Anyone else's teen struggling to find a job?

[Shortiepjs]

Mine is 16 and has recently left school. I helped him to do his CV. There wasn't much to go on it but he's done some volunteering with Scouts, plays sports, has done babysitting, won some awards at school. So we included all of that and tried to adapt it to the roles.

He's applied for probably 50 jobs. He got one interview and they said no, not enough experience, that they'd found someone with experience, but they are still advertising the role.

Do teens still go round handing out their CVs? I got him to go into a few small shops but they just took his CV and he never heard back.

Has he tried the local chippy? Ours always seems to be after people ( students). I guess the smell of fried oil puts people off working there for any length of time. Pot washer in local hotel/restaurant/pub?

You say he has babysitting experience. Has he tried putting a card in local shop windows, church halls, play groups etc.

I know it is hard. I have 2 unemployed graduates at home. The job market seems particularly quiet at the moment.

@InvestinITMN yes :)

My son was in this position last year. He managed to secure a Christmas temp job in a garden centre that then became permanent - this was end of Sept if I remember correctly. So don't loose hope and good luck with the search.

He hasn't approached anywhere like that, more retail, supermarkets, leisure places.

That will be the next step though as having no luck.

This thread has spurred me into arranging a summer placement (paid) for a student aged 16 with a skill for Maths and an interest in studying Engineering. (I’m an engineer!)

and maybe they could also come back next summer too!!

He might have bit more luck in the next month or so - they might be starting to advertise to replace the y13's heading off in September.

My daughter is in a high street store - they advertised last July last year and this years has just gone up. Other than that they only advertised for Xmas temps.

To be honest that's probably why he isn't having any luck. At 16 having never worked he should really be looking at chippy, KP, kind of work. If he gets in somewhere like that it will give him a better chance in a year or two innotberctypes of jobs. He will have transferable skills, experience working with the public and will look a much better prospect to employers with some track history.

My Uni student son has been trying for months and not having any luck.

My DC is similar…. 100s of jobs applied for- usually no reply… occasionally a ‘not enough experience’ type reply. Has now signed up with an agency and gotten a few shifts - poor pay and conditions in my opinion but they’re delighted to have had a few hours!

My DC found the “handing in CV in person” thing a waste of time. Eventually got a hospitality job at £5.28/hr but the tips were another £3/hr so not too bad. Friends who were targeting supermarkets kept trying and got there eventually, much better pay.

DC has a sports coaching/teaching role now but that requires a background in the sport - might be an option for your DC?

Bank work in child care settings/ care homes is worth a try. Print of dozens of CVs, make sure email address, and phone number are prominent on them, say references available on request - ( presumably if he has done babysitting, they will be) hand round all local nurseries and care homes

My DC both got their part time jobs by making a list of all the local pubs, restaurants, cafes, etc then ringing them. Applying through websites wasn't successful at all.

It's much harder at 16 than 18. The teens I knew who got jobs aged 16 worked in garden centres, burger vans and the local greengrocer who needed strong kids to lug all the sacks of spuds from the wholesaler at 5am! They all went and asked face to face. CVs with no work experience just don't show if a teen is capable, But if he goes in with a confident smile, eye contact and looks like he would be good with customers, he stands a chance in a shop or cafe.

DS1 had a paper round. DS2 didn't get a job until his final year of uni, when he ended up working two or three days a week and cramming finals revision in around the job. Not ideal but it helped him find work post uni.

Under 18s are a ball ache to employ because they have to have more breaks, can only work between certain times, can't serve alcohol etc.

I work retail and when recruiting I go for over 18s first because they have to have every alcohol or restricted item authorised by an adult so there's no point in me running back and forth, I might ad well jump on checkouts and do it myself. I'd employ them in other departments but they are limited and have no chance in dot com etc because of the early starts.

If he can’t find a paid job, he should find a volunteering position that includes a customer service element. That way he will have some experience the next time he applies.

This was more or less what he was told at interview. You're good but we want someone older because of restrictions.

What is dot com?

Dot com are the pickers/ packers for home delivery and click & collect. They start very early usually before 5am

Mine are both struggling at 18 and 20 (post A level and uni). There's virtually no seasonal work in our area, the only fast food joints are subway and dominos, they have had no luck with supermarkets, one of them has SENs and wouldn't cope with hospitality work. They are keeping trying though. They have both had jobs in the past and volunteer, do pet sitting etc.

I work for a hospitality industry chain store but individual stores make the call on who to recruit. Last week I hired a just 17 year old with no previous experience who took the following approach;

Applied on line but also came into the store with his cv to ask if there was anything more he could do to secure an interview.
He was polite and keen. Offered him an interview/trial the next day.
Turned up 5 minutes early for interview and while waiting for me cleared some tables.
came across well in the interview and trial.

We had a lot of older applicants too, but he stood out because of his use of initiative and the way he presented himself.

Mine all worked from 16, and their friends seemed to have jobs around then as well, mainly in MacDonald's and catering at the local football ground, kiosks and restaurant etc, as these were places that didn't require previous experience. Might be worth trying those if one near you.

Mine all had difficulty. DD didn’t get a job until
she was almost 20 and that was through a friend who worked at the same place. DH got DS a job with one of his contractors.

it was very tough and totally disheartening.

@Shortiepjs that's the home delivery department in Tesco. They start from 3am so being under 18 would mean that they couldn't work that department. If applying for retail just look for customer assistant, home delivery, warehouse etc is a waste of time if he's 16.

Do you live somewhere with a lot of summer tourists? I do, and DS got a job really easily, but that was a few weeks ago before the start of the holidays. I think it would be a lot harder now, as most of the summer jobs have already gone. He will probably have more luck at the end of the summer, or coming up to Christmas.

We're not in a touristy place but we are in a university town. So maybe that doesn't help?

16 is quite young to work