Bangalore: Those who wonder at the way college students spend at malls need not feel concerned, for many of them are splurging their own hard-earned money.

Call centres facing staff shortage, event managers who need additional hands for a major show, media and advertising companies who need to take up market surveys and even pizza parlours are hiring students on a part-time basis.

Waiting tables

The managers of pizza joints say it makes sense for them to hire part-time staff for taking orders and passing them on to the kitchen staff. The regular staff, equipped with two-wheelers, are sent to deliver pizzas.

Other places, which have dining areas as well, hire students to wait on tables and serve customers. They get paid Rs. 250 to Rs. 300 for a five-hour shift and get to keep the tips.

While most parents still frown on their children waiting tables at restaurants, they are all for short-term stints in call centres.

Temporary staffing agencies say that part-timers are often necessary to fill in for regular staff who are on leave or report sick.

The supervisor at a financial service call centre on Airport Road says a fast-track training stint is often enough for staff who need to make outbound calls of a routine nature. More complicated queries are often "logged in" for reply later by regular staffers.

Transportation

Students mostly take jobs that need them to work between 4 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. or 9 p.m. and, in some cases, up to 10 p.m. if transport is provided, according to K. Raghuram, who runs a placement agency in Indiranagar.

"Banks trying to sell cars or housing loans, insurance companies and those selling appliances such as vacuum cleaners by arranging demonstrations at the customers' place want to hire students. These are jobs lasting a few weeks or months at a time that older jobseekers normally do not accept," he says.

Sunil (21), an MBA student, says he finds short-term jobs both during vacations and at other times with financial advisory agencies when they are trying to promote a new stock issue, a new mutual fund offer or other investment options. "We are given two to three days training to understand thoroughly the financial products we are selling and let in to the field with a list of addresses. These are customers who have already used the agency's services and not much hard selling is necessary," he says.

Resorts and time-share vacation companies are others who use students to sell their services.

Armed with colourful brochures, forms and a well-rehearsed spiel, they are given a list of upmarket residential apartments to scout for customers.

Financial agencies

The financial services agencies and those selling time-share vacations also provide incentives like a 1 to 1.5 per cent commission, in addition to a daily pay and transport allowance.

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