Does your 16 year old have a part time job?

[SK1973]

And if so, what do they do?

DD16 left school last week and will go to college in September.

She is desperate to get a weekend/summer job but my goodness they are so difficult to come across. When I was that age (many, many years ago) weekend jobs were so easy to get and I could leave one on a Friday and start a new one Monday.

What would you put on a CV for a first job? DS is 16 and has just finished GCSE's - not had a job before and no GCSE results yet. I don't see what he could put on a CV beyond contact details and maybe something about hobbies and interests

My dd 17 has been working in the local pizza shop 3 evenings a week. It took her around 6 months to find something.

The main thing you can do is bring out soft skills from hobbies e.g. playing in an orchestra or sports team shows commitment and working with others. Does he do anything like mentoring at school? Lack of much to put on a CV is partly why I recommended volunteering across the summer.

DD left school last week and has got a volunteer role in a museum. It's just 2.5 hours a week compulsory but she can choose to do more shifts. We thought this was a good way to get her some experience in dealing with the public.

There are loads of jobs on Indeed in our local city, so that will be the next step, to try and get something for 1-2 days a week, then when she starts College, hopefully she will still be able to work at least 1 day a week.

DS1 worked at JD Sports and now finishing uni four and a half years later is there there in the holidays. He's now the longest serving member of staff.
DS2 worked at Papa Johns and he too still picks it up when back from uni.
Very lucky they let them do this.

Interestingly, DS1 has just secure his first grad job. At the assessment centre they didn't want to know about his agree, but asked lots about his pt job.

degree

My eldest worked in a cafe, mcdonalds and Tk Maxx between 14 and 16. My middle child that's 14 works in a cafe.

Thanks @redskydarknight. Volunteering is a good shout. He plays tennis and rugby and both are running holiday clubs for children in the summer. He could volunteer to help with both of these.

My DS worked at tesco but all the teens I know these days who have jobs got them by popping into pubs/cafes and asking up front, or by posting on social media.

They never seem to get them via job ads online (maybe the businesses never need to advertise because of people going in asking)

My oldest didn’t work til he was 18, after A levels, before Uni. Youngest is only 15 and will probably do the same as jobs at 16 seem hard to come by where we are.

To augment a CV, it might be worth getting a Basic Food Hygiene Certificate. You can do it online for about £15, it's very straightforward and takes less than half a day of study (I had to do it for my holiday cottage). Might just give them the edge when applying for hospitality jobs?

Off-topic, but a project for any 16 year old with not enough to do over the long summer would be to study for their driving theory test, so they can hit the ground running when they turn 17. Theory Test Pro (online app) is free for library card holders in most local authorities. My DS will be doing this over summer.

That does seem the way to go. I’ll get her to print a load out today and she can pop them in to places over the next few weeks.

The basic hygiene certificate is a good idea, thanks for that.

DD is already studying her driving theory as she is desperate to drive.

@Fritatayay well that's not true. They do stand a high chance. Look on food retailers websites for vacancies in local stores and apply online

My son applied in July last year aged 16 (just finished his GCSE's) and got a job in Waitrose a few weeks later. M & S also offered him an interview

Food retail is probably the easiest route to a job for a 16+ year old and the simplest way to find openings in on their websites

My DD (16) has a saturday job at a local farm shop. She had a paper round for a year bfore that which I think stood her in good stead to get the saturday job. She wrote a one page CV with her paper round experience, her DoE bronze experience (volunteering at park run) and her predicited GCSE results. She then emailled it with a short covering email to all the local attractions (small zoo, farm shop, fruit farm, wedding venues) she didn't hear back from a number of them, but got a trail at the farm shop. Non of the places she emailled were advertising.
Her friends have pt jobs in cafes, garden centres, local convenience shops packing deliveries, the local vegetable factory, local fruit farm.

2 of my DC worked in a school uniform shop from age 15 to about 17.

The work was mostly in the Summer hols as they were incredibly busy.

My oldest didn't have a part time job at 16 but not through lack of trying

My youngest did get herself a part time job..

They were not required to get jobs as when they turned 16 I turned over their Maintenance payments from their dad too them..

I think it’s a bit defeatist to say you can’t get a job as a 16 year old. I live in a medium sized town with a university ( art school) and I have used 2 x 16 year olds to babysit for me ( my DD is now 12 so not onerous). Both girls have other jobs… one works for M&S and one works for a restaurant chain as a waitress. She had previously done some temp work at a garden centre as an elf. ( at Christmas obviously). I’ve also used them both to come and feed my cat during holidays which proved cheaper than a cattery. If your DD is around during the summer holidays I bet they could earn £10 a day just looking after one cat.

We also have a theme park near us and they employ 16 year olds although only pay minimum wage.

Nephew has been working since he was 14, had a paper round for 2 years. He also referees for basketball games.
He's now currently looking for a more steady job which he can continue with through college

@BridgertonFan if they can cut grass, tidy edges, wash cars, (not like Kevin, lol) clean windows, walk dogs, especially if they come in a pair it seems, there is plenty of initiative driven work with flexible hours -
odd jobbing, cleaning pays well! garden centres, stately homes, cafe always need extra help through summer, neighbours son is working on a boating lake through JulyAugust, covering for holidays, brother is staying with his gran at the seaside, putting out deckchairs then collecting the money - sister now at uni worked in an ice cream parlour at 16

Everyone here has a proper gardener, window cleaner, dog walker if needed and I doubt would let a teen near their car. I certainly wouldn’t. I remember my FIL letting kids clean his car and they scratched it as they got tiny stones in the bucket/sponge.

We’re fine with them not working til after A levels anyway. It hasn’t impacted my oldest as he got part time jobs easily from 18 throughout university.

Both my sons had Saturday jobs in the local auction rooms. The task was to hold up items for bidders to look at while the auctioneer took bids.
The boring bit was my having to remember to wash their white coats ready for work.
It was a family business and when the old owner retired he gave all employees
some money as a ‘thank you’ for loyal service, even those in very humble rôles like my DSs.

Even though he hasn't received his results you should still put the school and the subject he took. Hobbies and interests and say how he is keen to have his first part time job etc. mine work at dominoes most evenings they started at 16 Friends kids have done Morrisons Sainsbury's. Argos. McDonald's. Fish and chip shops there are jobs they just have to be persistent and not be fussy what they do.