Are small businesses, shops and cafe owners happy for teens ...

[MarthaVader]

to come in asking for weekend/holiday work?

Or are they a nuisance and they'd rather an email application?

DC(16) finishes high school soon (eeek!) and keen to work.

I don't have any personal experience OP but I know that where I am that's what a lot of young people do.

Rather than going in asking on the spot though they would be better going in and handing in a CV (not that there will be much on it at that age but just with contact details) and ask to be contacted if they have anything. Usually the staff working aren't the owners and so don't get a say so that way it can easily be passed on and not forgotten about

Thanks Lou DC would be targeting local market towns where the owners/managers tend to be on the premises.

We weren't sure if they'd prefer the personal touch or were inundated with masked teens asking for work or were reluctant to take paper CVs in Covid times!

Anyone's teens found temp work recently?

Go in and ask on the spot. Without parents. I would take opportunity to ask a couple of questions. In cafe I expect staff to chat and not be quiet and shy. Can’t see that from a cv. Same with all shop work.

Oh yes, definitely without Mum

I wouldn’t have minded either way as long as the parents weren’t involved in anyway. I had a policy of never hiring teenagers where the parents had been with them. Teenagers like this always didn’t turn up for shifts last minute, their parents would call with a number of excuses including needing to focus on studying infuriating!

It's worth speaking to temping agencies I think - my DS signed you with one between school and uni and got various jobs through the summer, mainly warehouse work though.

It's welcome where I work,as long as they don't come in over the busy period 1130-3 and they bring a little cv/ letter about themselves,with name and what days and hours they could work .

I wouldn't have an issue, I would see it as using their initiative

Cv’s are often not accepted because of GDPR...

@Notjustanymum

Cv’s are often not accepted because of GDPR...

Really? DC has emailed their CV to a couple of businesses and got nice, personalised "we're not hiring yet" replies.

I can't vouch for now as it was 20 years ago but I got my first job by walking in armed with CVs and asking to talk to the manager and seeing if they were recruiting. I was offered an interview. So there was the social confidence/ inititative plus the outlaying of my details.
I did things like the DoE award so they were on my CV.

(Some of this is covered above)

Different people have different preferences, I’d recommend the teenager bringing some CVs, and to ideally have a phone ready with email access.

Walk in, ask for the manager if applicable to enquire about any jobs & how to apply
Have CVs in envelopes ready if they are being taken
Have the phone ready (or at least a pen and paper), take note of contact details and be able to send an electronic copy of the CV by email right away or ensure the email address is correctly noted

Ask a couple of questions to the owner/manager about what times/shifts may be available, about the business etc
Highlight any particular special interest in the type on business (if applicable)
(No need to show fake enthusiasm but if it’s a clothes shop, comic shop, music shop etc and they have an interest then mention it)

Note that the reference to not accepting CVs due to GDPR might have been meaning thah the staff at the counter not accepting CVs and requiring them to be sent to the right person.

I prefer the personal touch, emails seem to lazy to me. I like to see somebody has made an effort.

Absolutely no parents and check & re check the CV. The amount of CV I have seen littered with spelling mistakes is actually shocking

@MarthaVader, I believe that some companies will accept them, and are kind enough to respond, but under GDPR, they are not allowed to keep them on their premises, so many will either refuse them, shred them and not reply, or reply then shred. This means that DC might be missing out on future opportunities as new openings might not be disclosed, if they’ve shredded DC’s CV and no longer have their details...
I had a long discussion about this with my DS who had worked in a high street retailer, after he was made redundant. He informed me about this when I suggested he hand his CV into other businesses, so he now only applies for jobs online (although I’m sure that for a small business an in-person enquiry would be ok to determine if they want to see your CV)

Definitely no parents involved!

If going in in person, pick quiet times - going to a sandwich bar at lunchtime or a shop on Saturday will win you no friends.

For cafe work, a Level 2 food hygiene certificate would look good (and give the DC some life skills even if they never actually work in a cafe!). They can be obtained in a day, cheaply or free (my local library did them for free pre COVID, not sure what the current state of play is).

I'm an independent bistro owner- definitely tell them to pop in! Although not on a weekend morning or throughout the lunch rush.

My small supermarket will only accept applications online for jobs already advertised. Cvs are thrown away which I think is incredibly rude, it's not difficult to make sure all staff know the process so people are not disappointed with no reply. Sorry can you tell it's a sore point.

My 16yr old DD has just done this....... she created a CV along with a covering letter and she mail dropped in person some local pubs (food serving) after school (in uniform too). She dropped approx 8 CVs off - at 1 she spoke to the manager who asked her if she was free at that moment and 'interviewed' her there and then - offered her a trial for that very Saturday. She nailed it and was offered more shifts - they also pay the higher rate of 18yrs. She does work hard when she is there but loves the 'adult' environment. Good luck to your DC.