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Hello, everyone! Welcome back to another video for the British Council’s LearnEnglish Teens website and their YouTube channel.
Now, today I wanted us to discuss the pros and the cons of having a summer job. As it is summer, and I actually have a summer job, I wanted to talk a little bit about my experience.
So, starting with the con. The first disadvantage is that, of course, you have to work. So, that means you’ll have less free time to enjoy those beautiful, warm summer days. I could have gone to the park, I could have gone bike riding, I could have had a picnic, could have gone swimming, could have gone to a music festival, could have met up with my friends ... the list really goes on and on and on. There’s so much I think I could have done if I wasn’t working, but here I am working.
So, the second disadvantage follows on from the first one, and that is you could have gone travelling instead of working. Last year when I was at university I had a part-time job and that meant that I could save enough money so that I could just travel during the summer and I didn’t have to work. Especially nowadays where, you know, the summer holidays are really short. I feel like they’re getting shorter every year. You know, you wanna make the most of your summer holiday and I feel like you have to really choose between travelling or working, which can really suck. Working is tiring, it really is. If you think that studying is hard, or waking up for school in the morning is a chore, well, working is exactly the same – if not even worse, because at school, you know, you’re usually sitting down in classes relaxing and all you really have to do is listen and just pay attention to what the teacher is saying. If you’re working in a shop or a café, you’ll usually be on your feet for the whole day and you don’t realise how tired you are until you go home and all you want to do is have a bath and then go to bed because, honestly, during the busy summer months, especially if you live in a city like London or just a tourist area, there are a lot more tourists and that means that you will have to work a lot harder than probably during other months of the year.
And my final con is that you have to wear a uniform. So, you’ve just finished your school, you’ve just finished wearing your uniform and you’re thinking about all the cool summer clothes that you wanna wear. But then you realise that you’re working for the whole summer, so actually you just have to wear a uniform.
Sometimes uniforms aren’t very comfortable and they’re also not suited to the weather, so it can be a hassle ... and it can be really annoying to have to put it on every morning.
Now, moving on to the pros. The first pro is, of course, the biggest one and that is that you will have extra cash in your pocket to spend on things that you like or things that you want to do and no one can really tell you how to spend that money because you earned it. Now, I personally really only took this summer job because I wanted to save up my own money to go travelling just before I go back to uni. And I think it’s nice to earn your own money and not always have to ask your parents for some pocket money when you go to the cinema.
The second advantage is that summer jobs are great for gaining experience. Whether you’re working in a shop or a café or you’re interning at a bank, you will gain a lot of practical experiences, which you can use in your future career, as well as write this experience down on your CV.
When you’re working, you’ll probably make new friends. Your colleagues are not just your colleagues but of course you’re working with them every day, you’re seeing them regularly, so you might actually realise you have a lot in common with someone and they might become a friend even after you’ve finished working there.
And my final pro is that a summer job is the perfect cure for summer boredom, and I know that it may seem like the summer holidays aren’t that long and they really aren’t. Going to school five days a week, eight hours every day or maybe even more, when you have complete freedom, you realise that actually you can get quite bored really easily because you have to think of ways to occupy your time, and I know that when I was in school, I always thought that the summer holidays would be filled with hanging out at the park and just seeing my friends every day, but that’s not always the reality because your friends have other things to do. They might be on holiday. They might have a summer job. So, really on my days off I do find myself just a little bit bored. So, this is the perfect cure if you are bored in the summer. You’ll definitely have something to do and just think about the money you’re earning from it. That will get you through.
Now I wanna hear from you guys, so comment below. Let me know what your pros and cons of having a summer job are, and if you do have a summer job, let me know how you’re finding it. I hope you’re having a great day. Don’t work too hard and I’ll see you in the next video. Bye bye!
Discussion
Have you ever had a summer job? If so, tell us about it. If not, would you like to one day?
Comments
i never had a summer job, but in my opinion it´s important to have this experience, because sometimes when i am in holidays, i have a lot of free time, and is a little frustrating, because in spite of be losing time, i could be winning some money and learning about how is have the responsibility of a job or meet a schedule.And this include things like wake up earlier, .And could be good for the teens to value more the money and all the advantages thar our parents give us.
