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Is your 18yo working yet having just completed A levels?

31 replies

TomorrowsFairytaleTodayPlease · 06/08/2023 13:40

Just trying to gauge how everyone's teens are doing?
I know some are off to uni soon.
Job hunting going slow here - what to do in the meantime? Volunteering perhaps - where though? (Would certainly enhance CV I guess?).

How's it going for your teens? It's pretty tough going here right now!?

OP posts:
PinkElephantsandLemonadee · 06/08/2023 14:03

Yes my 18 year old is working, doing the same job she’s been doing since she finished her GCSE’s. Now she’s finished her A-Levels she’s gone from part time to full time.

GreyCarpet · 06/08/2023 14:19

My daughter is just going into year 13.

She started working when she'd finished her GCSEs, will continue doing it until she goes to uni and they've told her they'll keep the job open for her during university holidays (they employ lots of students - 6th form and university and treat them well).

She does 15 hours a week at a restaurant and they've told her she can have full time hours between A levels and university if she wants. Which she will do.

Her friend and boyfriend also work part time (one in a shop and the other in a care home kitchen).

All of her friends who want to work have a job. I guess it depends what's available locally and what they're willing to do.

GreyCarpet · 06/08/2023 14:22

Volunteering is a great idea. Gives them loads of proveable 'soft skills' eg getting to work on time and behaving in a professional manner.

My daughter did the summer holidays volunteering in a charity shop before getting her job. So she'd got experience handling cash and dealing with customers too.

imactuallyfine · 06/08/2023 14:26

My child is young but at 18 I was doing A-Levels and paying for everything myself, hence working. I was a bar maid at weekend nights and at a cafe during the day. Otherwise how would I have afforded my clothes and nights out?

hocuspocusbitch · 06/08/2023 14:26

My 17yo has just finished high school (in Scotland) and waiting for higher/advanced higher results then hopefully uni. He's been working since he was 16 and just got a promotion. It's done him so well to have a job!

Titsywoo · 06/08/2023 14:26

Dd has had a part time job at McDonald's for 18 months. She worked 16 hours a week until April then stopped to concentrate on her alevel exams. Since she finished she has been doing 36 hours a week to save for uni. She'll also be working at uni part time to pay for food etc.

BoohooWoohoo · 06/08/2023 14:28

Mine got more hours in the jobs that they were doing in sixth form.

otherwayup · 06/08/2023 14:30

Mine both worked from 16. Ds is off to uni in September and has a bar job to tide him over until then.

Hoppinggreen · 06/08/2023 14:40

DD is having a year out to do an extra A level.
She is doing 2 hours a day on that and is doing some volunteering related to the degree she wants to do. She is doing a bit of paid pet care too and is hoping to work at a vets where she has volunteered before

CandyLeBonBon · 06/08/2023 14:44

Mine has just got his first job -20 hours a week with a tech retailer! Starts next week!

Babyroobs · 06/08/2023 14:45

My dd is job hunting. A'levels went appallingly so she doesn't know what she's doing next. has applied for a few jobs, 2 interviews so far. There doesn't seem to be a lot for school leavers. She does have a part time job cleaning in a school but obviously that is part time term time but she does have that to go back to. She is also doing some volunteering in a charity shop one day a week. My ds who is at Uni is also struggling to find any work in the holidays. It's all been a bit depressing really.

NoTouch · 06/08/2023 14:54

ds(19) is at uni, but has never had any problems picking up PT work - deliveries, fast food places and since he turned 18 bar work.

If you are talking about looking for a first FT job it can take time but getting some PT work sorted will really help his CV. ds always kept an eye on Indeed, local companies web pages, local fb pages, and went around local shops/food places checking for vacancies in windows and/or going in and asking, speaking to friends and asking them to let him know if any jobs came up. He always picked up something within a month and it was mostly from window ads and word of mouth.

