University life can be a whole lot of fun. It's a time to make new friends, have wild parties, and really discover who you are for the first time. But your time at university is going to be substantially less enjoyable if you are constantly worried about money. This is why many university students choose to spend their long summer holidays working and saving some money for the rest of the academic year. So what are some of the best ways that impoverished students can find temporary work during the summer?

Recruitment agencies. Recruitment agencies are an underutilised employment solution for students because students will often think about bar or restaurant work before working in an office. Actually, there is always temporary work out there, and recruitment agencies are the best way to find this type of employment. Some agencies might require that you have previous office experience, but some will simply test you on things like typing speed and your proficiency with spreadsheets, and then put you on their books right away. With temp agencies, you can also sign up with more than one at any given time to maximise your chances of finding work right throughout your summer vacation.

Search within the tourist sector. When you are searching for temp work, you have to think about where there will be demand at any given time. The summer period in Australia coincides with the Christmas period, and it's a peak time for Australian tourism, particularly in major cities and beach towns. You can exploit this demand by being proactive and contacting business within the tourist sector that might need extra help in this period. This could extend from anything like helping out at a surf school on the beach to assisting a hotel with reservations during its busiest time of the year.

Use your academic skills. As a university student, you should have a skillset in a particular area of academia. Whether it's English literature or mathematics that gets you going, you can take advantage of your expertise by offering tutoring in the summer. High school kids will also be on holiday, and parents who want to make sure that their kids are still mentally stimulated during this time will want to enrol their kids in extra classes. You can sign up with tutoring agencies to find this kind of work, but you can also be proactive and advertise your services on local bulletin boards as well as virtual ones. 

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