To think that parents shouldn't do this on behalf of their teens?

Yeah my DGC is 7 and has delayed speech ( in specialist class for this) She is still encouraged to order stuff in cafes etc themselves.
This is part of taught lifeskills

When my 15year old wanted a p/t job he made a flyer, we walked up and down a local high street and he went into each establishment, introduced himself and politely asked them if he could leave the flyer for their consideration. This took an amazing amount of courage as he was not socially confident but he did it. A couple of hours later the manager of a wine bar was so impressed with his initiative he got a trial and subsequently a job.
I think ppl think this approach is old fashioned but prospective employers get a great first impression and can judge if the person is keen.
I fully agree parents need to just support and not micromanage their offsprings life's.

You are right, you need to know the teen actually wants the job and would find it interesting.

I was made by my parents to look for work in person age 15, calling into businesses in person!

I meant an email. It's very rare to make a phone call about a job nowadays or write a proper letter.

I think maybe you are just being awkward. If you gave clearer information originally then people wouldn't make suggestions that are not suitable.

From your update it's clear your dd is quite severely disabled so a Saturday job In a cafe or shop probably isn't suitable. Idk where you live but near where i am we have many organisations who have work placements for disabled young people or those with sen. Might be worth checking with your local council to see if ther are such opportunities near you.

No she isn’t!!

She has a developmental speech disorder, she can’t structure sentences to ask to go to the toilet, you think she can manage a phone call to ask in even an informal way for work experience?! Oh and she can’t reach the post box opening from her wheelchair to post a cv either. WTAF

Not read the full thread but I don’t think this is new, I’m 40 and I remember getting a PT job at 16 and we were forever getting parents in asking about jobs for their teens. The manager made a point of only interviewing those who came in themselves for an application form

As with many things, I think real life would be far kinder and more reasonable that MN so please don’t take this thread too much to heart.

No so long ago? The school leaving age was raised to 16 in 1972. And of course the nature of adolescence has changed since then.

I dint think that's true or fair.

Your dd may need help with preparing her CV and a covering email and of course that totally understandable. but she is still able to send it off herself or contact potential employers herself by email

Applications from parents go in the bin. Applications from students themselves are frankly rare, so, no matter how bad they might be, they are considered. And please, do not get me started on the mothers (and it IS always mothers) of the employed 20+ year olds who want to phone “for a chat”. GDPR says I can’t talk to you Pamela and no, it is not unreasonable that your “child” has been asked to not use their phone whilst at work!

Maybe times have changed, but when I was at university (Oxbridge), every student I knew had holiday work they'd got through their parents, either at their parents workplaces (shops, offices, farmwork) or through parents' friends. As that was normal for 18-22 year olds, I'm sure it was more so for teenagers.

Having said that, my friends and I, aged 13, did go into all the local newsagents ourselves to ask for paper rounds, without parents' help.

Why didn’t she follow you the first time? If she came into the loo how could she not get out?! 😳

Well then they need to learn. If they don't have the confidence to apply they will be useless at the job. Hence no point employing them

This thread has been eye opening and upsetting in equal measure. I could honestly cry.

My daughter is autistic, has a developmental language disorder and is a wheelchair user, she needs a lot of support with a lot of things, but she can contribute and should be able to gain the same opportunities as her non disabled peers irrespective of her needing some support to access it. But apparently her CV would be discarded off hand because she needs help, her interest would be binned immediately and with prejudice because she needs help.

I don’t usually get emotional about strangers online writing stuff but this has really got me, my kid really won’t be given a chance will she?

Year 10 work experience I think it’s ok for parents to help look. When I was that age the school arranged most of the placements.

However if that has changed then I’d expect a parent to maybe help but not actually do it all. My husband had a client ask if their daughter could do work experience with him. He said yes. So the daughter and college then contacted him and arranged everything else. He doesn’t have the type of business you can just walk in and ask so that’s fine the mother initiated it.