The summer job can be very good for you have experience, also can be tedious, but don't have boredom. You meet a new friends, you have money and don't have dorrow to your parents. When you work have to decide between other activities and the job
I never work in a summer work , but i would like have a work in a music industry, where i can experiment with the different sound equipment at the same time experience how it feels to have to fix equipment, stage, sound for a presentation, speech, etcetera, because all this helps me to learn about engineering for my future career, even if I only have to adjust chairs, I do it, even if it's cleaning the equipment I do it. I do it more for doing something that I like, than for the experience.
I'll go to the stereo radio to see what the working mechanisms are like, but if in the end I don't like what little I have left to do is to continue until the summer job is over and take my experience.
Henry V
PLAZAS
I never had a summer work for a pair of reasons. First, in my country there are not seasons, and second, i dont have the experience for that. But it doesnt change that is something that i going to do, i´m in accordance to the cons, because i want to enjoy the holidays with my family and friends that working long hours wearing a uncomfortable uniform, but also i´m in accordance with gain a little bit more of money, so in conclusion, we need to search a balance for work, so the dont going to be an annoyance
Juan José G:
I have never had summer job, but I guess that it is a really rewarding experience, just the fact of learning new things, meeting new people, acquiring new knowledge every day is something that we need to take into account when we feels hassle in what we are doing.
I consider that i would like to work in a summer job for three simple reasons, the first, i would want to earn money to spend by my own, the second, to meet persons with similar likes to mine and the last reason, to make something different in the summer that just being in my home or hanging out with friends.
Laura S
I have never had a serious summer job, because here in Colombia my country, is incorrect and prohibited work, when the person has less than 18 years old. I really wish and want to work in the holidays or in my free time, because I want to have a lot of cash for me, and the things that I want buy. I remember, that 2 years ago, I went to travel to Manizales where my aunt lives, and in her house she has a small shop, I was working, attending the customers and counting money, and it really like it, because I could live new experiences and learn of it.
Andres R
I have never had a summer job , because I´m a person who spend the summer in different sport activities, or maybe visiting my grandmother who lives far. Also, about school, the time is not enought to do it, but i think, organize the time is better.
2) Of course, have that experience would be very nice, because you "prepare" yourself to the common life, where you have to practice your future carreer in the work world, also because you wil start to manage money..
I cosider the summer job is a great opportunity for gain experience, because in the future, in the job of time complete, this experience help you for more opportunities to get a job and get a better job, because the experience improve abilities to people whengetting a job.
-Camilo B
I want to say that I have never had any job in my life, actually I am thinking about get a job, I need some money, I need to go out with friends and maybe go to buy some clothes in a shop. I supose that I only want to get my own money and i want to haven't the neccesity of borrow money from my parents, the money is so important at this time of my life, but if i get a job i will waste a lot of time working, that i said previously will maybe be a mistake because my free time will be compromised with my future work, when a day my friends wants to send me a invitation to a party, to drink something or only for maybe their want to talk about something, I would be not able to go out with them, my work will be so dangerous for my social life, but I want reflect about my work, that it will be a pro at my life and that experience will teach me a lot to me from the real life that i disown.
i haven´t had a summer job, but i think that is a interesting experience for earn our money and to meet new people. the other adcantage is that you can gain experience for a future job, so for that reasons i think that i probably work in a summer job in the future
Really i haven´t had the chance to job in a summer, when i go out the school in the vacations, i take this time to relax myself, all time i go to the hous of my grandparents, in some cases my granfather put my to work in the farm that has, i would like to have a job summer, to practice and know
No, I hadn´t have a summer job. I like to have a summer job, because I want to earn my own money for spend in things that i like. For me it doesnt matter have free time, because in my free time I do nothing important or relevant and the few things that I do in my free time, I can do it in the weekends.
I have never had a summer job, but I would like work in a clothing shop like Bershka or H&M, because in my point of view, it is a good experience for a teenager and is something interesting for me. Also, I thing that if they pay the minimun wage, is a good moneymaking for someone that isn´t selfsufficient and just need the money for minimal things.
