How to become a pub tester with Serve Legal

If you (like us) dread looking at your bank account after a night out, we've got some very good news. You can actually get paid to drink beer. Where do we sign up...?

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As a student, it can feel next to impossible to do your uni work, have a part-time job and maintain a social life. But, we've found a (quite frankly brilliant) job with Serve Legal that lets you go out, and make money from it.

If you look young enough to get ID'd when buying drinks, your youthful looks will come in handy. By working as an auditor, you can earn money from visiting pubs and checking that you get ID'd for alcohol. Drinks on you?

Working for Serve Legal

Credit: BBC

Let's start with some info about Serve Legal. They're a business that runs ID and compliance testing services in the UK and Ireland.

Rather excitingly, they're looking for applicants aged 18–19 to live the dream and effectively get paid to drink beer. If you're aged 20+, don't worry – we run through more opportunities for you below.

As a pub tester (or 'auditor' as you'd officially be called), you would ultimately be checking that you get ID'd when ordering age-specific things like alcohol and cigarettes, or placing a bet. This will often be in pubs, but you could also be asked to test places like supermarkets, bookmakers, racecourses, cinemas, and so on.

Particularly in places with a 'Think 25' ID-ing policy (where they should ID anyone who looks younger than 25), you'd be there to make sure they're not taking risks when it comes to serving underage people.

You'd then need to write up a short report about the venue, stating whether they asked for your ID. It's a pretty easy way to make money if you ask us.

David Sharples, one of Serve Legal's Regional Managers, said:

It really is as rewarding as it sounds.

The work offered is flexible and works around what our auditors want to do, which is attractive to people who are in education or possibly even other part-time jobs.

However, some auditors do make this their full-time job, as the work is so well-paid and available.

Mystery shopping roles if you're aged 20+

While the age-related tests that involve buying alcohol are only for people aged 18–19, there are also loads of 'audit' opportunities for people over 20.

Serve Legal might ask you to do things like complete customer service audits in casinos, or check that vouchers are included with products. And, you may still get asked to head to the pub to check what they're showing on TV.

Get paid to drink beer

Considering Serve Legal is paying you to do things you'd usually pay to do (i.e. going to the pub for a pint), getting paid any money at all is a win. But you may be a little surprised at just how much you can get paid per audit...

The amount you'd actually receive per job would vary depending on factors like the type of audit, location and urgency. For example, we were told that if you're popping into a shop for something, you might get £4 for it. Alternatively, spending several hours in a nightclub may earn you around £40.

We were also told that if you're aged between 16–19, as general guidelines, you could potentially earn £4 – £40 per audit. Or, if you're 20+ you could get around £4 – £25. Serve Legal always make sure auditors earn a national living wage at a minimum and that they're also reimbursed for their travel costs.

And, as you'd be paid per audit, the more audits you do, the more money you get. This means that it's up to you to put in the effort and go out to the pub more – tough work, we know.

How to apply to Serve Legal

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Is this sounding like your cup of (Long Island Iced) tea?

To apply to be an auditor with Serve Legal, you need to be:

• Aged 16–20 for age-related testing
• Aged 20+ for wider compliance audits
• Dedicated and reliable
• Detail focused
• Self-motivated
• Happy to explore your local area.

If that sounds like you, complete the application form on Serve Legal's website and keep your fingers crossed.

Fun part-time jobs for students

This isn't the only job we know of that sounds too good to be true but is, in fact, very much real.

Did you know you can also make money from walking? Or by running an alpaca farm? Or even answering surveys for cash? You can even make money from Pokémon Go.

And, as if those weren't enough, we know of plenty more unusual jobs and careers that you never knew existed (until now).

One of the best parts of working as an auditor for Serve Legal (besides getting paid to go to the pub, of course), is that it should be quite an easy job to balance with your studies.