I'm gonna get a part-time job this year (I'm at uni), and I've only ever worked at supermarkets before. I'm leaning towards working at a pub which I'm thinking could be kind of entertaining and social; any experiences to share? I've been offered a job at the uni tutoring programming, and it pays pretty well, but I'm thinking I'll get a bit drained using computers so often. Supermarkets have been great, but the pay is pretty crap and I'm after a change. What's y'alls' favourite places to work?
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Best part-time job?
- Thread starter snaildog
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Fresh Prince
Banned
I think you'd need a license to serve drinks ( it called the safe serving license or something). Labouring(picking, pelleting etc) is decent money (~$17 per hour for day about $20 for night) but can be physically draining (but you get some of the best sleep ever) plus after a while the guy's personalities can get a bit annoying.
You can get security license- basically you just get paid decent money to stand there but hours are shit (all nighters).
IMO I'd take the programming job it'll be 'valuable' experince if you want to work in the IT industry when you end your degree.
People don't tip that often in Australia btw.
You can get security license- basically you just get paid decent money to stand there but hours are shit (all nighters).
IMO I'd take the programming job it'll be 'valuable' experince if you want to work in the IT industry when you end your degree.
People don't tip that often in Australia btw.
MrAngryFace
Banned
Honestly, Staples does a good job for part-timers and school. Id recommend it. Retail sucks, and sadly its the softer side of retail. Plus you learn actual skills and can do some networking through small business and big business that move through.
This can be said of many places, like Kinkos for example, but Staples has the best learning curve. Plus Max and Depot are failing like a pair of bad kidneys.
This can be said of many places, like Kinkos for example, but Staples has the best learning curve. Plus Max and Depot are failing like a pair of bad kidneys.
Being a bartender in Australia, you don't need a special servicing license to serve alcohol. However most establishments ask that you complete an RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) and if (like most clubs/certain pubs) they have gaming machines, like TAB or Keno or just pokie machines.. you will need a Gaming License through your usual State Government and then the RSG (Responsible Service of Gaming machines). The payrate for most bartenders with a Gaming License is around $17 AUS per hour which is decent enough. Around $20 for Sat and $23 for Sun. If you want to get a bigger payrate, go get a Management diploma or something and apply for a supervisor position.
Other than that, bartending is VERY sociable.. especially at a place where there are a lot of regulars. I hate working at nightclubs simply because there aren't the usual regulars that you can talk to as a friend. If you don't feel like working busy hours, apply for a Bowls Club. May be a pain or so to get used to serving "older" customers, but you'd be surprised as to how many teenagers and 20-30 somethings go in for cheap drinks at night. Plus you usually get to close shop at around 10-11pm on most nights
1 downside - only proper days that you will get off are really important public holidays, i.e. Easter and Christmas Day, possibly Thanksgiving Day over in US/Canada. Expect to get your arse worked hard on New Years though.
Other than that, bartending is VERY sociable.. especially at a place where there are a lot of regulars. I hate working at nightclubs simply because there aren't the usual regulars that you can talk to as a friend. If you don't feel like working busy hours, apply for a Bowls Club. May be a pain or so to get used to serving "older" customers, but you'd be surprised as to how many teenagers and 20-30 somethings go in for cheap drinks at night. Plus you usually get to close shop at around 10-11pm on most nights
1 downside - only proper days that you will get off are really important public holidays, i.e. Easter and Christmas Day, possibly Thanksgiving Day over in US/Canada. Expect to get your arse worked hard on New Years though.
Catering if you want to work GIGS rather than shifts. I've found that Catering jobs are most flexible when it comes to work (gig here and gig there)... all of them tip well as well.
Bartending is fun and if you are in the US... tips will swell. Not all bartending jobs need the license... haha... many owners will simply hire you if they like you enough.
Bank telling is the easiest. If you can "bank" a job in a low population city you'll be able to read freely and do mindless work. Like catering and bartending... you also tend to meet some great people... good banter.
Having done all three... I feel they all have pluses and minuses. All are fun to certain extents... meeting people has always been fun for me.
Bartending is fun and if you are in the US... tips will swell. Not all bartending jobs need the license... haha... many owners will simply hire you if they like you enough.
Bank telling is the easiest. If you can "bank" a job in a low population city you'll be able to read freely and do mindless work. Like catering and bartending... you also tend to meet some great people... good banter.
Having done all three... I feel they all have pluses and minuses. All are fun to certain extents... meeting people has always been fun for me.
A guy I knew in uni worked at a monitoring station for an alarm company. He said it was the best job for a student ever - he made decent money doing a job that basically let him sit around and do homework in a quiet office with a nice laptop and comfy chair. His grades went *up* when he started working there, and he made more money than those of us busting our asses in restaurants or gas stations. You have to be able to work evenings and long night shifts on the weekend though, and it's not the easiest job to find but any similar job would be pretty sweet for most students.
