tell me your success stories of young people finding jobs

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I hear so much these days of how young people (lets say age 16-25) can't get jobs easily and cafes / shops are not hiring etc.

So I'm looking for positive and practical advice to support people who want to get a job

• what websites do you look on for roles?
• can walking into independent shops / cafes with a CV work as a strategy?
• does training in silver service waitering help? Or in basic care roles?
• if not, then what does help?

What helps - as has ever been the case - is being lucky in your timing.

One of my dc went into a shop as he was walking home with his mate and the chap behind the counter asked them "Either of you looking for some work?". Unusual, but the same applies to all the basic / unskilled jobs in cafes and pubs and bars that don't have HR departments and the like, you can be lucky if they just have a vacancy arise at the time you walk in to ask.

It also helps if you know lots of people and chat to people. If your 16 yr old only speaks to mates their own age they are unlikely to know anyone hiring. If you've encouraged them to take part in things and they are known to adults (eg sports coaches or their dance teachers or music teachers or Scout Leaders or Youth Club leaders) the circle of people who would put a word in for them, and also who might know of jobs is much wider

Experience of working with people - often through helping out with a younger group maybe at dance or drama or music or football or rugby, or being a Young Leader a Guides or Scouts, or volunteering at Park run, or helping out at the Community Cafe or any other volunteering in their teens.

Gaining qualifications - training as a referee, or as a lifeguard, or music grades or other niche skills you are willing to pass on.

Being willing to do the unglamorous work

Being willing to be flexible - hours, early starts or late finishes.

Both my DDs got jobs at 16 (now early twenties) eldest applied for a part time vacancy in a shop. Youngest got a job at McDonald’s by applying online. When they went to uni youngest transferred to another branch eldest got a job within a few weeks in a pub but later switched to Costa. After uni they continued their part time work until they found permanent roles .

Id say apply for actual vacancies but also do general applications for fast food/ supermarkets / restaurants/ bars, in case they have a few hours available to take staff on. Be willing to do anything, once they get a job they immediately start to gain experience and transferable skills which sets them up well for their next job.

Also being able to drive, experience of being responsible/ independent- could be babysitting/ volunteering. Helping out in a hobby. Decent social skills.

Linkdin.
I took my son 65 applications to get one

DD1 applied to several places at 16, had interviews at McDs and Nando's, got a job at Nando's, recommended her sister when she turned 16, DD2 now works there.

Ds was a bit shy with people, but a strong swimmer so he decided he wanted to be a lifeguard. He booked his training course during the Easter holidays when he was 16. It took 5 days and cost £250.
He passed the exam, then started looking for a job in the summer holidays.
We made a list of every leisure centre, private school, gym and hotel with a pool within 10 miles, then I helped him with a cv and covering letter.
He applied to all of them by email, and then we rang them all, every Monday morning throughout the summer holiday.
By chance I was leaving the local leisure centre after a swim and asked at reception. They said an opening had become available in their sister centre four miles away.
We grabbed a paper copy of his cv and certificate and drove straight there. Ds went in and asked. He got a call four days later.

He now has 11 months customer service experience, a reference and has saved £2,500 towards university. A lot more confidence and some extra friends.

We're researching possible employers in his university town now, for September.

Ask Local councils to go on short notice vacancy list (if they have one). Two of mine get few weeks work from time to time during Easter and school holidays. Nothing glamorous - emails, uploading and labelling files, admin support - while permanent staff on leave.

This has led to admin support at Council for elections, hearings, committee meetings and public inquiries, which is great experience and paid at slightly higher rate.

Paper round. May not be that many around these days, but worth asking - mine work for Post Office and deliver approx 55 papers a day. Earn approx £100 per week for that. My DS has finished school and currently take neighbour’s dog for early morning walk at same time, so earns additional £15 on those days.

My daughter worked in a chip shop from age 14 which she got from going into the shop to ask, then in a cafe, luckily through a friend of mine who owned it. This gave her loads of confidence and she stayed til the was 18. At 17 she also took on some part time care work when she passed her driving test though a care company for the elderly-not hugely enjoyable for her but again, lots of valuable skills learned from that especially as it was during Covid and she actually found a client deceased. At that stage she wanted to be a paramedic so it was relevant work for her.
At 18 she changed her mind and took a gap year where she got a job as a SEN Teaching Assistant in a school locally, and from that decided to go into teaching - she went off to uni and then came back to do a PGCE. Alongside this she worked at a SEN play scheme during the holidays for extra money.
She now has a teaching job lined up for September in the school where she was a TA, as a newly qualified teacher. She had to push herself out of her comfort zone but has never struggled to find work because she was willing to try things.

