Paying to find young person a first job

[mothersdaywoe]

Has anyone tried this, its not expensive £500 for coaching, CV analysis, career advice BUT no guarantee of employment at the end.
Its been a year now, DC is depressed and failing further and further behind

Junior doctors aren't exactly that employable these days.Too many of them as well.

@Happyjoe If OP's DD had wanted to work for the NHS, she'd have studied medicine - she was offered a place.

(not having a pop at you just that it would probably be beneath OP's expectations)

Any job you do - if you are talented, a great communicator, a leader, a problem solver - you’ll have a chance of leaving your mark, a chance to develop skills, build confidence, make connections - you’ll create those opportunities.

Sitting in your bedroom, staring at a screen, wishing for that idealised opportunity to appear is building nothing except despair.

OP you haven’t confirmed one way or the other but I hope your dd is still at Tesco - because doing nothing for a year is awful - she really needs to do something - anything!

And the self medicating and refusing to engage probably wouldn't be very attractive for a medical career.

Sounds like she has got a degree in something biology-related. It is a very tricky one. In my opinion there is huge overproduction of life science-related degrees, and lots of people sign up for them because it does sound interesting (it absolutely is interesting) and consider this STEM (which is not really that much STEM in reality).

However, few people are told that the main jobs/careers are science or industry lab-based. Entry level careers are very few and far in between. The jobs that are being advertised are quite specific and particular. Once a person knows that lab-based jobs are not for them - and it is great understanding to realise this at the start as it is specific mindset and personal characteristics required - it is almost no other jobs left.

With this in mind, I don't think that it is her job applications per se that it is a problem, it is quite specialised career pathway. If I guess the degree correctly, you might need someone with industry experience to potentially advise what's realistic and what the hiring profiles look in reality so she can focus on acquiring skills in that direction.

She could also get lots of bad advice from re so called career advisors. I've seen many life coaches who have no life experience but sell themselves as the key to your success

ChapGpt can be good and bad and that's where you apply common sense and reasoning the same way you would when searching with Google.

And I think many career services teams at universities are useless and just share the same standard advice to everyone. How many universities have we seen where students need placement opportunities and the career services can't help them except this is a cv template and some basic advice which you can get in seconds from Google.

@mothersdaywoe given how difficult things are and how desperate you are for your DC I would consider it if you can afford it but only after making sure she's doing everything she can and should be doing in the first place and also knowing that there's a big chance it may not work out so manage expectations. I see it as a way to keep trying not a guaranteed solution.

What did your daughter study and what type of jobs is she looking for?

Yanbu. I guess if you have the money, anything is worth a try, although if they aren't sector specific, and your dd wants a specific career, I don't see how they can help her more than you can.

Before that, I'd look for appropriate volunteering, and organise one of your professional friends to give her some interview practice. Help your dd do a survey of all companies within a 40 mile radius that are in her desired industry. Research all the jobs advertised, think where there might be an entry level opening, help her email all of the HR departments and look for any other way in.

Look at related industries where she can develop similar skills, as well. Spend a lot of time on Indeed and Total Jobs, looking at every job available within commuting distance. It may take a bit of lateral thinking but there are jobs available.

Is she mentally well enough to be working? It is a bit chicken and egg but a lot of grad schemes are tough to be on and people get churned out.

I have done a lot of grad recruitment. Generally I’m looking for someone who is bright and can get stuck in. I’d be wary about someone who hasn’t been working or volunteering tbh. There are so many brilliant young people who can demonstrate they can juggle multiple things well. Those are the ones that tend to get through assessments.

As well as voluntary work and employment, another way to fill gaps and gain experience is self-employment. Look into being a sole trader. I know people who have made greetings cards or designed wedding stationery for example. They never made it to getting regular commissions, and barely covered any costs, but got the badge. It can also a way of working for free (for yourself) without being an illegal intern. You can also pay really cheap class 2 NI if you need to.

You could get all that for free if they registered with a recruitment agency and requested an in person meeting.

£500 is fucking ridiculous price and im getting it wouldnt improve the main problem - which is a low confidence in getting out there mingled in with a bit of laziness.

Suggestions

Some companies have a employee "refer a friend scheme", do you know anyone that can refer her for a job ?

I have read various forums for several years
If an employer has 100 people apply for the same job. They prefer to interview people who are already working and or working & volunteering.

Has she signed up for any agency or temporary work ? Lots of employers are now advertising for venues that start to open at Easter, May or summer holidays

Does she have her own transport ?

I agree that she needs to get any type of job now

I have never paid for a CV

www.gov.uk
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There's more to the NHS than being a doc or a nurse though.

Feel your pain, we are 2 months in following a temp christmas job 4 months before that. My son applies for jobs every single day, very hard.

Suggest going to local library to ask about local volunteering opportunities or local Facebook groups

There are loads where I live & I do several different types of volunteering eg

Museum
Repair cafe
Clear community outside areas
Cleaning & painting community inside buildings
Olio food waste reduction collection & dispersal into community

Help raise money for local charities

One I started one, I was recommended to join other groups & I have met so many interesting people.
Also people will recommended you for paid jobs too

I do PT work & caring responsibilities too

Don't want to spam this thread, but I've just thought about science tutoring. Flexible- good pay, DD gets to help others and continue her enthusiasm and love for her subject.

Definitely worth looking into.

To be fair to OP when I finished my masters 16 years ago and moved from London back up north to find a job I was prepared to take anything to tide me over but I couldn't get a thing even jobs like cleaning and security were looking for specialist qualifications I didn't have. Everything has become professionalised. Honestly the only way I got a job was because the some I guy I knew who was an assistant manager in the local supermarket fancied me and he gave me some part time shifts in his store.

Self employed PT?
It doesn't sound like she’s in the right place for employment currently.

What happens if the coaching works, she gets a job, and a few weeks into her new career a colleague misses something, a task is looked over too quickly, a meeting is missed, something unexpected happens that doesn’t fit with your DD’s definition of it “going well”?

You say she would benefit from the routine and motivation a good job would bring, or at least the coaching part beforehand. Did she thrive on those routines in uni, school, etc? Or were “life routines” never established and these challenges are nothing new?

You seem determined to justify spending £500 on this. Go ahead if you want to. Personally I am very sceptical about coaching. They are unlikely to know much about specific industries and one can get generic help from google or ChatGPT.

A poster suggested name changing and posting asking for specific advice for the area in which your daughter is interested. This is a great idea. MN is a huge resource and I have seen great career advice given on here for my field (law). I’m sure it is just as good for other careers.

Of course there are. I was paraphrasing the OP.

Examples of jobs that I did before I moved into my main career;

Cleaning
Macdonalds
Super market various departments cashier, office, warehouse, shelf stacker
Hospital laundry
Theme park worker
Waitress
Kitchen assistant/outside catering assistant
Fast food delivery
Worked at large one day events
Volunteer
At times, I had 2 part time jobs. One in the morning & one in the evening

Secondly, I did not live with my parents after I graduated, so I had more incentive to find a job & earn my own money

I am a mostly-retired and credentialed director, entrepreneur, researcher and professional. But only yesterday I was proudly telling someone (who questioned my cleaning skills) that I can figure-eight mop a corridor, both sides with yellow signs, without stopping traffic.

I forgot, I have also worked in factories too

Why can't she work I Tesco while she is job hunting for other work ?