18 Year Old Son Desperate For Work, Can't Seem To Get Anything. Can Anyone Give Me Any Ideas On How To Help Him?

[ClearFruit]

My Son is 18. He doesn't have much in the way of qualifications. He is being absolutely ignored on Indeed. I am so worried about his MH. All of his friends have work, and he is just at home all day, getting depressed. Where can I find him something permanent? He will do ANYTHING. Has anyone got any ideas?

TIA.

Look at vocational apprenticeships. That way he will earn money and gain a qualification. It will also help him socially, because he'll be meeting new people, and give him a purpose.

My DD did an apprenticeship in customer services when she was 18 - she had A levels but was adamant she did not want a university education. It led to her career working for an energy company and she earns well and enjoys her job.

What about joining a couple of recruitment agencies. He could temp whilst looking for a job. Someone like Reed Employment.

Websites like Indeed are impersonal and heartless. They are demoralising. A recruitment agency should manage his applications and bring him jobs to consider.

Lots of good suggestions on here already.

He may not have many qualifications but what is he good at / what does he enjoy?
Does he have great communication skills and gets on with people easily - Customer facing roles such as retail or hospitality
Does he thrive on routine and discipline - Armed forces normally take recruits regardless of academic success
Does he like doing the same things everyday without unexpected surprises - Warehouse work could suit and will be likely looking for extra staff in the run up to Christmas
Does he have a clean driving license - delivery driving, or apply to become a bus or train driver
Does he have a bike - He could do deliveroo (this one is somewhat area dependent)

Has he looked at apprentice schemes? There are so many different sectors that recruit at apprentice level and train people up.

In general, temporary may not be as good as permanent but it's better than not working and gives him experience to add to his CV.
Volunteering could also be an option, again it'll give him experience which will in turn help him find paid work.

Also, is his CV well written? If he is happy to remove personal details and have it posted on here, people will critique (constructively)

Has he done an apprenticeship since leaving school OP? As I would recommend starting there - I think it's called modern apprenticeship scheme and they are listed somewhere on the Gov.uk website. Alternatively a lot of colleges will offer these - probably he needed to have been looking at the end of August for the best chance but it's worth contacting your local college to see if they have any vacancies.

The way they work is that the young person is employed for 4 days and goes to college one day a week, or there is on the job training where they are working .

They are offered in various areas like business admin, sales, construction etc and run for a year but sometimes the young people are kept on afterwards . My DS did one at 17 and is still working there 6 years later .

The pay is lower than NMW but they are earning something and learning at the same time .

Personally I’ve never had any luck doing random CV drops or inquiring anywhere in person. No harm dropping a CV in if there’s a handwritten sign on the door of a local pub or cafe but I wouldn’t pressure him to go knocking on doors round the town. But I’d second PP’s suggestions of asking if his friends know of any vacancies going and keeping an eye out for Christmas temp work. Royal Mail and the retailers used to have a lot on around this time.

Around that age I was registered with local temp recruitment companies for ad hoc work around university. Lots of function waitressing and warehouse packing work but also call centre bits and longer term contracts in local offices. I don’t remember having to do much but fill out registration forms and say yes or no when things were offered and the work is varied enough that he can see what suits him and pick up a range of skills and references for his CV. Worth a look at local recruiters whose job it is to find people work.

I second getting him to put a post of your local neighbourhood Facebook page. Pubs and restaurants always seem to come back with something.

Has he signed up with any agencies?

As PPs have suggested, at his stage of a career, Indeed might not be the best primary vehicle for jobsearch. He doesn't bring a rich skillset and experience. If he has a particular preference for a destination an industry and career then an apprenticeship to head and/or directly targetting local employers in that industry would be best. If he doesn't know what he wants to do then hospitality, retail and other local industries with an appropriate entry level tier for unqualified 18 year olds would be best. HNRTT but rather than electronic applications through Indeed, has he visited every local pub, restaurant, shop, factory in person to ask if they have any vacancies and how do they engage young people? If not then why not?

Good luck.

Depending on his personality, he might benefit from rehearsing with you or a friendly face the conversations that might take place when cold-calling for a job with reception and an on the spot interview so he appears job ready.

He needs to do volunteer work to evidence he can get up and get to work in time, be reliable, be a team player and be a useful employee.

Amazon are ALWAYS looking, and have a massive turnover of lazies who just show up for a short time to help screw the benefits system. Try there.

I doubt cold-calling is going to work. And if all he's done so far is sit back and expect Indeed to call him, there are a lot of things he should be trying first before cold-calling.

What qualification does he have?

Is he applying for jobs or just hoping he will get something from Indeed?

Has he had a part time job in the past?

Has he looked at apprenticeships?

It sounds like he isn’t being very proactive.

@DogInATent You may be right depending on the employers. Worked for three of my DDs16-18 year old friendsnwho wanted hospitality work in non-chain pubs and restaurants but chains would use online first/only.

My DS 19 has 2 years hospitality experience and has just gone to Uni in Bristol. He is really really struggling to get a PT job, at home he would have just walked into one but it is not the same everywhere.

My youngest son was in the same position. I suggested trying caring. He found an agency who trained people with a guarantee of a job. He became an agency worker for 6 months then was taken on full time by a nursing home.
He baulked at first about a caring job but now enjoys it. Just an idea.

Try supermarkets. Not very glamourous but Morrisons/Asda/Tesco etc are always after people especially with Christmas around the corner.

I think getting out and looking at doors is important, and answering vacancies posted in windows. But cold-calling either in-person or on the phone is rarely successful for job hunting, and is very easy to cock-up if not done carefully.

I got my first retail job from walking down the High St and spotting a "Assistant Wanted" advert in a shop window. And things haven't changed that much.

Whenever I walk through town I see 2 or 3 positions vacant adverts in shop or hospitality windows, and 20 vacancies in agency windows, yet whenever I get home and login there will be 4 or 5 posts on the local Facebook group from people looking for work and complaining they can't find anything.

You're more likely to get a job at 18 walking around town and checking windows, or checking noticeboards at factory gates, than you are either mooning at Indeed or posting to local Facebook groups.

I find going in in person to hand in CV more effective by a huge amount if he is not already

Yes to getting him out and about, and temp work.

Does he have A-Levels or post-16 qualifications? If not, get him on that. Then get him on a degree apprenticeship.

Or a T-level.

Everyone forgets T-levels, but they're actually a good qualification that sits between A-levels and an apprenticeship.

What’s he good at?

Lawn mowing stops now.

My DD applied for loads and has now got a 12 hour contract at TK Maxx who seem to have loads of shifts. My DD is stil at school full time but they seem to still be taking on more part timers.
Primark and The Works also seemed to have lots of new young staff.
The other places which came back to her - ironically once she had a job - were Zara, but they were only offering either 20 hours or 40 hours per week - and one of the garden centres, where she'd applied to be a Christmas elf.
Does he fancy trying for a job as an elf/Father Christmas at garden centres, stores etc which have Christmas events?
Also, it's sporting season again, could he be a steward at rugby or football matches if you are in/near a city?
If he's after experience, my DS did warehousing at FareShare. This is a volunteer role but the one he was at, you did get lunch provided.
Good luck, hope he gets something soon.

Careers advice can help.