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

i really recommend the book “ what color is your parachute” which sets out a process to identify and approach organisations you want to work for.
I used that when I was in a similar position and it worked for me.

The career coaching would probably be better suited to someone who has had a career. I benefited from one that was part of a redundancy package, but I also did another one a few years later (made redundant again) and it wasn't very good.

This is a child with nine a star GCSE3 A’s are A-level Russell Brick university, What most people would consider a proper degree narrowly missed a first.
The person you are posting about is not a child. They are a well-qualified adult with very little relevant work experience.

The qualification might not be a vocational one or one that would lead to a preofession.

There's a lovely young man working at my local Tesco. He has a good recent business-related degree and he can't get work. Not that that helps your DC other than it's not just your DC going through this.

The career coaching tends to focus on transferrable skills. Your DC can work through WCIYP? and come up with a list of transferrable jobs.

FWIW, When I graduated decades ago, the university careers office were not useful, but I found some council-run careers advice, which was poor.
I was pretty clueless.
The Jobcentre had a job club and that was great.

Could your DC look at other career options - maybe a conversion MSc or PGCE?

OP, I think you should do a media search on "graduate jobs" to get some context, which may help your daughter see she is not alone.

There is a huge squeeze on grad jobs right now. It's even worse for many young people with fewer qualifications. It is very very difficult for young people to find work at the moment - not just the work they would prefer, but any work at all. Some industries/preferred careers are worse hit than others.

The youth unemployment rate is running at an average 16% but is higher than that in some areas (London for example).
Explanations for this state of affairs varies depending on which media/political perspective you favour, but the general gist is that the economy is not growing at all - partly because of geopolitical reasons (eg Brexit has wiped billions off UK GDP; Trump's tariffs and wars; Ukraine war ... and so on), partly because economic tweaking by this current Govt hasn't been very successful so far (eg employers all say National Insurance rises have put them off hiring young people).
The career coach might well be able to improve the presentation of your daughter's CV a little bit but a better approach would be for your daughter to apply her skills of strategic thinking to which UK industries are currently growing. She could also widen her horizons outside the UK if she hasn't already. She might find she can get a job in another country if she is willing to travel.
In the last recession a tradesperson who had been through the previous one said to me: "you just have to get through these economic downturns any way you can and be ready to go as soon as the good times roll again" and I think there is something in that.
Your daughter is really lucky that she has you on her side to help and that is a very big bonus for her. Many young people without parents with the social, cultural and economic capital to help them are doing it on their own.

If £500 is not expensive to you, I'd pay it. It's good that you are so keen to help and support her, but an outsider's perspective is needed. The coach might identify some sticking points you haven't thought of. For example, if DD's attitude is like some of your replies (mis-titling your post, drip-feeding essential information, dismissing some jobs as 'shitty', still not being clear whether she is currently working or not), it will need to change. First, she might become more open to actions that will enhance her CV. Second, she could connect with the recruitment circuit for her chosen field. Third, you said 'she wants a career'. No, she has to make the career want her.

What does she want to do? Whats the field she wants to get in to?

I’m really not prepared to share that

No it wouldn't be a red flag if it's a training programme presumably done through an employer to their specifics and if you pass that then they have a job for you. They could guarantee you one if you get through the training.

A recruitment agency shouldn't ever guarantee a job though no. Nor should they charge the job seeker. The employer is the client to a recruitment agency so they're the ones paying.

Companies are always going to receive unsolicited applications and some companies encourage these.

However some companies, including many of those I've worked for, prefer to use a recruitment agency when recruiting for specific roles and remain anonymous because as soon as they reveal that they're recruiting they are swamped by direct applications sent by people looking to circumvent the agency system. Often in these situations the company doesn't have the capacity to handle the direct applications and they prefer to let the agency do the initial tasks, so yes, in these instances the companies want to protect themselves from having to do work that has been outsourced to recruitment specialists. They also want to protect their reputations - they don't want to read posts on social media and recruitment sites saying "I applied to 'BigCo' 3 weeks ago and they've never bothered to acknowledge or reply..."

