How did you get 16 year old part time jobs

[whenwillthemadnessend]

My 16 is applying for part time
Work now waitressing. Sale assistant supermarket etc

No
Bugger has got back to her

How did your sixteen year olds get their first job.

She is bright and articulate so it can't be that. I thought places were desperate

Three out of my four have worked as cleaners at their school, so doing 2-3 hours an evening after school. It is really well paid. My 16 year old dd gets £9.50 an hour for wiping down desks, mopping floors and cleaning toilets. She does maybe 3 days a week for 2-3 hours. My older son went on to work at a theme park, in mcDonalds etc also.

From memory, it would be something like:

GCSE subjects and predicted grades
Work experience placement (usually in previous year)
Any volunteering role or caring responsibiliy that makes them sound mature
Hobbies and interests, e.g. sports
Something about being good at IT
Something about having a good/adequate standard of English and Maths for the job, i.e. basically literate and numerate

It’s not about you asking for her, she has to put on her big girl pants and go in with her cv and ask herself. If I was an employer and had someone’s mum ask, any cv from them would go to the bottom of the pile

We’re in Ireland where I find this is easier. My niece worked in Clarks shoes for two shifts a week at 16 but that’s all she needed as it was 10.20 an hour
my friends dd works in a local pub/carvery

another cousin works in a pharmacy but she’s 17.

This. My DS is 15 and has a job in our village shop and the owners know every teen in the village. They tell me he got the job because he himself went in and spoke to them. I know the owners socially but had nothing to do with it and they tell me they won't deal with any teen whose parent gets involved.

that's what mine will be doing, eldest has just turned 16, there's not actually a pool here but 2 in one direction and 1 in the other where he learnt to swim as a baby plus private clubs. I'm looking at the course now thanks for the reminder

When my kids were looking for jobs I found the number of employers that did not even respond to their applications was disheartening and disrespectful. To see those same employers moaning about staff shortages now does not surprise me

@SpinningRoundRightRound
Thank you.
My dd didn't get to do work experience due to the pandemic unfortunately and she's never volunteered mostly due to our location. However I'm sure something could be cobbled together!

My daughter is 16 and has a job in a local restaurant. She works in the back washing up or prepping salads and puddings. Her friend worked there so she messaged asking if there was an opportunity for her.

Prior to that she had a trial shift in a cafe. And currently she is applying to another restaurant because it's walking distance from home which would be useful.

Son worked washing up in Wetherspoons then in McDonald's and now has a painting and decorating apprenticeship.

Another daughter went straight into home delivery picking at a supermarket. They prefer over 18's tho because 5am starts are preferred and under 18's can't work before 7am or after 10pm

Youngest is coming up to 14 and starting to look at what she can do 😊

@LaFloristaCalista

Thank you - Sadly dd hasn't done any of those things unless you count looking after her younger brother who is autistic.
She's not outdoorsy, so didn't want to do DoE. We don't have prefects in our school until 6th form.

We went for dinner one evening and the cafe across the road was advertising for staff via a poster in the window. DD applied and I did help with constructing a CV and how to word the cover email.
She was invited to a trial shift last weekend and she started yesterday. It helps that she’s done a paper round for a while so can show commitment and she is confident and personable.
There are quite a few places in our city looking for staff, most of the university students have gone home for the summer so vacancies have opened up.

We just kept trying in the end she got a job at Home Bargains. They have been very good to her and she has been there years now. So my advice would be to try there. They have lots of 16 and 17 year olds in at the weekend.

My son started working at the local cattery. They advertised the vacancy on our local Facebook page and he just went in and got the job. He has been there 3 years now 😅

My DS got a job at the place he does a hobby, just by asking then handing in a CV.

I have friends with businesses who get younger people off facebook, but both have said they don't reply to 'my DD is looking for a job' posts - it has to come from the DC, not the parent.

Sorry it's not much help, but think she'll just have to be persistent unfortunately. Lots of places didn't reply to my 16 yr old DSD for a long time, but now she has a job in a cafe. She gave them a CV. Fingers crossed for your DD 🙂

Is she applying to places specifically hiring people still at school? Has she checked that they accept applications from 16 year olds?

Ds worked in retail and dd worked in hospitality. Ds job was advertised online and they hired a bunch of secondary school students at the same time and dd got her job when she noticed that a cafe switched owners and she sent a speculative enquiry.

Does she have Facebook? DD's workplace (independent chain) advertises for workers on there and she might have have it because it's considered a platform for oldies

waveyourpompoms ·
Also, parents inquiring for (and even worse attempting to apply for) their teenagers are a HUGE red flag that said teenager is lazy/doesn’t want the job/don’t take it seriously.

If they want the job they need to do it themselves - employers are professional businesses. They won’t interact with mum.”

this, in spades.
she needs to persevere. Most businesses these days don’t get back to unsuccessful candidates of any age. Bloody rude but there we are.
she’ll get there if she sticks at it. Big chains are her best bet. McDonalds are good employers for young people, good training and support and reasonable pay.

I completely agree that they have to ask themselves. A mum asking is a big red flag. What I did with mine was practising role play at home. I pretended to be the Front of House person in a restaurant, and he had to come in and ask for the manager saying he was looking for a job. Then I played the role of the manager. He only had to memorise a few sentences to get him through that initial awkwardness

DD applied for several on indeed and heard nothing back. A local hotel/restaurant posted on facebook that they were reopening post pandemic and hiring new staff. They said they were specificaly open to considering casual zero hours contracts for 16 year olds, so DD replied with her CV to the email address, was interviewed and got the job last August.

Zero hours works for her as they do give her at least one evening and one weekend day shift a week, but when she had exams she was able to tell them when she wanted to not work and they fitted aroud that. She is now picking up more shifts after exams have finished and will hopefully be able to keep the job while she goes to Uni and do some shifts in the holidays when she's back.

My DC got work at Kumon maths centres.
Also check the local council website for casual work.
One of my DC got on their casual bank and it kept him in part time work right through 6th form and then when he came home from uni.
I's a bit late for seasonal work but if there are tourist sites they often take temporary staff.
All advertising online even 10 years ago it wasn't much use taking round cvs.

My DS asked at a local restaurant, didn’t hear anything but followed up a few times, still without joy. Then his friend got taken on as a wash up and recommended my DS too.
Now he’s in there it’s very obvious that the power of friends recommending others friends is how it works, rather than handing in a CV and waiting. Ask DD in work to get her friends to recommend her.

My 16 year old is working at a friend’s hotel. Breakfast waitressing and changing beds and stuff.

She was desperate for a job, but has Tourette’s and wasn’t getting anywhere and getting more and more disheartened so I spoke to my friend.

My other daughter is home from uni for the summer and has been looking for the last few weeks with no joy. Just bar work, waitressing, etc. No one even gets back to her

Friends with kids the same age as my girls say their kids have been having the same experiences

Yet, all I hear is how short staffed the hospitality industry is , how they’re desperate for staff and how youngsters don’t want to work these days.

And she has done the rounds with her CV - every place told her to apply via a website.

My 16yr old walked into local pub and asked to speak to the manager, and said he was a local boy looking for a job.

They liked his confidence and gave him a front of house job

Bit unusual, but it pays off to be brave. Get a CV and walk into places and ask if they have vacancies

Lots of cafe's and pubs need staff

Good luck to your DD

My autistic son found it very difficult to get past the online questions bit on the McDonald’s job website. He failed because he’s not prepared to lie because it’s what they want.

But when he phoned someone on a Facebook group asking for someone he got on great.

dd applied for hundreds of jobs in her college city and our home city but nothing even though she was 19. She moved to London and got the first job she applied for.