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

There are endless jobs in care, that's what I did at that age. My son who is 20 has worked from being 17 in Tescos, Morrisons and Superdrug. He just persevered and interviewed well. He now works as a bank HCA while he does his degree. Not working not an option in this house.

You can't work in care if you're under 18

DD is also struggling. She’s applied for anything and everything and done many cv drops to local businesses.

She’s had 3 interviews.
1 kept her waiting over an hour for the interview and then took 3 weeks to get back to her to say no as they’d found someone with experience.
2 kept asking her for trial shifts at random mid week times which she couldn’t do (she mentions on her cv that she’s at college and would like a weekend job where she can increase her hours in the holidays if possible).

My brother manages somewhere that would historically have taken on 16/17 year olds, but he says they won’t take on anyone under 18 now (he’s not local to us anyway!) as it’s just not financially worth it.

She has a job for the holidays that she got through a friend, but really wants that regular weekend work to try and build up some money.

Gone are the days you can easily get a job as a teenager! She’s intelligent, volunteers every week and has lots on her cv.

She’s persevering and I’m sure something will turn up!

@MeetMeOnTheCorner I think you replied to the wrong person. I didn't mention warehouses.

That's not true. They can't do certain things these days so I guess that makes it harder to find a job. I didn't know this as looked it up when I read your comment. You can't do personal care or deal with challenging behaviour under 18. I did it all from 16!

I guess OPs daughter will just have to keep at it with the shops/supermarkets. Hopefully it's not too long before she is 18.

Get her to print off a load of CVs and go round in person, dropping them in to restaurants, bars, shops, pubs

old school!

worked for my friend’s 17 year old

You can't do personal care or deal with challenging behaviour under 18

So I am correct in saying you can't work in care under 18. Whilst technically there may be some tasks in care work that you could do, as you couldn't do the core tasks, employers won't hire you.

I genuinely never understans posts like this ^^

The job market is brutal just now. Also not everyone lives somewhere where there are plentiful jobs.

It is clear that most of the "just try harder" posters live in areas where there are more opportunities and where public transport is plentiful. Also they seem to be completely unaware just how hard it is right now in many areas.

I had to laugh at the answering phones/filing suggestion. Has that poster not worked in an office this century?

@canuckup

not for school kids though

A lot of jobs from the past have now gone .I haven't read all the posts. Could it be worth registering with a temp agency and hopefully find work that way. Some supermarkets have details of part time hours on their websites. It seems harder than ever from what I have seen. I wish your young one all the best .Care work does seem to be one area where work is available.

Don’t get why places don’t hire young people - we do hire loads as I said before - costs less cus the min wage is lower and don’t even pay tax and ni half the time 🤷‍♀️

Dd tried the drop your CV approach all the way down our local high street - got told to go via the website.

Some (M&S for example) won’t take a 17yo.

She’s had immediate, automatic rejections from Pret and Costa and lots of others.

She’s applying for about 10 roles a day (eg barista role at different branches of Starbucks, so it’s a copy paste application as the only thing different is the location).

She’s not being picky - bar work, shops, cafes, office work (hardly any of that available). Her only two interviews have been sales jobs which pit her against other applicants live in the interview (one is rejected live, the other moves to the next interview stage), which says pretty horrible things about the working culture but she’s keeping going anyway.

Try signing up for temp agencies. If you live near a city there are always events that need people.

But there's lots of new ones too! I know of teens who get paid for managing social media accounts for small businesses, for "tutoring" younger kids, there bigger demand for baby sitting than ever - I know one 16 year old who pitches herself as a work from home baby sitter, she plays with the children to enable their parents to work from home. A couple of together and do 3D printing for people - they make a lot of cash.

I think it must be very location driven.

So I am correct in saying you can't work in care under 18. Whilst technically there may be some tasks in care work that you could do, as you couldn't do the core tasks, employers won't hire you.

Care homes need cleaners, kitchen staff, laundry staff, gardeners/grounds staff, admin staff, who barely come into contact with the residents.

Wetherspoons employ under 18s.

He has had 4 jobs in 3 years ?

They absolutely come into contact with residents why wouldn't they be in contact with residents? These people don't work in a vacuum.

We pay the same rate regardless of age so why would you hire someone under 18 who has to have extra breaks and has restrictions on working hours and what they can do?

Give us the links please, because my YP has been looking for something since April and there are f all jobs.

The job market was very different three years ago.
We are talking about 2026 where so many jobs have disappeared.

It really is difficult if you live somewhere with poor public transport and fewer job opportunities. The smug posters who say that these young people aren't trying hard enough are living in a bubble where there are plenty of jobs, but this isn't the case everywhere as has been repeatedly demonstrated by several posters on this thread.

Basically, finding work is harder this year than it has been for years.

I have no skin in the game BTW. DD is doing a post grad degree with clinical placements that make working impossible. However, she does get an NHS bursary as well as a student loan. She worked between undergrad and post grad, and walked straight into a job after graduating, but that was 4 years ago when jobs were easier to come by.

They absolutely come into contact with residents why wouldn't they be in contact with residents? These people don't work in a vacuum.

I said barely come into contact with residents. Someone who works in the kitchen or laundry is unlikely to have much contact or interaction with residents because for health and safety reasons residents won't be in the kitchen or laundry.

Cleaners and grounds staff might have passing interactions but they're not working directly with residents.

I don't think people realise how AI has changed the entry level job market in the past 3 years. Posters talking about answering the phone and filing are obviously living in another century but even basic admin roles have been replaced with AI. This has a knock on effect on other sectors like retail. Why would Tesco hire a 17 year old if they can hire a 30 year old with tangible work experience for the same money (most supermarkets don't pay u18 rates) because she has been pushed out of her semi skilled admin role?? Same with physical manual jobs. Yes 17 year old boys are strong, but a 30 year old man is still preferable.

Cleaning and groundwork is in fact skilled work. There are plenty of adults with provable work histories looking for these roles.

Online applications do work for certain big companies like McaDonalds but for the supermarkets you need connections.
Have you checked the local council website? Local leisure centres pay great rates for pt reception, lifeguards etc. my DD got a weekend job at 17 on reception and picks up extra shifts in the sunmer.