How the heck does my DD get a part time job?

[Teentrauma]

Inspired by another thread where someone's DH was struggling.

My DD18 has been searching for MONTHS for a part time job while she studies. Is flexible what she does - cafes, shops etc. She receives Indeed alerts and has applied for dozens of jobs on there but never gets past the first stage. Similarly, she applies direct when she hears a company is recruiting such as Asda, Next etc. Same thing. Usually, there's some long online assessment which she never gets past. I've sat and done some with her (it's usually a choice of different responses to a work situation and you have to say which you think is most correct). No idea what we're doing wrong. In addition she's trawled the local high streets with her cv, I've done a lot of asking round myself too but drawn a blank.

She's so despondent (and skint!) and just wants a job. She has decent GCSE grades but a very thin CV, due to being 18 and never worked (apart from a week's work experience in my office for which my boss has given her a reference). Fingers crossed she's got some volunteering in a charity shop, so at least she can put retail experience on her cv but even that has involved a long winded on line recruitment/vetting process (which kept crashing 🙈).

Is she doing something wrong or is she just unlucky?

Mine found jobs by going in, especially to the independents and asking, whilst leaving a CV.
Independents are much less likely to have the formal processes you have mentioned.

Where is she? City?

It's impossible to say why she's failing, but you could ask an HR department to supply feedback on why her application didn't progress, they aren't obliged to teply but someone might. The issue could be anything:

• Is she asking for a job requesting specific hours up-front in a way that might be off-putting?
• Is she dressed presentably or does she have anything unusual in her presented appearance?
• Can she speak articulately?
• Do the jobs request experience?

Has she tried going into shops or cafes that have a sign up and applying directly? Round here there are signs in a few pubs restaurants and shops that are all privately owned so I would expect them to give someone a chance.

It is an absolute nightmare trying to get in via online things. My dd gave up on our local Sainsbury a while ago.

I actually found her 2 jobs by cafe chit chat! First one caff that unfortunately closed down about a month after she started.

And then another she just popped her name and phone number down and they did call on her after a few weeks. She has been there 6 months now.

Try the old fashioned way of going in and leaving contact details. If they are very pushed, they might just call!

I found out about a job vacancy in a cafe through the local Facebook page. DD went down there straight away and got a trial shift. Agree, small independent cafes/pubs etc are probably easier to find.

I think she would do well to go round local pubs and cafes but remember that from end of August onwards she is likely to be competing with uni students (assuming you live anywhere near a university).

It’s possible that how you are answering the multiple choice options isn’t giving the answers the employer is looking for so I would leave her to answer them herself.

Is she at college? Is there a careers advisor or similar that she can speak to to get some feedback as well?

Both my children (now 19 and 23) got part time jobs by 'specialising' a bit. My daughter had loads of experience working with young kids as she had helped out at her dance school from being 14 so got a job as a weekend party host at a soft play. My son did a lifeguarding qualification when he was 16 and has worked in that role ever since. My advice would be to get some type of experience/qualification so they have something more to offer. My son also looked at a barbering course as there is a demand for this. Doing this also helps them get a better wage. My daughter's experience working with kids also meant she got a job coaching kids football whilst at uni where she became head coach and earned £17 an hour - not bad for a part-time uni job!

My DD had the same - literally hundreds of online applications. Then she went round lots of independent restaurant, bars and cafes with a CV, and got an offer in a couple.of days
.

I sympathise OP. I really thought my 18 year old would walk into a part time job in her gap year but it took 4 months! My older dds found jobs easily. She's got a job in a restaurant now thank god.

With DS1 I set with him doing the Tesco online questions. We failed. What the hell? They were very obvious customer services ones. What I learned not long after which then got him a job the next Christmas is that you need a current staff members name and employment number - ie a recommendation. Once we had that (his friend) he was in straightaway. Is there anyone you know works in a supermarket or whose teen works there?

