My 17 year old struggling to find any work

[Missypuddingchops]

So im really at my wits end atm, my dd is 17 and attends college 3 times a week, shes so she has 4 days where she is literally just at home, shes broken up from her 1st at college so now its all week apart from a driving lesson, she needs amd wants a job...not alot to ask but my god its sooo hard. Even for older people its hard but how are our youngsters meant to set themselves up for saving etc? Everywhere is all 'hand your CV in...basically just dumped on a pile with all the rest from 16/17 year olds desperate for work. Shes costing me a fortune! She must've applied for 15 jobs and handed in so many cvs in the last month and NOTHING! Even the supermarkets arent getting back to her...ive even asked in the town I work in...we are both so deflated

My 16 year old is finding it hard too. Theres a lot of competition and people have more experience. Everything seems to want too many hours as well, with not much predictability on when they are.

My 18 year old found it much easier 2 years ago.

You've got experience.

And filing? Have you been in an office recently?

There really isn't much work for new starters.

There seem to be lots of KP jobs going round here. SW Devon + Plymouth area. I'd look at Indeed for your region.
DS is a chef, one of their KPs is 16.

I too laughed at the filing and answering phones comment.
My office has been paper free for a decade.
And no desk phones for about 5 years.
I remember teenage temps 20 years ago (always useful in the office cricket team.) We haven't employed an office temp since covid.

Ask around anyone and everyone you know, that is often the best way to get a lead, even if you think people won't be able to help they might know someone that can. Also keep handing in the CVs and emailing, people leave jobs all the time, my DD has had three part time jobs where she has applied and they've kept her on file for weeks/months till they needed someone. Agencies for event staff are good sources of work but transport can be an issue as a lot of it is late into the night. It is particularly hard if you re rural and not in a tourist area.

Well this was what I thought but shes gone into all the local bars, cafes etc and everyone just asks you to drop in your CV...whicj is ridiculous considering the job role of collecting plates. If you apply vis a jobsite your up against other people looking for work that are more qualified

Im sorry to hear lots of you are in the same boat with your teenagers. Gone are the days where you could just pop in a cafe and they'd give you a trial day. Anyone running a small business often cant afford another worker....its so stressful especially as im coughing up money to support her social life.

Have you spoken with friends and family - a lot of the time it is who you know. See if they have any contacts with local businesses. I know two bars/restaurants in my area hire their part-time staff mainly on recommendation of their local customers or friends of friends.

I second the PP who suggested lifeguard training. The lifeguards I know get so much work and a good rate too.
Have you tried popping into garden centres or tourist attractions. That’s where lots of our local kids seem to get work. Or some adhoc FOH at events.

My kids must have been very lucky as they have never struggled to find work.

DD got a seasonal zero hour waitressing job when she was 16 but was let go at the end of the last season because the boss only likes to employ under 18s and she was turning 18 during the next summer season.

She got another job in a cafe almost immediately and then 6 months later applied for a job with more hours available. Sadly that place shut down after a couple of months as the owner sold the business but she got another job lined up 2 days later with an events and catering company. She is also still on the books at the cafe and fills in when they need her.

DS did a paper round from 13-16 and then trained as a life guard and did that until he finished his A levels. After his A levels he applied for a 20 hour p/w contract at a supermarket and worked there while he looked for permanent full time work in The City. He is now almost 21 and working full time in underwriting.

It's definitely not as easy as it was when I was their age but it's not been as tough as some of your DC have experienced. We are in the SE so many it's easier here?

• childcare/babysitting for local parents who can't cover the holiday
• tutoring/revision help for Y10s going into Y11
• being a junior coach in their hobby sport
• holiday club assistant (fee-paying schools may run their own or there are companies that do)
• crazy golf, escape rooms, hotel cleaner, waiting, theatre usher, McDonald's
• doing odd jobs for local people e.g. painting the shed
• delivering leaflets
• lifeguard

This is a list of some of the jobs that post-GCSE or sixth-form students I know have secured in the past year. Most of them have involved a proper application form rather than a CV and even the sports coach roles weren't because they knew someone but because they had the relevant qualifications and made the first move.

Both my DC with PT jobs applied for everything going on Indeed. I'm sure there were more experienced candidates (undoubtedly, they had none 🤣) but they still managed to secure a few interviews and eventually a job.

