What's my 17 yr doing wrong? Can't get a holiday/weekend job

[PatsArrow]

Any advice or tips would be great.

My 17 yr old DS just can't seem to get a part time job. He's in college (just finished Y12). He's looking for Kitchen Porter, coffee shop type jobs. He has work experience from a cafe when he was 15.
We live in Bristol so it's not like there's not a lot of places to look. He's been around the city centre and surrounding areas 3 times with his cv. Most places tell him to look online instead. He's been filling in job applications with INDEED online. He had 2 nibbles. One as a food runner and he actually did an unpaid trial shift. He said it went well and the people say he did well but they never called him again. He also had a reply email about a kitchen Porter job asking him when he would be free. My DS he was free anytime and looking forward to hearing back from them. No response. He's feeling demoralised. I've told him to keep trying.

What is he doing/not doing? I hear from my friends all the time that their teens have jobs. HOW?

So often it seems to be who you know, that seems to be how a lot of them find their jobs, my DD got her first proper one in a pub where we (me, DH and her) had been regulars for a couple of years, some get them in places where their older siblings have worked before, some find them through social media - does he have a FB account? I often see posts from teens offering to work and they do quite often get replies. I follow local garden centres etc on FB and forward any job ads I see to my DCs.

Sadly there is huge competition from adult applicants for these roles, for example, the sainsburys stock filler role I knew about got over 200 applicants for just that one part time role, the school cleaner job I went for had over 120 applicants for just a few hours a week. It's insane. Young people, unless they know someone, don't stand a chance.

University cities can be tricky as there are lots for students around. Tell him to keep trying. My DC did the whole “hand in CV” thing, got nowhere
and others she knows who did the same thing found the same. My DC also applied for loads via Indeed. Got there in the end but took a good while. Few friends got jobs quickly but eventually everyone who was looking for get something in the end.

It’s harder to get a job nowadays.
There are rules around how many hours under 18s can work and a lot of places don’t want the hassle.
Others- there are hundreds of people applying for the same role.

My DS applied for loads of jobs online and got quite disheartened from all the rejections, but he did eventually get two jobs (one in a supermarket and a pizza delivery driver). So I would tell him to keep trying and not give up.

Dd works in a coffee shop. They do employ under 18's but they are not allowed to work the coffee machines or the slicers. So it's understandable that some companies will prefer over 18's. My dd struggled to find a job until she was 18.

In Bristol I guess there is a lot of competition from uni students whose hours are often more flexible.

Op its really tough. My daughter had a sports camp last year as helper so got two weeks this year. 18. Nothing else going. Disheartening. Def who knows who a mam got the girls into M and S as she there. We asked in our local spars and centras. Nothing.

My son is the same at the moment

It’s really difficult for teens to find work, but I am seeing quite a lot of seasonal jobs on Facebook.
Being polite, smiley, engaging and nicely turned out will go a long way though, either for an interview or slogging round with cv’s. I feel for him though. it’s soul destroying.

It’s really hard in uni cities. We’re in a small town but my ds’ two best friends in Birmingham took months to find something - but both did eventually. Also my dd at uni in Nottingham started applying in September of year 2 and I think she eventually got something in Jan/Feb. You have to be really persistent.

In the meantime, he could also look for adhoc stuff, eg my dd was on the books of FestivAll Staff and did a summer festival and then 3 weeks of a lights festival in Nottingham before Christmas. In year 12 she picked up some 11 plus tutoring work over the summer and she got a seasonal job at Sainsbury’s over the Christmas period of year 13.

We’re in same boat, disheartening for them, lots of online test assessments and don’t hear back. Going to print DD’s CV she’ going to drop it in to places, however she’s only just turned 16. Was the same for DS, but once he turned 18 he got jobs.

My two both have jobs but things have really changed in the last two or three years. They get no overtime and no opportunity for any. So in school holidays they are literally doing 4 hours works a week.
Two years ago my eldest could be doing 20-30 hours a week but it's all stopped!

Thanks for replies.

In a way, reassuring to know how hard it is for others (so not personal to my DS!) but I feel bad for them all.

I'll tell him to keep going. Had a look on Facebook but can't find much except young people asking for work!

On we go then!

Farmfoods are known to take on anyone over 16 part time. Try there (online) and good luck :)

When my DS was 17 he got a job through word of mouth and now at 20 goes back in the uni holidays. He got DD to work there too last summer.
DD has really struggled to get a job in her uni city, most places want decent experience.

I agree a lot of summer jobs are who you know so your son needs to let people know he is looking, people like friends of his parents etc. Also if there are any business you frequent as a family, let the manager know.

Does he know anything about Gardens at all. A friend of mine son did some powerwashing and spraying a garden for a couple of people who passed on his name to their friends. He know has a waiting list.

It gets a bit easier once they turn 18. Until then many companies have restrictions on the hours and or tasks the young people can do. Once 18 supermarkets, bars and restaurants find you much more useful.

My 16yo has a job at a local farm (zero hours but plenty of shifts and offers the flexibility he needs). This was only posted on their Facebook page.
He also did a life guarding course and found it fairly easy to get a job as a lifeguard, could that be an option?

It’s really hard OP, I’m sure if he keeps trying something will come up. What about McDonald’s? When I was this age I got a Saturday job at my local library, which was great work experience. Best of luck

Sadly the hospitality industry is not booming currently and wages are one of our biggest costs, so keeping them to a minimum is essential to stay in business. Unfortunately this is reflected in the shit service you see time and time again where existing staff are being spread too thinly, and therefore end up stressed and often unsmiling.
The other thing to consider is it's often just not worth our while training someone up to do the job just for the summer holidays only for them to go back to study in September.
We try to have a couple of Uni students who come back to us each summer/easter/xmas and work the rest of the time with part timers who actually study at our local uni so are here for term time.

Wetherspoons employ 16-17yos. One I was visiting had a board out specifically inviting applications from 16-17yos.

Keep plugging. Ds was a no for pot washer but in the end got a really good waiter job which suited him better

During A levels and they take him back now he’s at university during the holidays

I felt it took a fair few goes

It is so hard for them. McDonald's employ lota and are always busy. Join local Facebook job pages. A lot of the independent cafes post on those. Otherwise when he turns 18 it will be a bit easier.

Certainly there are shops or hospitality places who employee based on word of mouth and those jobs are never advertised.

I think it's a numbers game, they have to keep applying and sometimes take a rubbish job on minimum wage just as a starting point.

My dd got a job in The Range at 16yo which wasn't great (£5.50 an hour 😳) but meant she then got a job in Primark at £11 an hour.

Have you read through his cv and made sure it's okay? Even if he's applied once and didn't get anything get him to try again.

My SS is having the same problem and he is applying for loads. My DD was lucky at the age of 16 (5 years ago) but she got a job in one of our local pubs where we knew the owners, and since then she's never struggled for bar jobs.