TEXT 12
GET TO WORK ON A SUMMER JOB
DYMPHNA BYRNE reports on holiday work and leisure for young people
Youngsters planning inexpensive or working holidays should get to work now. According to Simon Godfrey, of YorkUniversity,s travvvel shop, students frequently miss good travel deals, particularly flights, by looking after, rather than before, exams.
Reliable working holidays – helping with fruit harvests, working in a hotel, on a camp-site or on a dig – need paper-work. Every year there are horror stories of penniless youngsters turning up unannnounnced aat French vineeeeyards not being able to find work or accommodation and not having the fare ho me. February is the time to get on with the letters of application for a gguaranteed summer job.
The new additions of the invaluable annnual guides for working holidays are out. “Summer Jobs Abroad” and “Summer Jobs In Britain”are published by a commercial concern, Vacation Work Publications, 9 Park End St, Oxford, at &6,95 each from bookshops. “Working Holidays” &8,80 from bookshops is published by the Central Bureau, Seymour Mews House, Seymour Mews, London W1, a Government-funded charity.
All three guides have an enormous range of jobs, paid and volunteer, with more emphasis on community and volunteer jobs in “Working Holidays”. Also excellent value is “Work Your Way Around the World” published by Vacation Work Publications, 9 Park End Street, Oxford OX1 IH5.
Conservation work – repairing dilapidated historic buildings, clearing overgrownn land, rebuilding dry-stone walls, restooring canals or railways – is increasinly popular. You’ll need plenty of energy and a tetanus shit. There’s high job satisfaction but little or no pay.
To practice languages and earn money abroad – about &80 a week – try courier work for a rent-a-tent company. Canvas Holidays, eurocamp and Sunsites have tents in France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Preference is given to language students.
Hotel work is avaliable in most European countries for chambermaids, chalet girls, bar staff and waiters. Norwegian hotels pay well. All these jobs need a two- or three-month commitment.
Scaling cathedrals is a change from digging archaeological ditches. Cathedral Camps, for those between 17 and 25, has one-week cleaning and renovating programmes on such magnificent buildings as York, Ripon, Southwark or Bristol. Volunteers are asked for &25 towards board and lodging: some local education authorities help with expenses. Large s.a.e. to the information officer, Crow Hill, High Birstwith, Harrogate HG3 2LG.
Youth hostelling is ideal for children planning their first holiday without parents. Our eldest was 14 when he cycled in theHeart of Ingland with friends. For parental peace of mind the hostels were booked and paid for beforehand and the boys rang home every night – all hostels have pay telephones.
There are 5,000 hostels in Britain and abroad. Annual membership is between &1,90 and &8.30 depending on age –details from Membership Dept, YHA, Trevelyan House, 8 StStephen,s Hill, St Albans, Herts AL1 2 DY. The handbook listing all the hostels in England and Wales is &3,99. “Great Escapes in Britain”, from the same address, has excellent adventure holidays for 10-year-olds upwards.
Cycling in Holland is a good first time abroad holiday for youngsters. This friendly country, where English is spoken widely, looks kindly on cyclists and has good youth accommodation.
Cyclists in Britain planning to escape town by train need advance bicycle reservations on InterCity 125s &3 a single journey. There are no charges or reservations on other services. “The British Rail Guide to Better Bikinh”, is at stations. So are applications for Young Person’s Railcards providing cheaper rates for 16 to 23-year-olds. Cost: &16. Also Inter-Rail cards, which give a month’s unlimited travel for those under 26 in 24 European countries. Cost &175.
Most European railways have good deals for young people: tourist offices in London have details. For route planning get either BR’s international passenger timetable or Thomas Cook’s Continental timetable.
The National Express student coach card, &6 a year, gives a third off travel on National buses. Student travel shops have details on other coachers, including those to the Continent and Within the United States.
For parental peace of mind on accommodation, AJF – Accueil des Jeunes en France – a non-profit- making organisation a little like the YMCA, has offices at four Paris stations guaranteeing youth accomodation on arrival. It also has provincial accommodation in hostels, student halls of residence, budjet hotels and international youth centres. Details from AJF, 12 rue des Barres, Paris 4e.
Full-time students from 14 upwards travel cheaper with an ISIS – International Student Identity Card – which gives air, rail and coach travel concessions and discounts for theatres, museums and art galleries. The card, recognized worldwide, ocsts &5 annually – application forms from student travel officers or ISIc, PO Box 190, London WC1.
Companies specialising in student travel, STA Travel, Worldwide Student Travel and USIT, sell through university and colledge travel shops and the Student Travel Shops in London and other major cities.
All have handbooks listing discouts and special offers.
Abbreviations and vocabulary
1. a dig – work on archeological site
2. board and lodging – accommodation and meals
3. an s.a.e. – a stamped addressed envelope
4. the YHA – the Youth Hostels Association
5. an InterCity – an express train
6. BR – British Rail
7. The YMCA – the Young Men,s Christian Association
A. Memory Test
Look at the questios below and see how quickly you can find the answers
1. In which country are hotel staff well-paid?
2. How much does a Young Person’s Railcard cost?
3. What is the minimum age you must be to go on a Cathedral Camp?
4. What kind of card do you need to get in order to obtain student concessions?
5. How much is the book Working Holidays?
6. In which city in Great Britain is the headquarters of the Youth Hostels Association?
7. What is the maximum age you can be to be eligible for an Inter-Rail Card?
8. How much can you earn a week as a courier for a camping conpany?
9. Which country welcomes cyclists?
10. In which city is Working Your Way Around the World published?
11. How much does it cost to take a bicycle by rail on an ordinary train in Great Britain?
12. Should youstart looking for vacation work before or after the summer exams?
B. Talking Points
1. Which of the various summer jobs mentined in the article specially appeals to you? Discuss with others in your group, giving reasons for your choice.
2. Make a list of all the advantages of doing a summer job. Then compare your list with a partner’s or with those of others in your group.
C. Speaking Activity
Have you ever done a holiday job?
If so, tell about the experience – either informally or by preparing a brief talk for the class. Would you recommend this particular job to others?
D. Writing Activity
Now is the time to get on with the letters of application for a guaranteed summer job. Then, either
A. choose one of the organisations mentioned in the article and write a letter asking for further information, or
B. choose a particular kind of job from among those mentioned in the article – for example, a courier or hotel work – and write a letter of application. This will have to be more detailed, as you will need to give some information about yourself, saying when you are available and what qualifications or experience you have. You will also need to ask for information about the job -–hours of work, rates of pay, accommodation, etc. Invent a company,s name and address to write to in irder to be able to include it in your letter heading.
Some useful phrases when requesting information are:
I should be grateful if you could send me…
I should be glad to receive….
Could you also send me / tell me/ let me know….
I enclose a stamped addressed envelope