One thing that seems to get some traction around here is posting on the local social media pages (but they need to do it themselves not get their parent to do it) they nearly always get responses to “Hi, I’m X, age 17. Looking for work, will consider anything, I’m polite and hard working” etc etc

Interesting thread. I’ve been wondering about this, but with the added complication that son has a physical disability which means that jobs where you’re on your feet would be impossible. He could maybe do it, but it would be painful and risk causing more health problems.

So that rules out all the retail, hospitality, care and sport related jobs that are commonly mentioned re. part-time employment for teenagers. Admin and factory work seem to be only options, but I’m not sure how realistic it is to think that such jobs are available outside school time.

DS had his pub kitchen porter job through my mates BF who was head chef in a bistro pub. I got DS ex GF her first job by passing her CV to a friend who works for a huge local company. His current GF is about to graduate, I have one person I know through voluntary work who used to work in the area she wants so am going to ask if she has any contacts she is willing to share.

Word of mouth and who you know always helps. I don’t mind asking but as my Mother used to say, you got more front than Brighton.

DS found his first paper round job himself, the local paper no longer exists though.

Both of mine got jobs at 16/17 by looking at an online job website and looking within a 5 mile radius of our house. They both did these jobs for 3/ 4 years through uni and both got their graduate jobs by online applications, dd did attend an open evening for company too which had 30 spaces was a huge bonus as the staff from the company were mingling and my dds name was brought up by a few different staff members as someone who would fit into the team.

DD volunteered in a local charity shop every Saturday at 16 which helped her get a weekend only job in a local care home the following year as she had experience of something at the interview. She kept that job through Uni and went into Nursing.

My son is 20 and has worked at Tescos, Morrisons and Superdrug. The first job was as a Tesco Festive and he was adorable working in his Christmas jumper! He was under 18 at the time so it was difficult for him having to get other staff to help him if he was selling alcohol but it worked out. Then he worked at Superdrug for a bit then Morrisons as a packer for the online orders. Kept him very fit! He's now a HCA while he's at university doing nursing. I am very proud of him. He had to be persistent to get those jobs.

My DS got his job at 16 as he’d done a volunteer role which gave him customer service experience as well as various other skills. Job was found on the company website - lots of companies now only advertise on their own sites as they overwhelmed with responses. A friend of mine saw it and sent it to him.

He’s then got other jobs off the back of that one. Agree that word of mouth is also a great option. My street what’s app often posts asking if a teenager wants a couple of days work labouring (ie taking stuff to the skip during a renovation) or feeding animals for holidays etc. Plus several neighbours own their own businesses and take local teens over the summer for ad hoc work.

My just turned 16 year old walked around local businesses two weeks ago with a cv. No real work experience. Offered three part time jobs the same afternoon. One owner said "we don't have anything but we will make something for you. We never have people have the confidence or initiative to walk in and ask for work".

she took a job at a local bar/event space, earning £11 an hour. I think that is fantastic!

incidentally, all the place ls she had success with were independents. Was successful with the online app for McDonald's and Greggs but no vacancies currently, so kept on file

Ds went into a whittards shop to buy tea with his friend and they asked if he wanted to work there and wanted his telephone number.

DD19 has had a few jobs in sixth form and uni holidays so far, obtained as follows

• Going into pubs/ cafes etc with CV and, twice, being lucky that they were looking for staff
• Volunteering at a local organisation which eventually led to a paid job there (she still had to go through formal application & interview process)
• Contacting the manager of a kids' club directly as she had a friend working there who told her they may need more staff

However, she estimates she's applied for 50+ jobs on Indeed and similar and has rarely had a response, and had only one (unsuccessful) interview. So I'd say, best to use any contacts you have, approach employers directly, and volunteer to get experience - and don't waste too much time on online job sites.

My youngest has just finished her second year at university.

She volunteered in a charity shop at 15 so she could build a cv.

She applied for loads of hospitality jobs as soon as she turned 16, did a couple of unpaid trial shifts that never went anywhere and eventually got taken on by a well known chain. She worked there part time for 3 years through her GCSEs and A Levels.

She has since worked in her university town part time as a teaching assistant through a teaching supply agency and now has a long term full time position until the end of term. She has also secured a job in a private nursery over the summer. Her only experience/qualifications initially were a week of voluntary work in a primary school after her A Levels, a clean DBS and a good work ethic/the right attitude. She's now done phonics training and has her own group, safeguarding training and other things they've offered to other TAs.

She's not the only person on her course who is doing similar. It's not a teaching degree.

But she also applied for a lot of jobs on Indeed that she didn't hear back from.