My dd 14 just got a job in a chippy. Just went in and asked did 3 trail shifts and they was happy. She used to do a paper round.

Best off going into shops and talking to the manager to ask about vacancies.

Voluntary work will pad her cv out. Maybe she could volunteer in something related to her studies.

I

Coming up to Christmas Royal Mail will have temp roles available if that's something she would be interested in.
A has done it previously and really enjoyed it.
Only temporary but gets some experience on the CV

The problem is the legal requirements for hiring anyone under 18 and/or still in education. I beliebe the employer has to apply for a licence for each individual under 18, that then needs signing by the parent and the school.

Then there is insurance and the risk of them being unreliable due to emerging social lives. It all.amounts to risks a lot of employers don't want, especially small businesses.

Do they have the correct license and insurance to employ a 14 year old???

Difficult to generalise. Mine started volunteering at 14 and had 2 years' experience of that before she started applying for paid work. But I don't know if that made the difference or if she just got lucky.

A lifeguarding course or swimming teacher course can be a way in, but it's not free and she may need to start with picking up casual shifts before she gets a regular gig. And be prepared to do gig economy, zero hours stuff to prove her reliability and get some experience. Leaflet delivery work is easy to get round here, though it does not pay well.

She could do some parkrun and library volunteering to get some experience?
DS covered the summer reading challenge which gave him some admin and customer service experience. He'd done parkrun since he was little so was used to working in a team and confident speaking to adults.

My daughter never had a problem finding part time work. She produced a very professional looking CV, but which obviously didn't include much paid work experience at 17 or 18, but she dressed herself smartly and went to every cafe, restaurant, and pub nearby and always came home with at least one possible job.

Look at more voluntary places so she can build up work skills.

Volunteering at a youth group or sports group she's involved in or the local wildlife trust as a conservation warden, they'll teach her how to do things there.

Complete courses like Life guarding, First Aid at Work, Food Hygiene, H&S, Bar and silver service etc - have her look at the local college evening courses, perhaps gift her a course for Christmas.

She needs to put herself above others applying who may have gained other skills.

You also need to be aware that lots of mass recruitment is shifted via AI now so you need to use the keywords in the advert.

When?

Trampoline parks and soft play places are a good bet
One of mine worked at Savers so maybe target less posh shops
If anyone else is reading for tips, Clarks as a Summer job is soul destroying (endless stockroom and cardboard compressing!) But a good start for a CV
Cat sitting? My cat sitter went parttime as earns more from that than real job
I don't have much in my insta feed unlike them so follow all the cafes etc for the hiring posts
Butchers employ teen help at Christmas more informally (Lush for example have recruited already)
One of mine is a tutoring assistant at an independent tutor place, she doesn't do any teaching (does 121 with children with SEN, so probably completely inappropriate but great experience) but more confident academically teens do tutor there and certainly 18yr olds do
NHS - if 18 can do care work and they are always hiring and then you can bank too

My dd's got it jobs at 16 and 17. Visiting and introducing themselves at local take aways. Dd was a huge asset to the pizza shop. They were gutted when she left. Wages were good and free food after every shift! And a lift home too!

I think it can be down to luck. My friend runs a bar, when they advertise for part time staff they get so many applicants they pretty much just pick the first 3 they get that have previous experience and invite them for a trial. They don't even look at the rest - it's purely due to the volume they get. The bar is in a university town so there are always people looking for work.

If she’s 18, care home? Care homes are desperate for reliable staff. No matter that she has no care experience as they’ll offer training on the job and, depending what she wants to do later, may be good work experience for uni applications.

Have you got any local hotels or event spaces? Most will be recruiting for Christmas waiting staff at the moment, it may not result in a long term job but will give her experience and contacts (as well as money)

Most smaller places, shops, cafes and pubs won't advertise. Just ring round and ask.

My DS trained as a lifeguard and gets regular work. He's now qualified as a swim teacher which he loves.

Is she thinking about uni? Maybe get some work experience that will help with uni applications for now.