Juana Valentina C B
Well i have never had a part-time job or a summer job because here in Colombia we don't have seasons, and also to work you must have an ID. I really want to have a summer job to earn my own money,however, i can work in 2 years so i plan to travel to the united states with an agency to work in a amusement-park, i wil be practicing my english with native people and the first week i wish i could visit different places in the city;of course it will happen in the university vacation.ANGIE C
Last summer I worked in a restaurant with my aunt, it is gratifying to work, I really liked the experience and earn a little money to go shopping and cinema, my mom said it was a waste of time and while worked my family went on a trip but that not me bothered I like to go out in the morning to work and help, also taught me many things about cooking and I think everything should work in the summer because it generates responsibility and never this more experience.
Juan Manuel D R
I think it was a nice video, I would really like to have a summer job, I think it will be a interesting new experience, I never had a summer job, and I´m now thinking about it, i don´t care about the cons becouse i want to have experince, for example the uniform it won´t be a hassle to me becouse I´m used to wear a uniform in my school, I will have advantages to my life, if I had these types of experiences
Yes, I had one in a shooping centre. It was quite interesting and I'd enjoyed it. It gave me a lot of experience so I really liked that job - Andrew R
Santiago Cardenas M
I´ve never had a summer job before because of my age and my country, but I really like to have one becuse personally I don´t like the idea of asking my mom from cash, I like to buy or to do a lot of things and I feel really satisfied when i bought it or when I do it whith my own cash, I enjoy to go out and spend money in the cinema or buying something I like and always in food, I feel realised when I earn my own cash and i´m able to spend as I want in what I want.
I have never had a summer job, but i think that is a good form of be more responsible, also you will earn your own money to go out with your friends or simply save money to buy a thing that you really like to. With a summer job you are gaining experience and also know what is having a job.
Pros oh having a summer job could by that you earn your own money, and you spent your time in a fruitful way. And the cons will be that you dont rest or enjoy your holidays.
i never had a summer job so i dont know.
-Nazhaya R
yes, I had a summer job the last two years on holiday, because i was boring in my house and i wanted to earn my own money so at that time my stepmother needed salespenson for her shoe store. So i started to go working and i enjoyed because i met new people, and i learned things that i had never realised. Actually is a good idea to have a summer job, that could help you in the future.
I have never had a summer job but I would like to have one because, sometimes I have a lot of free time and It can be bored, also, I can have extra cash; but the reason that I consider the most important is that a job can help me to be more responsable.
at the moment i haven't had a summer job, because i live in a country that not have seasons, but i don't want to work in a summer job because i hate the summer, i prefer the winter or the cold weather because since i was born i live in a cold city. I can't imagine working with heat, the truth is tht i couldn't. DANIEL F
I have never had a summer job, I would like to have one because I would earn money to buy things. I try to find a job the last summer but i couldn't, because they need people older and with more experience.
I will search a job the next summer but i think that i won´t find.
Sebastian C
I have never had a summer job because I´m under-age. Maybe in the future I would like to have a summer job so I could earn my own money and be indepent from my parents. I find interesting having a job so I could spend my money in something I like. Isabella P
i had never have a summer job, but if i focus only in the money that surelly could i had before working i will be able to do a summer job without any problem, i thenk that the only situation that could be annoying for me is that i had to wear an uniform, but is another form to ocupe my time
I have never had a summer job, but I would like to have one, because you can save some money for different things that you need in the future, or things that you are paying in the present. Apart of the tired you feel or the uniform you have to wear, I think this is part of the life and you acquire more responsibility, for the fact that you gain your own money.
In Colombia we have no seasons, but anyone likes to work in vacations, it´s so boring, because if you work in your vacations... it wouldn't be vacations, but if we had seasons, I guess anyone would like to work in this time, but there's many people who have to do it, but in my opinion I wouldn´t do it.
Maybe on holidays i will looking for a job if i bored and i do not have to do something important; and in that way i will get my own money and i will be somehow more independent.
I have not had a summer job before. But if I could have one, it will be something easy, because on summer the only thing that I want to do is chill. For me the perfect summer job would be a babysitter, because I have done it before but no like a job, and it wont be difficult for me. I recommend summer jobs, but only if you really want to have it, because if you dont want to... It will be disgusting for you.
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