Mcdonalds is a great shout if you have one close by. Loads of our senior students work in McDonalds - very flexible, take on absolute newbies. My DS has worked PT in Greggs since he was 16 (now 19) - also a great employer who took him on with no skills to speak of. My DD works in a pharmacy - she had no experience either, but just applied on Indeed.

Don't dismiss online applications for big companies thinking there's no point due to the volume and experience of other applicants, is what I'm saying in a long-winded way!

A lot of place simply aren't hiring, a lot of places have lots of experienced candidates applying, and a lot of place won't employ U18s. There's not much to understand.

When was the last time you supported a 16/17 year old to apply for a job?? Those jobs exist, they all require online applications and very few of them offer teens an interview.

OP my DS must have applied for ten times that over the past year and eventually he got a job at coop. That's my tip. They constantly have 12 hour contracts coming up and they do accept under 18s for some positions. Of all the hundreds of places he applied to, he got 3 interviews at other places and 3 interviews at coop, being given the 3rd job he interviewed for.

What ignorant bobbins. You're way out of touch ms 1973, you're ability to get a job tomorrow has no bearing on the ability of the average 17 year old.

I know 😂 filing what!?

I think there are too many people chasing 2 few jobs.
I think the whole jobseeking and recruitment process needs an overhaul.

It's a shame you can't go in shops and ask for work anymore, without having to go online for it.
Could she employ herself? Just a thought.

At around 4 applications a day they are unlikely to be great applications. It takes a lot of hours to do a really good application.

It's really not easier in the SE but your DD was 'lucky' to find an exploitative employer who preferred cheap under 18 labour thereby granting her the precious experience needed to get a proper job. Your DS did the sensible thing of training to get a skill - mine did the same, I paid for him to do referee training and he worked at matches for 6 months which again gave him the experience to even be offered an interview. Most of his friends are the same age with zero paid work experience and are simply getting no response to their applications.

I thought all jobs had to be advertised by law even if you have somebody in mind.

DDs started looking as soon as they turned 16. DD1 actually got DD2 a job at the same place. A lot of kids get jobs by having a mate who already works somewhere and recommends them. That's how I started washing up in a pub back in the day. Was very hard to find a job in the 1990s recession also.

What about doing babysitting, dog walking, pet sitting etc, washing cars, gardening (when a bit less hot) in the meantime? You can make quite a lot perhaps even from people in walking distance at this time of year.

They are entry level jobs. They don't need to be great applications! How much do you think the average 17 year old has to put on an application? Most of them are short tick box application forms with optional attached CV at this level. These aren't career roles. Once a teen has a CV and has done a few applications they can knock them out in 10 minutes.

I don't remember working at 17. I did have a part time jobs for short periods aged 15-16 but after that school was more serious. I did know some who had long term Saturday jobs (husband did), but most of us didn't work or even think of it. We managed on our pocket money.

My son, back in the 1990s, found a job in a music shop for Saturdays and went in during school holidays but that really suited him (he is a musician), there was no pressure to earn money. The boy next door worked in Halfords but most of his friends didn't have jobs

You're only young once. I get that it is good for youngsters to work up to a point, if they can find something they enjoy, and it does supplement their allowance, but education comes first and, let's face it, once they've left that behind they are at work for a very long time.

Are there any jobs you can give her to earn a bit extra, like gardening or shopping? Even cleaning the car if she can do that properly.

We were lucky with my DD PT job when she was 16. We walked into a shop and I saw a young girl similar age to my DD working there so asked the assistant manager who we happened to walk past on our way out what age they took on staff. She said 16 and that the girl I’d spotted had just handed in her notice. She chatted to DD and asked her to drop in a CV. We put one together at home and she handed it in the next day. A couple of weeks later she was interviewed and offered the job. She’s been there 2 years and will transfer to a store local to her uni. So sometimes it’s just luck really. My friend had a similar experience in another store with her DD who also got a job after my friend asked some questions. Up until that point DD had no luck applying to loads of jobs online.

And maybe that's the problem. Maybe the 17 year olds also think this. But each job is likely to have 50+ applications so if you're churning them out they won't cut the mustard. I screen applications regularly and wouldn't take forward any poor ones. It's not necessarily about the experience at that level but you can still do a great application without tons of experience.