The mercury is soaring, school is (almost) out, and the happy jingle of ice cream vans is ringing up and down the country. It can only mean one thing – summer is upon us.
But alongside warmer spells and time off, the summer season can also bring added costs. Those tickets to Wimbledon, attending a festival or two, and overseas holiday plans all add up. Turns out, fun in the sun can cost you.
It’s not surprising then that many of us like to explore the option of a summer temp job to help cover the costs of summer and build a holiday spending pot. Let’s take a look at some of the more unusual options currently up for grabs.
Alternative summer jobs
Wimbledon ball boy/girl
Advertised salary: £200/day
Arguably the most famous tennis tournament in the world, Wimbledon runs every year across the first two weeks of July. Throughout the competition, hundreds of matches are played out across 18 courts, including the renowned Centre Court, and thousands of staff work behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly.
Wimbledon’s ball boys and ball girls play a pivotal every year, retrieving wayward balls throughout every tennis match. Approximately 250 ball boys and girls are employed every year by Wimbledon, generally working one-hour-on, one-hour-off stints. A full training course is provided prior to the tournament, to prep attendants for their time on the world’s stage.
With pay rates of £200 a day on offer, it’s a great way to get up close to the action without shelling out to attend the event as a guest.
Martial arts coach
Average advertised salary: £35,958
Hourly rate: £20
Martial arts instructors teach students in karate, judo, taekwondo, jujitsu or other martial arts, and may specialise in one or offer multiple disciplines. The popularity of martial arts summer bootcamps means summer is a great time to pick up extra work in this area. Kapow!
As well as an expert knowledge of their craft and a coaching qualification for the relevant martial arts discipline, this role requires excellent levels of fitness, good communication to help feedback to and coach students, and lots of patience. With any martial art, you’ll also need a solid understanding of safety principles to ensure your students are learning the art safely. First aid experience would definitely come in handy here too.
Video editor
Average advertised salary: £35,292
Hourly rate: £17
Video editors often operate as freelancers or temps, making it a useful summer cash option for those with the right skills. The summer months are also extremely busy with weddings and events, meaning more gigs up for grabs.
You’ll need to be a dab hand with video editing software, including cutting video footage together, adjusting sound and colour levels, and adding graphics or special effects. To land most roles, you’ll need a portfolio of previous projects to hand showing your skills.
Virtual assistant
Average advertised salary: £33,205
Hourly rate: £16
Fancy a summer job you can do from home? You can work as a virtual assistant remotely, meaning you could be earning money from your garden, or even poolside. You’ll typically spend your days scheduling appointments, taking phone calls, answering email correspondence or making travel arrangements. Though the work set up may be flexible, you’ll need to be highly organised and a great communicator.
Social media assistant
Average advertised salary: £27,774
Hourly rate: £13.35
If you’re planning a career as a marketer, then a summer job helping with a brand’s social media is a savvy move that could be a great topic to talk about at future interviews.
As a social media assistant, you could be tasked with creating and posting content at events like festivals, monitoring and engaging with customers via social platforms, or generally coming up with creative ideas to grow a brand’s following.
You’ll need to know your TikTok from your Twitch and be one step ahead of the latest trends. Did anyone say “Trust Fund. 6’5. Blue Eyes.”? If you know you know
Trainee greenkeeper
Average advertised salary: £25,167
Hourly rate: £12
Know your green from your fairway? Greenkeepers work to maintain the turf and grass at sporting sites including golf courses, bowls and cricket clubs, and lawn tennis courts. Perfect for sports lovers!
As a trainee you don’t need to be an expert horticulturalist, but some experience cutting grass with a mower would come in handy. Alongside mowing, a typical day could include watering, sowing, and weeding, or even treating the grass for pests. You may also be required to keep up with light maintenance around the grounds, or keeping pitch markings looking crisp.
After making sure the greens look their best, we imagine there would be an opportunity for a lemonade or two in the clubhouse.
Funeral attendant
Average advertised salary: £27,666
Hourly rate: £13.30
Okay, this one is definitely unusual. But don’t discount working as a funeral attendant for the summer just because it’s not the obvious opportunity, there are still jobs to be had and the hourly rate you can expect can be healthy.
