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?

Has she tried McDonald’s? My DD got her first job there at 16 (3 years ago) and they were always desperate for staff and hired anyone who asked it seemed! She hated it but only stayed 2 months whilst applying for other jobs, and soon got offered something much better. It’s much easier to find a job when you are already employed somewhere.

Has she applied for the temp Christmas shifts?

Most big companies send emails and you have to book an interview with only X slots available - it’s worth googling the correct responses - they will be there somewhere.

DD first job was from school work experience, DD2 walk round town and found signs in windows looking for staff: one asked her to start the following Monday.

She can post if FB pages and there are agencies looking for 18/25 we have one here.

She needs to be really proactive and get a covering letter together being positive can do attitude and link it to what they are asking for.

eg Team work - I demonstrated my team work ability at a recent charity event where we were tasked to raised X in aid of Y. I took a lead role in organising the prizes.

Being willing to work antisocial hours is a big plus for many employers
Both my DC worked at a local supermarket whilst at sixth form, but it was open from 6am to 10pm
DD did care work whilst at university, DS worked in retail at a railway station again with 24 hour opening times

@Teentrauma would she consider care work? Where I am, the care homes are always looking for staff. Plus there are agencies where she can do zero hours contract and just pick up shifts when it suits her (although these agencies almost always pressurise staff to do more shifts, often at short notice).

A friend of hours works with adults in supported housing and they have lots of students doing the sleepover shifts - they usually watch a movie then the carer sleeps when the resident goes to bed - it’s £100 a night.

Also where I live - lots of students do bank shifts (ie pick shifts to suit) as health care support workers in the NHS. You get 30% extra for nights and Saturdays and 60% extra for Sundays so it can be well paid.

My DS got her first job as a kitchen porter by asking in the local Wetherspoons if there were any jobs going at age 17 then got bar work when he was 18. DD got hers waitressing in a local restaurant by popping in with her CV. Neither had any work experience at all.

Good luck - hope she gets something soon!

My son got a part time job as a kitchen porter/pot washer at a local pub, just before he turned 18. He got it via word of mouth. He had to do a trial shift first and then they offered him the job.

A nursery agency would take her on but it isn't for the faint hearted. She would get work very quickly even as unqualified but it's back breaking work and incredibly stressful.
Also care homes worth a try. Any winter events going on near you as sometimes they need stewards etc ?

I worked for a few years in an indie cafe and got the job by going in and asking. The manager told me to write a letter of application and bring it with my CV and that’s what I did. We also took more staff on while I was there in the same way. Independent shops will probably work like this too. Go in, be bright and personable, get on well with the other staff and be willing.

Bigger companies that have online applications will be harder because more people will try them and they’ll take longer too, also may have ‘deal breakers’ where the computer says no, whereas meeting a business owner face to face may well go more on how you’ll fit into the existing team.

My 3 found it tough (lack of jobs plus most teenagers wanting work from 16 onwards). In their case it was just a numbers game. Two of mine got 1st jobs at McDs as they had a bad reputation in our area so less applied. Oncd you get the 1st it's easier yo trade up.

It can be a bit random. DC2 found out that the manager could be arsed so just chose the first 3 applicants to interview (binning everyone else who passed the official tests) and gave the job to the one who was quickest in the 10 minute job trial. DD thought that she had got the job because of a good interview only to find out later that they had chosen her because of her pretty hair! One of mine got a KB from Costa saying she didn't have the attributes to be a good barista but got a Starbucks job in the same week.

Once in a job I remember my DC being asked about applicants they knew from school. If you or she know anyone then see if they would put a word in. Being flexible with hours ( and being economical with the truth on future plans helped my DC too)

You could suggest she joins an agency like a hospitality or catering agency. Then she will have lots of places to put on her CV.

Thank you for the responses.Some good suggestions there. She has taken her cv into many local shops, cafes & restaurants with little success. Many are chains, eg Wenzels, Superdrug, and direct her online. I guess she just needs to keep trying and am hoping the volunteering will make her more employable.

Try Primark, DS did 18 months there which started off as a Christmas placement but they kept him on, great shifts to work around studies, he did 3 x 4 hour shifts per week all through A-levels.

