Bar manager: "I have to work 58 hours a week to afford my studies"
"Overworked, underpaid, and overqualified": finding work after university can be tough, with many forced to continue their student jobs to make ends meet.
Phil*, 26, duty manager at one of West Street's leading bars, regularly works up to 58 hours a week, as he found out the hard way a first class degree wasn't enough.
"I don't have the right license, so when the other managers leave and I'm left to run the business, technically, we're illegally selling booze." - Duty manager on one of Sheffield's West Street bars
As unemployment levels in young people creeps toward the million mark, Phil was told by employers he needed either more experience or a Masters degree to get the standard of job he was looking for. With another year of studying, and fees of £10,000, he had to remain in hospitality: an industry that cuts plenty of corners.
"The first thing they get you to do is sign a contract to pass up your legal breaks," says Phil, who often returns to work just seven hours after finishing. "Apparently, I'm allowed 11 hours between shifts; but most weekends, I finish at 2am and I'm back in at 9."
Extra responsibilities
Although grateful to his managers for allowing short notice trips to interviews around the country, Phil knows it comes at a cost, often having to run the pub himself. While he doesn't mind the added management responsibilities, he sometimes has to turn a blind eye to illegal licencing: "There has to be someone with a personal alcohol license on the premises at all times, otherwise we shouldn't sell drink."
"I don't have the right license, so when the other managers leave and I'm left to run the business, technically, we're illegally selling booze."
Management isn’t the only extra responsibility Phil has to deal with. "Chefs are my biggest nightmare. Sometimes they just can't be bothered to come in! It's something I'm again not trained in, but it happens so often, I've learnt the basics.
"Most of our stuff is microwaved anyway! I wouldn't eat here myself, but then, most of our customers come for the drink or to ogle at our bar staff."
Phil works with a core group of third year students from both Sheffield universities, none of whom have anything further than their bar work lined up when term finishes in a few weeks. "Some of our girls are 'doing a gap year'-travelling the world and just hoping there's more jobs when they get back. I look at places like Spain, and I just don't think it'll blow over."
Phil is right. ONS statistics show that the unemployment rate is 20.8% for 16-24 year olds in the UK, with 958,000 young people part of the 2.52 million Britons looking for work.
He has had some luck though. After successfully enrolling in a graduate scheme in London, he's glad to be coming to the end of his hospitality career: "I've never known a business industry with such a high turnover in staff. It can be easier to get work than other sectors, but there's no real room to progress."
