So pissed off my dd cant get a partime job with good grades while others can without any.

[alfiethekittycat]

I need to moan lol

I feel so bad for my dd(17) she is desperatly trying to get herself a pt job and has applied for at least a hundred since she finished her gcse's last year, she is currently going into her second year in sixth form and has brilliant grades,

She was so upset last night as yet another of her friends had on her facebook that she has landed herself a pt job in a local supermarket that dd had applied for but was not even considered for interview, This girl is in sith form with my daughter but hardly ever turns up for lessons and just scrapped by getting there in the first place,

All she wants is the chance to earn a bit of extra money while she is studying but has only had one interview in the last year (wilkinsons at xmas) they didnt even bother to tell her she didn.t get the job even though they told her they would let her know in writing either way.

We both applied for a pt job in Greggs the bakers, she was told she wasnt suitable whilst I have an interview on monday,(I am going back to work after 18 years, have no qualifications)

So many of her friends who left school after their gcse's have landed jobs she has applied for she is beginingg to wonder what is the point of trying hard to get better qualifications cos the don't seem to count for anything.

Ok rant over, just woke up remembering how upset she was last night,

Mother's help is a fab idea. Whereabouts are you based? Has she tried any call centres at all. We take on part timers that are at college/uni to fill up our Saturdays and boost evenings. They are offered more hours over the summer too.

a lot of people i know are desperate for cleaners. a young, presentable, well spoken, clever girl would be a godsend. she could easily earn anywhere between 7 and ten pounds per hour, cash in hand. Has she tried that at all?
My current cleaner came to me as a student. she's now finished her masters, has been promoted at her main job to a managerial position and is the most wonderful person.

Suggest that she puts up some cards offering herself as a Mother's help. I'm sure a lot of Mum's could do with an extra pair of hands around supper/bath time and this could fit in well with her studies. The fact that she could help an older one with homework could be a bonus too.

She could even try making some leaflets (only use mobile phone number) and putting them through local people's doors.

I meant to say put cards up in the supermaket on their noticeboards or in a newsagent's window.

we employ lots of univeristy students and some of them also work at the local supermarket.

they were employed three years or so ago though, job makets is frozen here more or less.

she could try looking at jobs at local county council site, they usually have lots of childcare positions. for summer jobs though staff are usually taken on april/may time.

People don't want very intelligent and diligant, the want someone who clearly needs the money and isn't going to be able to get a better job.

You don't need to be intelligent and qualified for these jobs, and the people who are tend to not fit in well, and they leave. The managers know this. They want someone who's relying on that job and so will eat their shit.

I used to apply for night care work by pretending I had no qualifications at all, and at the same time, making it clear that I knew what I was physically doing. I would sit through the interveiws with a vacant smile and I always got the job. Until I started playing dumb, nobody employed me. Sad but true.

If she doesn't really need the money a voluntary job will probably give her better skills/experience for the future.

Sadly supermarkets and shops don't employ bright sparks. Her best bet is something self-employed, the mother's help idea already suggested is good. Also, what about waitressing in a posh restaurant? They want staff who are bright and presentable, and intelligent enough to answer questions and hold conversations with the customers. She sounds as if she'd be good in a customer-facing job.

As others have said the application form is vital. My daughter has 12 GCSEs (A-C) and got her first supermarket (well known firm) job before she had her results. I admit to "tweaking" her application form with her, stressing stuff on teamwork, communication skills, customer service etc and also mentioning hobbies/voluntary work she had done (and that she was doing her Duke of Edinburgh award. She was smartly (but not OTT) dressed for her interview (and punctual - several weren't and were immediately discounted).

She stayed there about 18 months and now works for well known DIY store (who know she doesn't want a career in retail, but working whilst at college). Incidentally, day she handed in app form (we had been shopping and noticed advert) she had bright pink hair, although toned down for interview. so appearances not always off putting

Good luck

The point of trying hard and getting qualification is so that (hopefully) later in life the jobs you are applying for are not sweeping up the crumbs in Greggs.

I can sympathize, my DS1 is 18 and has been unemployed since leaving school, he had really good GCSE grades, he's applied for over two hundred jobs, and 95% of those do not even reply to him, which really pisses me off.

He did start a college course to do plumbing, however he was sent home after two days as his tutor said that he will never qualify, as it is an NVQ and he would need a plumber to take him on so that he could be assessed in real life. I telephoned every plumber in the area, but they just said because of H&S and his age, they couldn't help, but maybe when he's 21!!! FFS I do know about NVQ's as I'm an assessor myself, when I spoke to his tutor, he did say he was the youngest they had taking the course.

He is so depressed, at the minute I just feel for the youngsters, the job situation is dire.

Sorry, realised you are applying for the same thing and didn't mean it as a dig, but as reassurance that there is a reason for her to work hard at school.

I think it's probably to do with availability. Really labour the customer service side of things too. Employers want to see you have a brain but common sense and 'having a bit about yourself' counts for a lot too. It's not all about results.

Whatifihadneverbothered. I think, with all due respect, your son would have done a lot better if he'd rung the plumbers personally. I'd get him to ring, I'll bet there's a different response.

Keep an eye out for saturday library jobs or summers jobs withe council, they are more impressed with grades than shops

It is to do with availability. Employers want a pool of cheap labour that they can call on when they want them. DS got nowhere when at school because he was only offering one day at weekends and one evening per week.There are also too many people chasing too few jobs. He had countless applications and interviews.He eventually got Sunday afternoons in a cafe.
This is his first holiday as a student and he has a job in a pub, but this is because he is over 18yrs and had offered to be available for the whole summer with any hours.
I would take up people's suggestion of babysitting.

If your DD is at a loose end, she should be thinking about her UCAS application and doing something that will support her personal statement. This is potentially far more valuable that a minimum dead-end job.

The gumtree website is a good place to advertise herself as a mother's help if she wants childcare experience.

Mangoand lime, he did phone them, and they told him exactly the same thing.

His tutor even contacted a few plumbers who he know's personally and they said exactly the same to him, would not touch a lad of that age, too much paperwork!!

I likethe idea of the mothers help - where are you in the country? Are you allowed to subtley ask on your MN local board if anyone could do with a teatime-bedtime helper?

Or I hear NetMums are very good for local things.

Oh that's pants WIIHNB, isn't it? Hope he finds something v soon.

Never a good idea to shadow any offspring, it always looks as though they're not capable of much, TBH. I wonder if the Greggs job was because both of you went for it, they may have thought it was a little too close for comfort, both of you working there?

I got my first Saturday job with a national retailer just before my 16th birthday in 1988, did everything myself, showing a bit of initiative, it was my first interview and I hadn't even taken my GCSEs at that point.

I sometimes think its not what you know its who you know. Two of dds friends got jobs because in one case, daddy was a department manager and in the other the girls aunt was manager of another shop.

Not always, venus. Any manager will still only want those who will work the hours and fill the job spec. It may happen sometimes but it's certainly not always the case. If you work in a shop at managerial level you'd have every Tom, Dick & Harry's son or daughter working for you. The manager has to think of the business too and they get literally tonnes of apps in a large store.

Perhaps she could do a "confident babysitting" course at college too - they usually run over a couple of saturdays - to help her if she is thinking of going for the mother's help/babysitting type jobs. Do you know anyone with young children yourself? Maybe post something on your MN local?

And I think having your aunt own a shop is not just a friend, that is pretty close family (and I'm assuming it must be a small shop?) The mother of the girl might be the owner's sister? She won't have many staff and probably knows the girl fairly well..probably from birth.