DC1 struggled to get a part-time job. The big retail and hospitality chains seemed to advertise for (eg) 4-8 hrs weekly, but in reality wanted people who would regularly do 25hrs if and when needed. It didn't help that DC1 can't do term time Saturdays at all. Most 6th formers she knows ended up employed by smaller businesses.

Eventually she was hired by a boat hire venue from an ad on a facebook local site. It's physical outdoor work, dominated by young men and she's a very weedy bookish type but she couldn't afford to be fussy. She has also found that for big and small companies you have to move really quickly - if you miss a call or can't make an interview they just move on to the next application.

Have you looked at her covering letters/emails and reviewed her writing tone?

I've seen some shockingly entitled Gen Z applications which if the person sifting is older will really jar.

What made me think of this was @GRex s question

Is she asking for a job requesting specific hours up-front in a way that might be off-putting?

I've seen so much of this from Gen Z applications - even before an interview

"Just to let you know, I want to work Mondays from 2- 5pm" where the advert is for a part time Wed - Fri as an example.

I want. I want. I expect. I expect. I will only do. I am not prepared to do.

Not saying necessarily she's wording stuff like this but the weird 'I will only work when and where I want' attitude that a lot of GenZs have sort of leaks through.

Has your dd tried for temporary jobs ? I know that she’ll be in the same situation in a couple of months but it will hopefully breed more interest.

She needs to think more local, pub that's not a chain, corner shop, local chippy etc, can she drive or cycle? Could do takeaway delivery, friend of mine used to work in a sunbed shop when we were at sixth form, palest goth you've ever seen, the manager thought it was hilarious she'd had the balls to walk in and ask if they had any vacancies. If she's smiley and confident and hounds local businesses rather than chains she'll get there.
I also second putting something on local FB group, proactive, hardworking 18 year old willing to learn looking for part time work etc.

Petrol stations? Just leave a CV. McDonalds? Full of adolescents!

Nandos have high staff turn over so worth a shot there, a friend's little sister worked in one at uni and there were always people quitting with no notice or walking out half way through a shift, she'll also get discounted chicken 🐔 🍗

I did factory work weekends mostly with extra during bank holidays and school breaks from 16-22. My 16yo went through an agency for factory work. She can choose which days she works.

Perhaps your daughter needs to be less specific about the type of work she wants to do. Agency work might not be glamorous but it pays relatively well and there's the option for overtime. Plus with an agency your daughter should be able to say what days she wants to work.

My DC both got jobs at 16. One at a local leisure centre as a party co ordinator for children's parties and also as a server at an events company for weddings, etc. Other DC got a part time job at CEX as a retail assistant.

Neither had any issues. They're mid 20s now.

Get her to apply for voluntary work so she has something on her CV, she’ll b competing with those with experience so will never get a job if she doesn’t get experience.

If you're in Newcastle, TJ Hughes were advertising for staff in their window.

If she had the right attitude (caring and likes people) I bet she'd get a job as an HCA for the NHS in no time. We take 18 yos without healthcare experience and she could work part time.

Just a thought!

3 trial shifts?! I really hope she was paid!

If she is a good swimmer lifeguarding is an option. If you pay to do the course ( takes a week ) it's pretty easy to find jobs because qualified lifeguards are in short supply. My Ds did the course during the school holidays and got a job almost immediately. He is 19 and has three lifeguarding jobs since he was 16 as he has quit to concentrate on study and then taken a new job when he needed one. Where we are there are always vacancies and they often offer the job even if not qualified as they will train you and pay for the assessment.

He also works in a supermarket - The CoOp supermarket recruitment process was easy - a quick on line assessment and a 15 min interview and offered job on the spot. They seem to be a really good employer too.

DD got a job a week after her 16th birthday by asking a friend to arrange a trial shift for her at the cafe she worked at. It's a zero hours contract and quite seasonal as it's in a tourist spot but even on the winter rota she's being offered 16 hours a week if she wants them. Lots of places recruit friends of existing staff rather than advertise vacancies.

Both my DCs did the lifeguard training and have never had any trouble getting work because there is a national shortage of lifeguards.

DC1 has a full time job now but DC2 is a student and has a lifeguard job at home and at uni. Some young lifeguards even train as swimming teachers. That is really well paid and there is a shortage of them too.

If anyone's DC wants to qualify as
A lifeguard , look for the NPLQ course ion the. RLSS website. It takes a week to qualify and costs around £300. The courses usually run in school holidays.