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.

He was 16 (turned 16 in July, applied in September, started October ).

It really isn't. My own kids, their cousins and 90% of their friends had some kind of paid work at 16. Many started working as KPs etc at 15.

Ds was trying for part time work from 15 with no luck. Now at 17 pot washing in a pub a few nights a week which he enjoys. I came to understand that it is all word of mouth. Do you know anyone, even friend of a friend who works in, or owns, a pub, cafe, shop, restaurant etc?

OP all the care homes around us take on from 16 in various roles. It's not just care, some jobs will.be in the kitchens, cleaning etc. Also have two large cleaning companies that take on 16 year olds and pay them the adult wage so that's another avenue to try.

Same here. My 2 started at McDonald's and a local cafe. Have since worked in all sorts of hospitality, food and retail jobs before settling on their long term prospects. All our local shops, food outlets are full of local school kids working..

Yes I would agree word of mouth is the best way to find something. Usually through friends already working there, though their father and I have used any connections we have when needed.

Ok
It seems young to me ,I must be out of touch
Mine didn’t work until after final school exams

All DSs friends got jobs at 16.
I worked at 14.
We do live in a relatively deprived area though so I know a lot of us parents couldn't afford to fund the growing social lives of 16 year olds 🤦🏻‍♀️ and then the costs of being 17 (driving lessons, a car and nearly £3k for first year of insurance).

It's really hard compared to when I was young. Back in those prehistoric times loads of us had jobs as Saturday Girls. Nowadays there's no such thing, and retail jobs often want more hours/flexibility than teens in education can offer. Hospitality want over 18s so they can sell alcohol. The other jobs we had were all very casual, cash-based, word of mouth stuff, of which lots has disappeared due to better health and safety regulations etc. It doesn't help if like us you're not from the area where you now live, so don't have connections for those kind of very casual jobs.

My bright and personable 16yo didn't manage to get a job last summer or last year despite lots of applications. This year she's landed something very seasonal, so won't probably won't be able to get hours between October and April, but it's a start.

I'm impressed by those whose teens got work at McD's - everyone we know got rejected from there. It's particularly cut-throat as they pay really well for 16yos.

Local Facebook group here is a good source of opportunities, there are lots of small local businesses cafes etc. who advertise jobs on ours. Or notices in windows. My son has got one job that way, just walking around town and looking in windows. We're quite a touristy town though so there's lots available in the summer.

It's not a new thing, I am in my 50s and worked in my teens from around 14 as did all my friends, my youngest sibling is 12 year younger than me and also worked from early teens. I've never known it not to be the case.

I would encourage him to apply for voluntary roles too in something that interests him. The experience will help him get a paid job in the future.

Not much here either we Dublin. Its who you know. She 18. She got a sports camp and had it last year too. Few quid for college. Its hard a school mam got the daughters in to M and S as works there. So its who u know really

Voluntary a no as needs money in college

I agree. Noting a pp who said McDonald's is difficult to get into, my DS1 had a pretty impressive volunteering record in his CV, along with good references from it, when they picked him up.

An easy one for teens, if they are already involved in a sport or hobby, is to help out at the club. Even better if it's a leadership role e.g. coaching younger kids. A nice reference from the club president won't hurt their chances down the track.

What about volunteering in a charity shop to get some retail experience? Then he can apply with experience and a reference.

@Sugarnspicenallthingsnaice can I ask what sort of volunteering he'd done?

At 16 the problem is insurance is expensive/difficult for employers so many don’t want to take them on particularly corporate employers. My DC1 got a job at 16 on a market stall I saw the advert and rang them up they weren’t keen at first because of their age asked if they were strong as they’d need to carry heavy loads and set up the stall I confirmed they were and they gave them a trial which was successful so they worked there at weekends throughout 6th form. DC2 got a job at 16 as a lifeguard we had to pay £300 for the training but they were earning £100 each day he worked. So you could lend them the money and get them to pay you back once they are earning if money is tight. DC3 aged 16 has just got a job at a local greengrocers at the weekend as a retail assistant again they answered an ad in the shop window and had a successful trial.

He helped run a litte kids' class at his sport/hobby club so had a reference from there. It was a bit more involved than just helping out, he'd had to do some training in first aid, safety etc so had some certificates to add to the CV.

He was also involved in a more niche thing, like Scouts but not, a bit outing to say really but something that bestows an air of responsibility and capabiity, and he'd worked his way into a leadership role in that group so again had a very impressive reference.

Did he do work experience with school? We just had two 15 year old work in the shop I volunteer in for almost 2 weeks. They were taught how to use the till, accept donations, generate labels, rotate stock, check stock for defects, date stock and interact with customers. One of them especially really worked very hard and came out of his shell.

My DS had a paper round at 13 and also did air cadets by 17 he had gone up a few ranks and was training junior cadets. He also works in a pub in sixth form as a kitchen porter but that was got by word of mouth.

English Heritage often need volunteers for their properties, and the roles can be quite interesting -worth a look if there are any near you.

ds struggling to get holiday job at 18 years old.he has a year’s experience in restaurants including till and payments but the last place he tried Italian (and he speaks Italian) just bumped him off in favour of two pretty girls with no experience.

He’s losing confidence fast.

I guess just keep pushing at it.

Hi OP,

im a university student and was in the same position as your son. Unfortunately most places don’t want to hire someone who will end up at college in 2 months with no experience. Lost of Uni students I know say they’re not a student on their CV as they’re more likely to get hired. People I know have also lie about their experience to get their first job.

lots of people will tell you show initiative and you’ll definitely get something, but for the last three summers I’ve gone in to over 30 local businesses (each summer) only to be told they’d pass my CV on and I’ve never heard back. And I’m over 18 and have experience. I think times have changed a lot from when you could walk in to places and get a job. Most of my friends who did got them through family connections.

mine is only one experience, but seems common but don’t let people tell you if your son had more initiative he’d get something. It’s just the current economy.

My 16 year old has just finished her GCSEs and has managed to get a few shifts a week waitressing at our local pub, but only because we know the landlord and asked him to bear her in mind months ago. She's incredibly lucky - she'll be trained up over the summer and will get more shifts in the autumn when some of the other staff go back to university. Other than this she will do some babysitting and a few cat sitting/dog walking jobs she has managed to pick up.

My 16 year old is two weeks into her first job, like your DS she wanted a part time job for the holidays and then perhaps at weekends once she starts college in September. She approached local independent businesses in person, I know she went in to 20 in total as we did 20 copies of her CV and they all went!

There were a couple of places she knew well and really wanted to work at, for these she included a covering note saying why she was interested in working there specifically. One of those offered her a trial shift and that's where she is now working hopefully for the rest of the summer. Another said they would keep her CV on file and let her know if they needed holiday cover. Neither of these places were advertising for staff.

DD has no real experience, so she emphasised that she was willing to do jobs such as washing up and cleaning as she thought they might be less desirable roles. And she has ended up as a pot washer in a cafe, but she covers the till at busy times and will hopefully get trained to use the coffee machine at some point. She did look at online applications for bigger companies like supermarkets, clothes shops and fast food/coffee chains but she felt like she didn't have the experience they were asking for. All those jobs paid better than the salary she is on now (she is on a fraction above national minimum wage for 16 year olds). I wonder whether for a first job it might be easier to go for small independent businesses, whilst they might pay less it could be a stepping stone to a better job in time?