regularly if they’re away a lot. This is easier if you know someone because many people like to have someone they trust in their home.
Pet Sitting
Another reason someone might need services in their house is if they have a pet which needs looking after. This might be temporary because the individual is on holiday or away on a business trip. A lot of the time though, people need their pet looked after regularly. For example, a couple may be at work all day for five days a week but have a dog at home. In this case, their animal can’t be left alone without food or being let out to the toilet all day. They may even need their dog walked as well if they don’t have time. As a pet sitter, you can make sure people’s animals have company and are cared for.
Child Care, Nanny, and Babysitting
As well as pets, many people have babies and children. As a babysitter, you may have to carry out tasks like, feeding, entertaining and caring for their children. This is particularly good experience if you’re studying something like health and social care. There’s also an increase in demand for babysitters during the holidays when children are off school. Having evidence of training in first aid or safety is desirable to people looking for a babysitter or nanny.
Drivers and Delivery People
Many students become delivery drivers for the flexible hours and good pay. If you don’t have a car, you may be able to use a bike. Many places allow their staff to choose their hours and whether they want to deliver locally or further distances. This is the perfect opportunity to take on more work during the winter break. Depending on the company you work for, there can be other perks like getting tips, time off and having petrol reimbursed. If you’re doing deliveries, you’ll need to be covered by hire and reward insurance. It protects you from things like theft, vehicle damage and compensation for injury.
Freelancers and copywriters
Freelancing can be used to help you build experience in the area you’re studying. If your university course is art related, you could design and publish your own colouring book. You can do this for free through Amazon KDP. With this idea, you need to make sure you do enough marketing to make your book known. You can do this through social platforms, which is perfect for those studying a media related course.
Copywriting is also something else you can do. If you’re studying English or something media-related, this is perfect for your CV. Copywriting is when you write content on behalf of a company. This might be blogs or category pages for their website. Many businesses are looking for copywriters to help with their SEO. This stands for search engine optimisation and essentially helps websites rank higher on Google. For example, if you write a blog about something topical, then people are more likely to come across it.
Find More Great Tips From The Student Energy Group
At The Student Energy Group, we’re dedicated to helping you and other students save money. We’ll combine all your bills including water, electric, gas, internet and TV licence and put them into one monthly student bills package. This can then be split between you and your housemates. We’ll make sure to plant a tree if you sign up with us! It takes less than two minutes to get a free quote from us.
