How hard is your young person fining it to get a job?

[Dapplesun]

DD is 18, she’s applying like crazy, it’s been weeks and she’s only had one interview in person! Couple of phone interviews…no job as yet! I’d say 90% of the time she hears nothing back at all! She’s not been fussy, and started applying for anything after a while in desperation. She’s well presented, drives and has a car, well spoken etc and has lots behind her, are agencies the way forward now? Don’t know what to suggest next she’s getting depressed about it and said she feels like giving up, it’s knocking her confidence. (She does volunteer already too and has done for the last 3 years)

Extremely! Ds 19 finished college in July got his A levels in IT has applied for so many apprenticeships and not heard a single thing back… he has probably had at least 4 interviews for supermarket type jobs in the last 4 months and been unsuccessful, applied for so many jobs as I do it with him and again heard nothing back! He is also disabled, he is visually impaired but is more than capable with a few adjustments. I know it sounds terrible but being disabled definitely puts him at an even greater disadvantage in the job market! He is thinking about finding some volunteering just so he has some experience on his CV. It’s truly awful as it’s really getting him down, all he wants to do is work to have an income

DS worked at an airport loading freight when he finished his A levels on the night shift. He applied for a degree apprenticeship and just graduated this week, it had a guaranteed job attached to it.

Look for unsociable hours jobs, her having access to a car makes it feasible.

My son is 20 and is at uni now doing nursing. He’s had a few jobs. Morrisons picking online orders, Superdrug and he was a Tesco Festive worker. He had no problems getting any of these jobs and worked all through college.

Sainsbury's and Tesco are still advertising for Christmas temp jobs at the moment in some places, but she would need to get in pretty quickly as they've normally already started by now. Agencies for retail could be good around this time of year but not going forward - I don't think they get much work all year round.
If she drives she could join an education agency and do supply TA work in schools - there are lots of them. You don't need experience, just maths and English GCSE. I

I second office temping. I started doing it at 17 as nobody would ever hire me for hospitality jobs and it worked out great - I temped full-time in the summers while I was at uni so didn't need to work in term-time bar or restaurant type jobs.

Get her signed up with a few agencies.

If she can drive and has her own car , then a delivery job for now. DS saw an ad for Dominoes delivery drivers last week, and was offered the job on the day he saw the job ad. First shift the next day.

Sorry she's having such a hard time but it really sounds like she's putting in the work to help secure something, which is half the battle. I hope things change for her soon. In the mean time, perhaps she can look at 'education' type posts, they're always looking for staff in schools, especially primary schools.

Good luck to your daughter.

Took DD (now 20) 6 months to get a job in retail, and she applied endlessly after college. Has now been in that retail job well over a year. Last year her workplace recruited lots of Christmas temps, this year, after installing self scan, they've advertised for less than half of last year. Scary.

care homes are always looking for people and they train you.

DD is 17 and we have given up looking for the moment. It is hard to find something around college hours, and hard to get a Saturday job. We don't have any buses on a Sunday so that's out.

We looked at seasonal jobs, but all the retail ones want you in on Boxing Day and New Years Day, and there is no public transport that day. (They actually put it in the advert).

If she goes to uni, her course will be 35 contact hours a week, with research expected outside of those hours, and her chosen Uni is outside the town, so will be hard to work then as well.

I've worked in the same small supermarket for what feels like forever. We've gone from having 40 to 50 staff to under 30. I imagine most places are the same and had their hours cut a lot.

Yes definitely agree. I worked as a HR manager for a big supermarket brand years ago now, and in the particular store I was based at we had probably double the staff they do now. They don't even have a HR or payroll on site anymore, it's all online. The staff canteen is gone, no store café, no dedicated store cleaners, only 3 actual checkouts left out of 30, now all self scan run by two people. I keep in touch with a few people still working there and it's a totally different place.

I think it must depend greatly on the area you live reading these comments.
My DGD was 18 in July but has had part time jobs from being 15, sometimes 2 or 3 at the same time, mostly hospitality but she also had a contract cleaning job alongside.
When she finished school this year she was looking for an apprenticeship but applied for various jobs,

I've worked in the same small supermarket for what feels like forever. We've gone from having 40 to 50 staff to under 30. I imagine most places are the same and had their hours cut a lot.

