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.

If you have a local football club, or other sports stadium/theatre etc try and get something on the catering side or selling programmes or stewarding. These places often have vacancies. Rarely a full time job, but enough to get you started.
My friend’s daughter worked at Caffè Nero for about 8 months. They seemed to have a rapid turnover of staff as people moved on to better places, but there were always vacancies.

Try Royal Mail

Hi all.

Thanks so much.

He has a few moderately OK GCSE grades. He started college twice after that but didn't like it. So he's basically wasted two years. He has his CSCS card, and has lots of construction/roofing/groundworking experience.

I'm really worried about him. He was the brightest little boy in Primary school. Then fell in with a bad crowd and threw a lot away. Weed, problems with friend groups etc.

I think he realises his predicament, but it's too late. He will 100% never go back to college.

He needs to find something entry level and work his way up.

As someone who works for a construction agency, call one! If his ticket is still in date, and has his experience on his cv then labouring/ groundworks/ roofing jobs he can do. Obviously he has to turn up and work hard otherwise (this is our policy anyway) they will want a replacement and most likely won't be used again by the agency. However in construction you can work your way up and build a career

Echoing this - my fabulous builder hated school but is clearly incredibly clever and does amazing massive builds/renovations. Running maybe 5 teams of trades and keeping them happy and the client happy is not easy but sure that’s why he drives a Porsche! And has all my life savings haha. He started as a bricky - they are earning a clean fortune near here.

Recruitment Agency. Definitely. He'll probably end up in a warehouse or factory but he'll get a quick start and probably no interview. My son did this through COVID, approached agency Thursday, Induction Friday and started on the Monday. Not the best job but plenty of young people, radio on and weekly pay.

My son is going through something similar his friends are in the same boat as him too so many people looking for jobs . I suggest your son does door knocking to business with his cv try retail stores, cafes and factories around your local area . Also doing some volunteer work at animal shelters , He could print flyers out around your local area to mow lawns or clean windows for retired people that may need lawns mowed or wedding instead of paying for big mowing companies I would say they prefer to pay a young man that's trying to start out his working life .Also any job he applies for online make sure he in includes a cover letter very important .good luck 🤞

What area do you live?

West Midlands.

Zombie-ish thread - first posted oct 2024.

Sorry, just saw you replied. Has your son got a job yet?

if not, has he tried volunteering in charity shops to get retail experience?

Are there no delivery jobs going? Just Eat, local takeaway, supermarket, Amazon, Dominoes etc

Get him to go to some recruitment agencies. The building trade seems to be picking up.

Careers advice from a careers advisor and an apprenticeship

In the meantime set up work experience in something he fancies

OP he could try to get a job at DHL maybe as a Driver's Mate to start with. If he's reliable and turns up every day after a year they will train as a driver. Obviously your DS would need to learn to drive a car first but they trained my DS up from a Driver's Mate to a Class 2 delivery driver. After two years they trained him up to HGV Class 1 driving. He had to sign a form to say he would not leave for 2 years or else he had to pay back some of the cost of his training. They have a decent pension scheme too. Many drivers are either getting close to retirement or already retired so now there is a shortage of HGV drivers. They do random drug tests sometimes. They take on people with a past criminal record too.

My 19yo son recently (about 6 weeks ago) got into a really bad accident. He was in the back and didn’t have his seatbelt on. He sustained serious injuries to his nose and upper lip and needed surgery to both. Will probably need more. He lost 5 teeth and currently has dentures as he’s not old enough for implants yet.
He seemed to be dealing with it quite well but over the last week or so has become very withdrawn, quiet and unhappy.
He doesn’t want to go anywhere or speak with anyone. Spends all day in his room. Doesn’t wake up till late afternoon.
Im really worried. Any tips from anyone who has been through something similar. I don’t know how to help him. TIA

@HappyExteriorplease start a new thread about this.