Attendants are tasked with helping direct mourners to the correct rooms or chapels, assisting with processions or cemetery parking, or even stepping in as pallbearer when required. You may also be asked to clean and prepare rooms for services, or even flex your flower arranging muscles.
Nail technician
Average advertised salary: £26,500
Hourly rate: £12.74
Holiday season means one thing, everyone’s after a mani-pedi. If you’ve got a steady hand and enjoy helping people feel their best, a gig as a nail technician could be a nice summer earner.
Summer camp coordinator
Average advertised salary: £26,382
Hourly rate: £12.68
Summer camps are big business. Many parents send their kids off to summer camp during the holidays, with some focusing on academics, while others offer sports and crafts to keep the children entertained while their parents are at work.
If you want to work with children or young people in the future, perhaps as a teacher or a coach, working at a summer camp is great experience for your CV. Depending on the set-up, you may be required to stay on-site and hours are often long. But this comes with the upside of earning big over a short space of time.
Parking valet
Average advertised salary: £24,633
Hourly rate: £11.84
If you live in a spot popular for summer staycations, chances are you’ve noticed the increase in local traffic during the summer months. Curveball summer job incoming! While you might traditionally look for a summer job in a hotel or restaurant, perhaps you might prefer being behind the wheel to serving guests?
An easily overlooked hospitality job is that of parking valet. Typically within a high-end restaurant or hotel setting or an airport, this role involves greeting guests, taking their car keys and parking and looking after their car. It goes without saying that a driving licence is a must, but keep a smile on your face and some local knowledge up your sleeve to bag those tips!
Other summer jobs to consider
Babysitter / Nanny
Hourly rate: £12 – £20
Do you have your ambitions set on teaching after university? Nannying, au pairing and babysitting are all great ways of securing vital experience with children, especially at primary school age.
Most of the time, you’ll need your own vehicle (and a full clean driving licence) and some employers will ask for a police check to be carried out. Sometimes these police checks are paid by the employer, and other times you will need to pay for this yourself.
Hours will vary, with some parents just requiring cover while they’re at work while others are looking for someone to live in throughout the summer. The advantage of live-in roles is that where they go, you go, so you might end up with a free exotic holiday.
It’s worth looking for babysitting roles with Yoopies, which is an agency fulfilling a lot of these vacancies.
Lifeguard
Average hourly rate: £11.09
Do you love being by the water? Lifeguarding is a great summer job if you have ambitions of a role in sports or health and fitness in the future. You’ll need a lifeguarding certificate which normally includes health and safety, first aid, and swimming proficiency.
If you’d rather be near the beach you’ll need additional certifications which really put your fitness to the test.
You can expect hours to vary between 20 – 35 hours per week throughout the summer so lifeguarding is a stable job that will guarantee consistent income.
Waiter / Waitress
Average hourly rate: £11.59
This is a job that may fluctuate across the summer, especially in touristy areas where events may create particularly busy weeks or weekends, with the need for employees tailing off as the summer draws to a close.
The advantage of working as wait staff is the potential for tips which can be a pretty decent boost to your pay cheque after each shift. You’ll also have some flexibility when it comes to hours if someone is willing to swap.
Working as wait staff doesn’t require any particular skills but you need to be relatively fit and healthy as you’ll spend most of your shift on your feet. It’s also not the ideal role if you’re clumsy as employers have been known to take from your wages for any damage and breakages that occur.
As well as seasonal roles there are loads of part-time and casual roles as waiters and waitresses so it could be a great way to supplement your income in term time!
Festival staff
Average hourly rate: £14.60
Do you love music? Adore the outdoors? Or are you obsessed with comedy? Why not spend your summer working your way through some of the UK’s best-known and best-loved festivals?
Roles could include bar work, stewarding, ticketing, or a mixture of a few things. Often you’ll get free access to the festival itself when you’re not at work. If it’s a camping event, you’ll have your own campsite alongside other members of staff so it’s a great way to meet new friends.
