Those who’ve done the GDL/qualifying conversion courses, did you get a part time job in order to pay for the expenses? I am worried about juggling the full time course with training contract applications and a part time job in order to pay for it. Any advice would be appreciated!
There’s a specific thread for this somewhere!
But I did the GDL last year whilst working part time - initially 24hrs a week in a bar then dropped to 16 a week in a shop. It was hard work but I came out with a commendation and managed to still socialise plenty and have a life etc. Generally speaking the GDL is just a LOT of work in terms of volume, so I’d advise doing part time work that doesn’t make you super tired and leaves brain power to do the work. You are only actually in uni a few days a week so if you’re organised it’s doable, but don’t be fooled it isn’t easy, I was pretty tired the majority of the year lol. A couple of others in my group did tutoring part time, which I think if you don’t necessarily need as big/stable an income would be a really good option.
Hope that is helpful and not off putting, if you can make sure you save your holidays for revision period/exams, and just be super organised!
On the bright side, it is SUCH a good way to demonstrate certain competencies in interviews and firms do tend to really respect that you’ve done it as they see how you are resilient/organised/can cope under pressure and still achieve results etc. You can make a very strong argument for those competencies if you’ve had to juggle the two!!
I’ll try and find the link to the other thread where a few more people shared their experiences