HÀ NỘI — In the past, part-time jobs for unversity students were often limited.

To earn extra cash, the positions they took were restricted to tutoring or sales assistants. Things have changed today.

Now you can find students getting paid to dress up as a mascot, ride around the city promoting a product or even clapping hands as part of a television studio audience.

These are just some of the odd employment opportunities students are cashing in on, and in many cases, earning a decent wage.

Here are some of the examples of jobs on offer.

Road show

Tuấn Anh, a final-year student at the HCM City University of Technology and Education, said he often takes part in promotions on the road.

This involves wearing a uniform and riding on mopeds around designated routes to promote a product. Two-hour morning work and another two hours in the afternoon can see him earn between VNĐ150,000-250,000 ($6.5-11) a day.

His job is to raise awareness and generate excitement for companies or underwriters issuing securities or doing an initial public offering (IPO) to travel around the country to give presentations to analysts, fund managers, and potential investors.

“The employers regulated that we must keep on our show although it rains or the sun’s burning hot,” said Anh.

Mascot

Dressing up as a teddy bear or another comedy character may sound like a lot of fun. 

But wearing heavy uniforms in blistering heat is no easy feat.

You will find these mascots giving out gifts, playing with children in parks, at supermarkets or commercial centres.   

Văn Hợp, a student from the HCM City University of Transport, said that he was paid VNĐ160,000-400,000 ($10-17) per day.

However, Hợp said, he often receives his salary very late, even several months after completing the work.

But he did say the job is ideal for people looking at losing weight!

Clapper

Yes, people actually pay you to clap hands!

Film studios often need people to sit in the audience while a game show is being recorded requiring them to clap, laugh and cheer on cue. 

This is nothing new, but more and more students are taking up the positions and registering online to join in, receiving VNĐ50,000-80,000 ($2-3.4) per show.

Hà Châu, from the HCM City College of Industry and Trade, said that she came to the film studio at regulated time to make a reservation, arrange seating,do clapping or learn several simple slogans that the programme managers specified.

As the guests of the show were mostly celebrities, students would have opportunities to meet their idols in real life. They would also be able to watch their favorite programmes directly without having to wait for it to broadcast, said Châu.

The work is easy but often time consuming and in many cases the film studios are located many kilometres from the city.

Once a game show started at 5am, so Châu had to wake up at predawn to drive from Thủ Đức District to District 4, but she was still late.

She then came home with just an allowance of VNĐ15,000 ($0.6).

Hair for rent

The most money on offer it seems is simple – hiring out your head, or to be specific, your hair.

Hair rental can see people earning as much as about VNĐ2-5 million ($86-217) a day to allow trainee stylists to practice. 

Trương Minh Trang, a student of the Tôn Đức Thắng Unviversity, said she lacked money for school fees, so she must do the job and hire her long black hair for hair stylist trainees to practice.

“I know that my hair will be damaged due to rinse, but they promised to present me a set of moisturising cream to restore my hair,” she said.

Trang knows she would need a long time to preserve her hair, but it’s a chance she is willing to take because she needs money for her schoolings. — VNS