Not so bothered about the cash but want more of the experience? Voluntary festival roles are a great way of ensuring you have plenty of time to enjoy the festival, normally giving you at least half of each day off.
Looking for a higher-paid festival role? Become a licensed security guard (upwards of £175) to secure an income of at least £12 per hour.
Brand ambassador / Promotor
Average hourly rate: £14.99
Pride yourself in having the gift of the gab? If you’re looking for a role in sales in the future then this is a great way of dipping your toe in the water. You’ll be responsible for working with a brand to sell their product by getting it in front of people.
This could entail representing a charity, selling in shopping centres (which is a lot harder than it looks) or simply giving out samples.
For an easier ride, it’s worth looking out for promotion roles at food and drinks brands or with experiential agencies. These tend to be running fun promotional pop-ups in places like train stations or handing out freebies. You may even end up working at some of the festivals!
There’s no guarantee of income, often shifts go on a first-come-first-served basis so you may need a more stable summer job that this work simply supplements.
Office temp
Average hourly rate: £15.57
Rather spend your summer sitting comfortably behind a desk? Temporary office roles are particularly prevalent during the summer due to people spending time with their families. It’s also a difficult time for employers to fill permanent roles so they turn to temporary fixes.
You’ll need some solid computer skills and be able to pick up administrative tasks easily. Some prior administrative experience is a big plus.
This role has the potential to be a high-paying summer job, with some more technical roles paying over £25ph. What’s more, you’ll be working 9 am – 5 pm, Monday – Friday so banking some serious hours.
It’s worth noting that these roles have a lot less flexibility. Sure, you’ll accrue paid time off but you might not be encouraged to take it (they’ll pay you for your leave at the end).
Interested in an office temp role this summer? Get signed up to agencies like Reed, Office Angels, and Brook Street so you’re on their books.
Intern
Want to spend your summer doing something geared towards your dream career? Numerous businesses offer summer internship programmes that are focused on learning and development. From smaller charities and local businesses to large multinational companies like EY and Visa you’ll find a wide variety of summer placements available in a range of roles and industries.
These can be a great foot in the door with an employer of your choice, especially if they offer graduate schemes or apprenticeships and the pay can be lucrative too.
It’s worth seeing what schemes your college, school, or university has in place as they may have funded internship programmes with businesses in your area that are open to their student body.
For specific roles like finance or computing, you’ll need a relevant degree in order to apply.
If you’re interested in a summer internship, get in quick. Some applications open up to a year in advance and they’re highly competitive.
TEFL teacher
Average hourly rate: £14.27
TEFL teaching (Teach English as a Foreign Language) can be a fantastic opportunity to travel while you work with a range of opportunities in far-flung destinations. Whether you’re interested in a career in teaching or languages, or simply want an excuse to travel, this can be a really lucrative summer job.
To qualify, you’ll need to complete 120 hours of training, which can be done online for around £200. A fair amount of money to shell out, but you can use your certificate time and time again. You may even use it after you graduate so you can work overseas.
Not interested in working overseas during your summer break? You can work as a TEFL teacher in the UK too, as every year loads of students travel to the UK to learn English and experience our way of life.
More recently, TEFL Teaching can also be a remote summer job as students or teachers may be less able to travel. If this is the case, you’ll normally be working remotely during the daylight hours of your students, which could mean the middle of the night!
If you are interested in opportunities overseas, you’ll often get food and board as part of your employment package. For those with an adventurous streak, this could be the best summer job ever.
Common questions about summer jobs
How old do I have to be to work?
The youngest age a child can work part-time is 13 and once someone is outside of school, they can work full-time at 40 hours per week. However, certain roles have an age limit. This could be because the role involves serving alcohol or looking after children.
What is the minimum wage for each wage group?
The minimum wage is the legal minimum you are allowed to earn. For those aged 21 and over, this is now the National Living Wage which is calculated based on the current cost of living.
- Apprentice: £6.40
- Under 18: £6.40
- 18 – 20: £8.60
- 21 and over: £11.44
Read more: What the Race Across the World contestants might be earning IRL