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Original poster

Help DS find a job

47 replies

Dontbuyaglasscoffeetable · 07/03/2024 16:35

My son finished his A levels last year and decided to take a year off to save money for university.

He found a part time job (they wouldn’t offer full time) and worked until Christmas, when unfortunately he was let go.

Since before Christmas he has been looking for another job. He has dropped CVs into places by hand and applied to perhaps 70 or more jobs on indeed, ranging from retail, to bar work to care work to teaching assistants.

He was invited to interview for Tesco, and did well, but wasn’t chosen for the role. Now he seems to have been excluded from applying to other posts that have come up there for 6 months.

He is very articulate, smart and has all A* and A at GCSE as well as Bs at A level.

His CV and cover letter are very good. Not too wordy, but eloquent with all his key skills highlighted.

So from ten, perhaps hundreds of applications, he’s had one interview and a lot of rejections. It’s really sad and I feel for him. Two months ago he was confident about getting another job, but his self esteem has taken a huge knock. He also has things he needs to and wants to pay for, for example gym membership, phone, social events etc

Anyone have advice? What might he be doing wrong? Thank you in advance.

Edited to add that he’s offered to work all day everyday. He’s being very flexible.

OP posts:
Thestruggler · 07/03/2024 18:43

Would he consider working in a pharmacy? if you have local ones it may be worth a go and you can start off doing a counter assistant’s course and then maybe work up to a NVQ on Pharmacy Services and then a technicians course - this does of course depend on the opportunities available

Original poster
Dontbuyaglasscoffeetable · 07/03/2024 18:44

Mrsttcno1 · 07/03/2024 18:41

Hi, I’m involved in recruiting as part of my current job and have previously been involved in recruiting in previous roles, so may have some insight.

2 things jump out straight away:

  1. Is he just sending the same cover letter and CV to every job? If the answer is yes, that’s why. If I’m sifting through 100 cover letters & CV’s and someone hasn’t even bothered to spend a bit of time tailoring it to my job, show me they’ve actually had a look into the company, show me they’ve understood what the role is and tell me what they can bring to it, that’s a nice easy one for me to put straight in the bin. It means you can’t sit and apply for 50 jobs an hour on Indeed, but it will pay off.

  2. What actual experience/examples does he have to give? Common competencies on job adverts so things like: working at pace, working collaboratively with others, working to deadlines, making difficult decisions etc… what are his examples? It’s great having good exam results but that means absolutely nothing to me in terms of employability, it shows me you’ve attended school/college and passed exams, it doesn’t tell me how you work as a team, how you deal with difficult customers, how you will apply learning in a workplace. If the only examples he has are from school & a few months of work then again, that’s why. As of tomorrow have him out every day volunteering in local charity shops/charity work, unpaid placements etc. The experiences he will get from just actually being in a workplace will help massively. School smart is great, but it doesn’t mean he’s a good worker.

For what it’s worth I’m in my 20’s so I do know it can be tricky for young people but it is a lot about just playing the game really. He’s not just going to be handed a job and if he’s not been earning since Dec then he can be volunteering until he starts. He may find he’s earning quicker if he takes a bit of initiative!

Edited

Thank you. Yes he has used the same cover letter and CV, so I’ll be sure to tell him to adapt it to the job. His experience is minimal and could be going against him. Thank you for your post. We’ll definitely address the Cv and letter. Not sure if he’ll volunteer, but perhaps if he sees it may be a necessity!

OP posts:
titchy · 07/03/2024 18:45

There's a summer job at Chepstow garden centre...

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Jobs
Original poster
Dontbuyaglasscoffeetable · 07/03/2024 18:45

Thestruggler · 07/03/2024 18:43

Would he consider working in a pharmacy? if you have local ones it may be worth a go and you can start off doing a counter assistant’s course and then maybe work up to a NVQ on Pharmacy Services and then a technicians course - this does of course depend on the opportunities available

He is open to anything at the moment, so I’ll put this past him. He is going to uni in a different part of the country from Oct, which is a slight problem.

OP posts:
Original poster
Dontbuyaglasscoffeetable · 07/03/2024 18:46

titchy · 07/03/2024 18:45

There's a summer job at Chepstow garden centre...

I’ll look now thank you!