There is pretty much no social benefit to the job though, and if you don't like the thought of reading a book or doing school work on the job (you can't listen to music or anything) by yourself then it'd suck. So while he missed a bunch of parties I was constantly meeting up with drunken flirty coworkers at bars and working at a job with a 10-1 ratio of (cute single) girls to guys. That part was pretty cool, but I was like in my 20's before I dated a girl who wasn't a coworker.
There is pretty much no social benefit to the job though, and if you don't like the thought of reading a book or doing school work on the job (you can't listen to music or anything) by yourself then it'd suck. So while he missed a bunch of parties I was constantly meeting up with drunken flirty coworkers at bars and working at a job with a 10-1 ratio of (cute single) girls to guys. That part was pretty cool, but I was like in my 20's before I dated a girl who wasn't a coworker.
I worked full-time (or close to it) going through school, so I've had lots of non-career jobs along the way.
Working in a Subway was useful, if only for the free food aspect which helped the living-on-my-own budget tremendously. The downside, of course, is that I refuse to eat in Subway for at least another 10-15 years while I wait for the overexposure to their food to burn itself out.
Working in a coffee shop was awesome -- hot co-workers, plenty of regulars to get to know, and, oh yeah, FREE COFFEE. If you're as much of a caffeine freak as I am, that's a major plus. The downside is that mornings are the best shift for making a lot in tips, and you are probably in school at that time.
I tutored for several years, and miss it a lot. You make a lot of money per hour if you're at all qualified, but there is a limit to how many hours you can work per week because of the nature of the job. (Monday through Thursday, considering travel time from job to job, you'd be lucky to fit in two or three appointments per night. Weekends you might be able to tutor more/longer, but there is a saturation point for both you and the student that makes marathon sessions unproductive. Friday night? Forget it.) If you are severely limited in your available hours, and you have some people you can start with to get the word of mouth started, consider it -- it's a rewarding feeling to see your students develop and succeed.
I wish my current job would allow me to go back to tutoring, but my travel schedule is wildly unpredictable. A co-worker and I were doing free drop-in tutoring at Loyola Marymount University for the first couple of years at my current job, and it was a lot of fun. It was nice to be able to teach and NOT have to charge anything.
Working in a Subway was useful, if only for the free food aspect which helped the living-on-my-own budget tremendously. The downside, of course, is that I refuse to eat in Subway for at least another 10-15 years while I wait for the overexposure to their food to burn itself out.
Working in a coffee shop was awesome -- hot co-workers, plenty of regulars to get to know, and, oh yeah, FREE COFFEE. If you're as much of a caffeine freak as I am, that's a major plus. The downside is that mornings are the best shift for making a lot in tips, and you are probably in school at that time.
I tutored for several years, and miss it a lot. You make a lot of money per hour if you're at all qualified, but there is a limit to how many hours you can work per week because of the nature of the job. (Monday through Thursday, considering travel time from job to job, you'd be lucky to fit in two or three appointments per night. Weekends you might be able to tutor more/longer, but there is a saturation point for both you and the student that makes marathon sessions unproductive. Friday night? Forget it.) If you are severely limited in your available hours, and you have some people you can start with to get the word of mouth started, consider it -- it's a rewarding feeling to see your students develop and succeed.
I wish my current job would allow me to go back to tutoring, but my travel schedule is wildly unpredictable. A co-worker and I were doing free drop-in tutoring at Loyola Marymount University for the first couple of years at my current job, and it was a lot of fun. It was nice to be able to teach and NOT have to charge anything.
Dice
Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
I was a janitor for an office building once and it rocked. You may be grossed out by some of the work, but it really wasn't all that bad and the benefits of the job far outwieghed it. Basically there were a couple times in the week I had to go clean it, and I could go whenever I want as long as it wasn't work hours, you can listen to music while you clean and I got paid for the job not the hours so after I figured out how to do it real effeciently I was pretty much getting $20/hr.
pizza delivery, I don't know tax laws in New Zealand, but in the US, if you use your own car you can deduct $.33 per mile (or if your employer pays you something per mile, you can deduct the difference between $.33 and whatever you get per mile). Plus, you get tips, and you get to listen to music in your car while delivering pizza. Oh, and most of your co-workers will be pot heads if that in any way motivates you.
automagnus
Member
I worked in the NYPD as a summer assistant, and basically they want to help us teens have something to do over the summer. So they hired like 10 of us for this tiny police station and basically I only did 45 minutes of real work daily(5 hour work day) and spent the rest of the time sitting on my ass (kinda boring after a while), watching cable TV and watching drug addicts get beat up.