My niece had 2 years of PT jobs (sometimes working 2 at a time) before she landed her first FT one.

maddiemookins16mum · 06/08/2023 15:01

Mine has joined the Navy.

LookingForFreeDoughnuts · 06/08/2023 15:05

Definitely volunteer while job hunting. My DD is 16 and just got offered a job, her volunteer experience was absolutely what set her apart in interview.

FloopyZebra · 06/08/2023 15:11

DD has been working part time in a local takeaway for the last two years. On average she has worked 8 hours a week.

She has just got a better paid job as a support worker in a children's special needs group. She will be helping at group sessions at their base and when they go out for activities such as swimming, trampolining etc.
She plans to continue through college and during uni as she is applying to our local one. Hours are flexible and she can do more or less around holidays and exams.
She also does a bit of mystery shopping, age verification jobs and some pubs and restaurants.
Her job working with disabled kids will help with her uni application too.

mynumber · 06/08/2023 15:12

Very slow here to get first full time job. Applying for loads of apprenticeships and some jobs.
Many jobs want experience do not worth applying for.
Apprenticeships - what a con some of them seem to be! Some want a years experience and some you can tell just want cheap Labour. Some have a job title that doesn't even relate to the course!
It seems a whole money making industry has been made for education companies to offer these courses and just want to get you on their books for when they 'sell' the course to a company. Like a job agency they must make a fortune.
Sorry maybe I should start my own thread...!
Anyway will get some part time work soon hopefully now had a bit or a 'break' after finishing college.

Hellohah · 06/08/2023 15:13

DS also worked at McDonalds since he was 16. He was doing 15 hours/week during college and has upped his hours to 35/week.

christmastreefarm · 06/08/2023 15:23

@LookingForFreeDoughnuts

That's good to hear my DD is not quite 16 but has been volunteering for over a year. She had part time job interview Friday so I'm hoping that swings it for her.

Waitingforsummer75 · 06/08/2023 15:25

DS was extremely lucky and was accepted for the first apprenticeship he interviewed for. The company are a very well respected local company and are paying way above the apprentice wage. He starts in September so he's having the summer off.
Apprenticeships seem to be very competitive and a lot of his friends have applied for loads of jobs and not even had a response, it's not easy out there.

LookingForFreeDoughnuts · 06/08/2023 15:38

christmastreefarm · 06/08/2023 15:23

@LookingForFreeDoughnuts

That's good to hear my DD is not quite 16 but has been volunteering for over a year. She had part time job interview Friday so I'm hoping that swings it for her.

Good luck to your dd!

littleripper · 06/08/2023 15:41

She worked 3 days/nights a week from the age of 15 and full time from the last A level so is now in Indonesian having a ball 😎

statetrooperstacey · 06/08/2023 15:44

My ds is 17, left school a few months before he took his GCSEs And went straight into full time work. 21 year old at uni has has a part time job and has since he was 15 .

Babyroobs · 06/08/2023 15:47

Waitingforsummer75 · 06/08/2023 15:25

DS was extremely lucky and was accepted for the first apprenticeship he interviewed for. The company are a very well respected local company and are paying way above the apprentice wage. He starts in September so he's having the summer off.
Apprenticeships seem to be very competitive and a lot of his friends have applied for loads of jobs and not even had a response, it's not easy out there.

My ds2 was very lucky with his apprenticeship ( health and safety ) and has completed it and been taken on in a well paid job. The company are good to work for, give cost of living payments and good benefits etc.

cptartapp · 06/08/2023 15:50

DS2 18 has been working every weekend for about eighteen months anyway. He's currently travelling round Italy for a month, back for A level results and will pick up some more shifts before off to uni.
DS1 20 just finished second year uni works full time when home every holidays. Very lucky that he can just dip in and out of it.

statetrooperstacey · 06/08/2023 15:53

if he took a cscs test ( takes a day) and got his ticket he’d have no shortage of construction work if that’s something he would be interested in.