Take time out after school

By ESTELLE SARNEY

Taking a year off studying could work in your favour when it comes to lining up for a job later. Far from being seen as a cop-out, TMP employment consultant David Doyle says taking a gap year can indicate gumption, foresight and flair.

"If I had two applicants sitting in front of me and one had gone straight to varsity with a trust fund behind him and got As, while the other had taken a gap year before starting his degree to sell salamis around office blocks and then gone on to get As, I would probably pick the salami guy.

"I'd think he had shown bottle and potential, which are good indicators of future performance."

The contacts you can make selling those salamis can also come up trumps. Matt Rowbotham, 24, gained a place on a Gap scheme run by Kings College in Auckland, and spent a year working at an English secondary school before returning to New Zealand to gain a commerce degree.

After working for Ericsson Communications for two years he headed back to the UK this year. Within three days, a friend he'd made during his time at the English school helped him score a job as customer service reporting manager for energy corporate Centrica.

"Some of my New Zealand friends arrived here three months ago and are still looking for work," says Rowbotham from London. "The contacts I developed during my gap year were the biggest benefit of it, and it also broadened my horizons, increased my confidence and made me grow up a lot."

Taking a gap year between high school and university has become a matter of course for students in Britain. Even Prince William did it, travelling to South America to do volunteer work, and it's becoming more common here.

Auckland University's manager of careers and employment, Tony Crane, can't quote figures, but has the impression that more students and parents are seeing the benefits of taking a year off to take stock.

"University is now viewed more as a job generator, so students want to be sure of what they want to do before signing up," says Crane. "They are also taking on significant debt, so don't want to waste money on a degree they end up not being interested in.

"At the very least, a gap year will give you time to save up some money before launching into costly study."

He's convinced that it's not a degree that gets a person a job, but the person themselves.

"And they are a combination of a degree, experience, communication skills and an understanding of the way the world works. That understanding is likely to be significantly enhanced by taking a gap year.

"You don't have to travel overseas to work - you can pick apricots or stack supermarket shelves - but you'll be gaining maturity and practical knowledge."

Briar McAuley, 20, did general office work for a year after quitting an architecture degree one year in. She's now back at Auckland University studying commerce, and doesn't regret that she's just starting her degree when many of her friends are finishing.

"I soon realised that I couldn't commit to architecture, and that year off helped me decide which direction I wanted to go in. I got a feel for how the business world operates, and now I can relate some of my study to work that I've done."

She adds: "I think there is too much pressure on people to get their degree really fast, when the process of getting there can be as important as the end result."

So are there any disadvantages to taking a gap year? Only if you do nothing with it and then still don't know what to study. Or, adds TMP's David Doyle, if you want to be merchant banker.

"They want gung-ho A-graders as young as they can get them. A gap year wouldn't be viewed favourably, unless you'd gone to work on Wall Street."