Yeah, thank Rachel from accounts and her jobs tax. Someone will be coming for her job soon. Hopefully someone who understands basic economics and doesnt have to lie about their experience.

Yep, DS has applied for loads of part time jobs and has had no reply. He lives at home and only needs money for going out, so he's signed up for some mystery shopping and survey agencies, but it's not enough if someone needs a job

DS is 19 and finished T-Levels in the summer and had wanted to take a year out working before hopefully doing an apprentiship (a bit thwarted until he can pass his driving test anyway)

He has applied for loads of basic jobs andcouldn;t get passed the first hurdle at Morrisons

He's stuck with his job he already had at Dominos. Though has now prgressed from cycle delivery to be letting loose on the ovens

Care homes are desperate but wiping the elderly bums isn’t something most people want to do for a bit of beer money. I think it would be quite hard going emotionally for most teenagers too. Especially how inappropriate and aggressive some dementia sufferers can be

DD is at uni in London, doing photography & journalism. She’s just started. She wants a job but there’s nothing. She is applying for one or two jobs a day for everything from retail to hospitality. So she’s entered the gig economy, and does cat sitting for a few quid a week. It’s not enough money, though. She already does volunteer work, taking photos for charity events and her student newspaper. She was hoping to get something over Christmas, but so far, crickets. It’s really hopeless out there.

It is tough out there but she already seems reliable doing voluntary work. Recently I have seen shops are wanting staff for supermarkets, care homes need staff. Does she drive as bus drivers are needed in lots of places. Also train drivers seem to be needed. All the best to her.

First and foremost, the application has to be bang on.
If it's a cv, keep it simple, don't use templates and be fancy, just name address, contact details. Short paragraph about what you can offer /looking for. Not just hard working team player, but experience of working in teams like at school.

Any employment should be clear and bullet points.
Date. Name of company job.
Customer service
Cash handling
Working with colleagues and external agencies

Education
Chronological order
Date college course
Bullet point key modules

Any other achievement

Jon applications

Fill every bit in. Address the points in the person spec/ roles. Don't just say " handling cash" but responsible for collecting donations and counting accurately
Customer service working on project selling cakes for fund raising in school

It has to be really easy to read, bang on with punctuation, spelling etc. And tailored to what the job is.
A generic cv is not enough. It takes time and effort.

If you child wants out door arb/animal they need voluntary experience, because trust me, land based colleges send out 500 people with qualifications and experience every year and most of them want to work in a zoo or rescue centre or be a vet.

Good luck, but you won't get an interview if the application goes straight into the bin because it's poor compared to others. And experience in any setting, including school and helping out with a neighbour counts!

Do not use AI!

My 18 year old niece is trying desperately to get a part time job. The only job she was offered was in a nightclub and she found it horrendous after her trial shift and refused the offer. She’s applying for everything she sees. She’s in Glasgow at the moment at uni.

My graduate DS is 22 and struggling. He's applied to about 150 jobs so far and had 1 interview.

The main issue is lack of entry level roles -most are calling for 3/4 years experience although they are called entry level. As he's a grad he can't apply to apprenticeships.

He's got 2 part time retail jobs to get out and earn. He's volunteering and campaigning for his chosen political party (he's just left to go door knocking at 9am on a Sunday, leaving his gf in bed!)

He's just been rejected from CS fast stream - no feedback or reason given. Just 'you haven't been successful'. Which is shit and unhelpful.

He's not alone as his mates are going through the same. He's articulate, intelligent, a really nice bloke with a strong work ethic but the job application process is just shit. He's ploughing on but it's quite demoralising.

We've reviewed his cv but god knows how they sift applications!

He plods on. Maybe one day....!

My daughter has been so so lucky in that she got a post grad role within a month of graduating.
She tweaked her cv for each application, kept a profile on linked in and spent hours daily. It’s brutal and she applied for over 100 jobs with this being the only one she heard back from

I know a few sure people with children your dds age and they have had to think out of the box and find self employed roles as no joy with supermarkets. One in the construction industry and one set himself up helping businesses with IT. How about babysitting or care work there always seems to be advertisements.

I would try signing up at Agencies, my DS applied for over 100 jobs online, never even got a response from most, but when he signed up at local agencies, they at least got him temp work and then eventually a permanent job. It’s taken 8 months for a friend to get a job in the field she’s experienced in, it’s really rough out there.