OP posts:
PostmanPatriciasCat · 07/03/2024 18:48

This was my DC’s experience too when looking for a one shift a week job during A levels.

In the end I used a contact I had in hospitality and they have been working for about nine months now. Sadly I think that’s how a lot of kids get jobs these days.

Original poster
Dontbuyaglasscoffeetable · 07/03/2024 18:49

titchy · 07/03/2024 18:45

There's a summer job at Chepstow garden centre...

Found it and he’s applying now 🤞

OP posts:
Singleandproud · 07/03/2024 18:49

Don't bother with civil service jobs for a short term role, it can take over a year for the recruitment process.

Has he looked into live-in jobs, Butlins, Kingswood, PGL etc although they maybe too low paid but they are a great experience.

whatajoke26 · 07/03/2024 18:50

Hotels, restaurants etc. are all good starting points. Also volunteering is a good shout. If it's just about money, then temping is a good choice too.

Original poster
Dontbuyaglasscoffeetable · 07/03/2024 19:05

Thank you everyone. This evening he’s applied to the Garden centre, (which I love, so that would be great. He could pick me up some delicious goodies on the way home) and he’s applied to MacDonalds, but with a more personalised CV and cover letter.
I’ll keep you posted. Thank you for all of your advice. It’s being taken on board.

OP posts:
Redhothoochycoocher · 07/03/2024 19:13

I've just read he's used the same cover letter for each job. I work in recruitment and I don't think anyone would consider an application with a generic cover letter. He needs to be thinking quality rather than quantity.

While he is young and might not have lots of work experience, he's not applying for management or leadership jobs, he's applying for entry level posts. He needs to demonstrate his ability to pick up new skills, take on feedback, act on initiative, professional attitude etc.

Did he play sports or any other team activities like DoE, was he head boy, any extra curricular stuff recently? What did he do in his job pre x-mas? He'll need to highlight his experience here, really draw it out and make it blindingly obvious to the employer. Make sure he knows to make no assumptions on what they know about him. His cover letter should address each of the points in the person spec.

Good luck to him, first job/few jobs always hard to get

moonjump · 07/03/2024 19:15

Have you got a local Facebook page? Might be worth posting on there (I've seen people posting for jobs on ours and they've got responses)

My DS signed up with a temping agency and ended up working in all sorts of jobs on his gap year, it was all really good experience.

Surroundyourselfwiththerightpeople · 07/03/2024 19:23

Agree with a lot of what has been said. People post on Nextdoor round here if they are looking for work and sometimes get local suggestions/even offers.
Local hospitals worth looking at. My son did 4 months cleaning at a hospital. Tough job but not badly paid for a student.

Tickledtrout · 08/03/2024 20:15

Tickledtrout · 08/03/2024 20:14

Meant to say, as the higher posts are recruited for, they'll open counters etc

CadyEastman · 08/03/2024 20:24

Definitely get him to do some voluntary work. It will give him experience that he can show to prospective employers.

flairycakes · 08/03/2024 20:27

They're looking for more bar & waiting staff at the new Pontio Lounge and also at The Rising Sun in Woodcroft. 😊

flairycakes · 08/03/2024 20:28

Would definitely recommend going in though.

Original poster
Dontbuyaglasscoffeetable · 09/03/2024 13:45

Tickledtrout · 08/03/2024 20:15

Meant to say, as the higher posts are recruited for, they'll open counters etc

Show quote history

Thank you for this!

He also applied to a few places using the advice posted here and this morning received and email inviting him to interview on Wednesday! Fingers crossed 🤞

OP posts:
Motnight · 09/03/2024 14:04

Good luck to him, Op

CadyEastman · 09/03/2024 14:11

Great that he's got an interview Wink

ViciousCurrentBun · 09/03/2024 14:19

DS worked for almost 2 years before going in to higher education, well a degree apprenticeship. He picked up a night shift job. The pay was between £15 and £19 per hour which was pretty good for an 18/19 year old. I mean the hours were awful but he was fine with it. It was loading commercial freight at an airport. They paid for him to do an airport security licence or something of that nature. Maybe nightshift warehouse work? His GF did night shifts at the same time but the pay was only £14 per hour order picking.

Good luck with his interview,

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