However if it was for a job and the kid is 18/19 then no their cv is going in the bin if a parent has done it all. That’s ridiculous.

I mean that they’re children who might be OK with some part-time work but not for the world of work as such. We don’t have 16 year olds leaving school and going into full time work anymore.

Not so long ago 14/15 yos were in full time work. Why are older teens now so much less capable than younger people were then?

Because I happened to be out and about when it popped into my head that I may as well ask. And given that the answer, which I then checked at home, was no under-16s in the few places I asked, that’s as far as it’s gone. This was only recently, there is no “all the checking”. The small
amount of checking showed me she probably won’t get a job until she’s 16!

Completely agree @bumblebee1987!!

I manage shop in a small town and we take on a few summer temps to help over our busiest period. It falls right over the holidays so typically we get teens on break from school or waiting to start university.

I immediately discard CVs that have been handed in by parents too. I have already handed a CV straight back to a parent this year as they came in to hand it in on behalf of their DD…who was standing outside the door. When I asked the parent if her DD was able to come inside and have a chat with me about the job she laughed and said “no, she’s far too shy to do that. I’m just handing out CVs for her” 🙄 Not much use to me I’m afraid!

I’m all for helping your kids but that’s absolutely not helping them! Walk round with them for moral support while they go in and hand out CVs, fine! But don’t do it for them!

For those mentioning applicants with SEN - obviously allowances are made in these situations. We had a lovely girl apply for work a few years ago. She was autistic, sometimes struggled with her communication and hadn’t ever worked before. Her mum actually called me (her DD didn’t know she was doing this) prior to them coming in with her CV to explain why she was going to accompany her DD.

She came for an interview and managed so well - I interviewed her with an open office door and her mum sat outside the office so she felt comfortable. It turned out the hours we needed covered didn’t suit her due to some groups she attended but we employed her for a few summers on a more casual basis helping with some big seasonal changes etc in the shop. It gave her a huge confidence boost and some great experience for her CV.

10 years ago, I managed a team of five, who placed 3,500 students into work experience placements each year. Many employers would instantly turn down a direct request from the parent, as part of the work experience programme is as much about a student demonstrating interest in the opportunity (which at KS4 is meant to be an experience of a workplace, not just trying out a career choice), learning how to engage with those outside family, friends and school, as it is about the workplace time. Some students had placements via their family network, but those that got good wex placements had made direct contact, written emails, popped into work places and shown initiative and interest. It is intimidating but the weeks are about developing new skills, moving out of their comfort zones and the schools are meant to help and advise on this, not simply leave it to the student! For many it was as much of a shock having to work a full week, let alone experience a new environment. For those with additional needs, we worked with parents, did bite sized opportunities, employer drop ins but main stream students are, as part of their programme, meant to have had time in school dedicated to how to approach their work experience but sadly too many schools use the experience as little more than clearing students out of the schools in July, so no time to review the learning from it either!

But some kids are going to need it done for them and you are discounting them offhand, it’s not ok.

My own dd has a developmental speech delay, she struggles to structure her sentences, answer questions or understand the normal flow of a conversation. She would be unable to approach really anyone, regardless of any help I can offer, and be understood appropriately, you say disability excluded but you don’t mean it.

That's madness. My DD's (5 and 9) know that if they don't ask for something themselves they don't get. If they want a drink in Costa, they have to (politely) order it themselves, in restaurants they order for themselves etc. I see so many parents who treat their children as if they don't have a voice and talk for them.

We take uni students on placements where they may have a person's life in their hands, yet they lack basic commuinication skills, I'm not quite sure how they got their places. They are used to communicating via messages and social media, but their in person commuinication skills can be seriously lacking.

When we applied for my DD, she wrote a letter which we emailed as an attachment from our email account. As hosts of work experience students in our own work places, we are very aware of safeguarding and always keep parents in the loop for under 18s. I was not happy with my under 16 year old giving out her contact details to lots of businesses/unknown employees. Different if they are people you know of course.