I'd agree with not relying too heavily on online job sites. I'm always a bit wary when people say they've applied for 50-100 jobs in a week. I couldn't find 50 jobs a week on Indeed to apply for (I've looked) and certainly wouldn't have time to write a good application/tailor my cv for each (I am currently working though). Firing off a generic cv to 50+ random jobs isn't applying.

Yes, tbf I think DD has applied to 50+ online jobs over the course of a couple of years, not in a week!

Both my DDs (18 & 16) have holiday jobs.
The following things helped to secure them
a) DD16 started refereeing for her hobby, which she was allowed to do from 14 onwards. This is paid (well!) but has also taught her lots and lots of skills. She has learnt to communicate with coaches and organisers, she has learn to control 22 players during matches and has learnt to take responsibility - she is very aware that she HAS to turn up as agreed, otherwise the match cant go ahead. This has been a massive help in securing her summer job as it is in an outdoor activity centre where these skills are valued.
b) they both actively looked for useful volunteering opportunities for their DofE, which they could use on their CV. Lots of their friends did ‘litter picking, signed off by parents’ which doesn’t provide a reference. Choosing something meaningful is really useful. Also, the ‘skills’ section of DofE has been used for something to add to their CV.
c) DD18 did 2 work experience placements with building up her CV in mind. She went out and contacted loads of places that she was interested in, hoping she’d get a weekend job out of it.
d) DD18 volunteers at festivals. She enjoys live music and the festival atmosphere. She enjoys the volunteering, it gets her into festivals for free, and it is very helpful on her CV.

They are not afraid to work hard to get to where they want to be, and have been able to get training opportunities through summer jobs. Training opportunities have been provided for free, and they are always saying Yes to all training offered. Life guarding, motor boat qualifications, first aid has all been gained for free through work, but they have spend their own time doing these qualifications, sacrificing free weekends.

As a teenager, I wouldn’t have been motivated enough to do what my DDs have done / are doing, but I can see how well it pays off for them. They have both secured great work placements and the companies are wanting them back annually as they have gained necessary and useful qualifications (both outdoor activities centres)

I have a teen with a PT job and I also worked several jobs as a teen (admittedly in very different times). Two things: build networks and contacts, and take on anything even if they need support from you to get there.

Many of my jobs and my teen’s were via existing networks. I see so many young people just posting on our local facebook groups ‘oi any jobs going?’. No one is going to give you a job like that. My teen has a job as an assistant coach for a sport she’s done for years and where she volunteered before she got hired into coaching staff. I rode horses so knew lots of horsey people and started out word of mouth mucking out for people I knew. Dh runs a business in a trade and had a young lad who lived next door to his commercial premises who kinda used to hang around chatting to him in his early teens. He’d help Dh out here and there, eventually moved into little paid odd jobs and then an apprenticeship. Building networks and leaning on those connections.

Also being willing to do anything and work whatever hours you’re offered. I spent a summer at 16/17 hand fertilising maize in a field (bloody itchy work! I didn’t know you could be allergic to maize pollen!). Dh worked on a pheasant farm and also picking watercress. It’s all hard shitty work, but it was a job.

I also had a parent who would taxi me around to work and I got my license and a car literally on the first legal day possible, so I could work anywhere.

Dd1 age 16 took letter and cv to local garden centre and planned to take to other independent stores the following weekend but got a call from the garden centre and worked there 2 years. She moved to a national trust cafe after a tip off from her friends and had an interview age 18.

dd2 is 14 and chose school work experience in the hope of a job - she went to a local hotel that does weddings etc. on day 4 they offered her a job.

indeed is really for over 18s ime

My dd got a job at 15, waitressing at a local pub. I think it was advertised on facebook, she phoned up went in for an informal interview and got a job. Her friend’s mum called and was told she was too young. I think it was the difference between calling yourself and getting your mum to ring.

Dd got a job in a hairdressers (16) because her mate worked in a cafe opposite and the owner had mentioned he was looking for someone.
She got a receptionist job by signing up to a local temp agency - she loved that job.
Ds got a job in a fashion store by turning up for a worldwide jobs day - that UK wasn't taking part in! The manager remembered him and called him the following week.
He got a temp office job by signing up to Indeed online.

Both or my DCs work(ed) as lifeguards. The qualification to work as a pool lifeguard takes a week and costs £300ish. There are courses all over the country and many in school holidays DC1 trained in the half term of y12, aged 16 and got a job immediately. DC2 was 18 and is now early 20s and a student and has been working as a lifeguard ever since.

Dc1 graduated with a masters in 2024 and managed to find a job that was related to the research project they had done for their masters. Tbey only applied for about 4 or 5 jobs in total, so very very lucky.