Rude, really rude when someone has gone out of their way to offer some really good solid advice,

The solid advice was to act illegally which would end my child’s career instant instantaneously if they were caught out and would’ve no doubt being detrimental to her sons
There’s no world in which that behaviour is rewarded or justified in my opinion

There are quite a lot of charities that do that stuff for free. Where are you based?

Street League
Wave Project
Generation UK and Irelanc
Princes Trust

all spring to mind. Tell me what are you are based in and Ill see what I can find x

If it's so niche that you can't share on here, then that could be her issue. Can she broaden her search to "adjacent" jobs or ones that will help her build similar skills and experience?

It’s none of those things, It’s an entirely different offering

Well how on earth can anyone help then?

We used a corporate training contact to provide presentations training for our DCs over teams. It was only meant to be a quick 15mins but she spent nearly an hour with ds helping him deliver with impact. The trainer gave him amazingly honest feedback and training that I could never have given him. Distance was needed. I saw it as a good investment in skills. It was very expensive but it was absolutely worth it to help them understand and work on the way they came across in an interview situation.

That’s a real shame, because there’s no way in which it could be outing, and there are thousands and thousands of very experienced women working in the widest range of fields on this forum, who would be able to give very specific advice for their field. I am one of them, and my field is niche, but nobody can help if you don’t give some basic and not very personal information. If all you wanted to do was rant about your daughter’s position, then you should have made that clear, but otherwise nobody is wrong to assume you are actually looking for practical advice.

Is she a member (student or graduate) of her professional body or bodies? If so, she could be attending relevant event and training. She’ll also be receiving regular emails and links to news and/or jobs. She could be reaching out to the people who write articles she finds interesting asking about work experience or training programs. In many fields it’s really about who you know, not what you know, so actively networking is really important. Many professional bodies have local branches - taking a volunteer role with them is a great way of getting your name out and shows real commitment to the profession. It’s hard at the moment for young people - in many cases a degree is the minimum requirement to get your foot in the door. It’s the extra curricular activities and connections that make the difference.

Ok thank you. Unless it's a training course that he feels will genuinely boost his employability and is recognised in the sector as having value?

What are they going to do that's so special for him?
Is he with traditional agencies also?

If it's a private company what's their Trustpilot score like?

I do what your person wants charge £500. I normally do it for existing clients and sometimes their dc.

If you were prepared to share what she wants to do i think you'd get a lot of help on here.

The illegality is on the employer not your child.

Key Indicators of Illegal Internships:

• You have a set, mandatory contract (verbal or written).
• You are performing productive work, rather than just learning.
• The company is making money from your labor.

The paid for service sounds like it could be useful. Do your due diligence - how many people have they placed and have they any sector experience in the area your daughter wants to go into?

If you aren't prepared to share any details re your daughter's sector of interest there is a little specific advice that can be given. Tesco's and other large retailers for example will have a grad programme for all kinds of fields and will often look for people with experience on the shop floor. Shows an understanding of customer service, customer experience, basic marketing and all the other skills that come out of retail. But if she wants to go into aeronautics, no retailer is going to be useful.

UK market isn't great - has she any access points elsewhere eg: an Irish or other EU passport?

Fantastic, thank you for replying

Not sure what is illegal about it, she would surely be volunteering, going into a work place voluntarily to gain experience and understanding she would not be getting paid for it but would be learning. I wish your daughter luck and hope her attitude towards her working life is a lot more open than yours.

Many young people without parents with the social, cultural and economic capital to help them are doing it on their own.
This was me.

@mothersdaywoe , do you have any contacts who could help your DC get some relevant experience?

You're right. Job center staff aren't qualified. Which ia why I would NEVER advise anyone goes to them for careers advice.

Is this person you are considering spending hundreds of pounds on qualified though? Because as an expert in this field, it sounds like someone taking advantage of a challenging job market tbh.

There is no way that the person involved comes away untarnished in the event of a light being shown on the situation. I can’t believe any intelligent person would suggest it. Never mind encouraging others to carry it out.

If you don’t know what’s illegal about it then it’s probably best you don’t comment