Greatest job.... evar....
Greatest job.... evar....
bjork said:
That's very true, it's starting to get sick in the town I live in (baton Rouge), where it's almost always been mostly in New Orleans, now the beggers have realized a market for it here
They basicly make cardboard signs wearing old shitty chlothes and wait for people (usually dumb soccer moms who believe their story) to hand them money on the corner waiting for the traffic light to turn gree.
The average light here takes 1 min & 30 seconds before turning green again, if a bum gets $2 each light, byt the end of an hour he's making a killing.
WasabiKing
Member
Check with the testing office to see if they need part time proctors for exams. Good money, easy work.
That's actually the other job I'm considering. I'd get to know the city and listen to music all the time, as you say. Plus I like driving.max_cool said:
I'll try for a bartender first. Tips are pretty much nonexistant in New Zealand (especially for males), but the social aspect looks great.
It's kind of hard just to walk into a bartending job at a good place. They are going to want you to have SOME experience (or a pair of tits).
That's why I recommend a Barback job. You do all the gruntwork for the bartenders, get 50% of thier tips (plus hourly wage) and don't have to deal with drunk aholes.
I did it for 3 years during the summer, and pulled down great money.
In your downtime, you get to flirt with the bartenders/waitresses/customers ...
Downside: No free weekends, late nights, (sometimes) weather dependent job.
That's why I recommend a Barback job. You do all the gruntwork for the bartenders, get 50% of thier tips (plus hourly wage) and don't have to deal with drunk aholes.
I did it for 3 years during the summer, and pulled down great money.
In your downtime, you get to flirt with the bartenders/waitresses/customers ...
Downside: No free weekends, late nights, (sometimes) weather dependent job.
Days like these...
Have a Blessed Day
Retail isn't so bad. Whatever you do just go out there and get a job. I started out working part time retail while going to school. Real world experience is really valuable now that so many people have degrees. There are people at my work making the same amount I'm making and they have master's degrees and owe $$$ in college loans. I have an associates degree and am debt free!
I agree with the Pizza delivery job. Well, any job delivering is easy. Drive around, listen to music, get good tips, hell if you're fast enough, sit in your car and play games or something. Also some places give you gas money, per delivery.. Like I get 1.50 per delivery, no matter how close or how far. Luckily for me, most of my deliveries are less than a mile away!
I heard in New Zealand, tipping is actually looked down on. Or am I thinking of somewhere else?
I heard in New Zealand, tipping is actually looked down on. Or am I thinking of somewhere else?
Amakusa
Member
You can always work at Porno store, best part-time job ever!
I work full time at Porn store, it's not bad at all. You get to meet some pretty interesting people. And you get to rent porn, for free.
Nothing like going to a party after work with good porn to watch... or a suit case full of sex toys.
I work full time at Porn store, it's not bad at all. You get to meet some pretty interesting people. And you get to rent porn, for free.
Nothing like going to a party after work with good porn to watch... or a suit case full of sex toys.
disabledHeliocentric
Member
Tending Bar is cool. I did that for about three and a half years. The thing is, though, it was at a down and out sort of place where I'd have to deal with some extremely messed up drunks on a daily basis and that gets old REALLY fast. Personally, I didn't carry a gun, but most of my coworkers did. I suppose if you work at some restauraunt that isn't as much of a problem, since you're not dealing with that whole element as much, and you aren't seeing the same PITA drunkards every day. The tips were unbeleivable. I'd make more in tips than from my hourly wage and I'd leave every shift with a huge wad of cash. But I truly despised a large number of the regular customers who I realized were paying me to listen to them blabber.
I think working with food just sucks all around unless you like to cook(or are bartender). You reach a point where the sight of food at work really turns you off and you get sick of watching people eat. And everything has to be sanitary. It's a pain in the ass.
I'd say bussing tables especially is sucky.
I think working with food just sucks all around unless you like to cook(or are bartender). You reach a point where the sight of food at work really turns you off and you get sick of watching people eat. And everything has to be sanitary. It's a pain in the ass.
I'd say bussing tables especially is sucky.
The Bookerman
Member
If you're at the university, I suggest working at a gas station as a gas attendant.
it tips and it'll give you time to work on your studies.
Perfect for a student.
it tips and it'll give you time to work on your studies.
Perfect for a student.
I don't know about anybody else, but I've got to say I see no downside to working at quizno's
(No, seriously...don't work at quizno's. Miserable, miserable job. God damned giant fucking toaster right next to your head all day is a bad thing)
(No, seriously...don't work at quizno's. Miserable, miserable job. God damned giant fucking toaster right next to your head all day is a bad thing)
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