where have all the saturday jobs gone

[eatyourveg]

ds1 (16) wants a saturday job. Waiting lists for all the local supermarkets and week after week nothing comes up in the local paper.

He hasn't got the confidence to walk into a shop and ask off the cuff and would rather do a behind the scenes job.

I can only think of shops because he's not old enough for a pub and have told him to write lettters.

Any suggestions where else to look?

Library?

It is customer facing but we have a couple of shy lads who tend to do alot of shelving/searching for books and less counter work

I think when it comes to getting a Saturday job you do have to take your courage in both hands and just keep going into the shops until they get sick of the sight of you.

If you can't walk into a shop how can you work there? Even if you just stack shelves it's still a customer-facing job.

Also, jobs will be coming up as the shops need more people coming to Christmas.

Cleaning hotel rooms at weekends ??

Kitchen porter in a restaurant?

Do you live in a city because Gumtree can be good for looking for those kind of jobs?

washign up in a pub?

He needs to go into shops and other places and give his CV in. DD3 is 18 and has been trying for over a year to get a job. She has found that shops always ask her for a cv so she takes some with her whenever she goes into town. If he won't go and ask then it is unlikely he'll get a job.
But he can also look online as some shops like Smiths and Sainsbury's advertise online and told my daughter to aplly that way.

credit crunch veg mine will have to keep his paper round a bit longer

Most major shops don't employ under 18's any more.

Many years ago, when I recruited weekend staff we did tend to take 16 and 17yos, because they were cheap and the week day staff didn't want to work weekends. Now, most full-time staff are taken on with flexible contracts, with the condition that they work a weekend day, or do 1 in 3 weekends etc. Stores don't need 'Saturday kids' any more. Also under 18s may get paid less, but they have more restrictions on hours, are entitled to more breaks (plus, and I'm really sorry, they just aren't as reliable)

My BFs almost 17yo has been trying for a year (and we live in London, so lots of different places to try) and most people are saying the same thing, come back when you're older.

eatyourveg DD2 aged 14 is working as a volunteer in a charity shop for one hour a week. I'm hoping this is something she can put on her cv to help her get a holiday job in a couple of years time. Maybe something like that for a few months will help your DCs confidence and build up his cv.

try restaurants and fast food places. shops not a great idea.

failing that, have you any relatives who can give him jobs in the meantime, help build up his cv a bit? cleaning? lawn mowing? or ask neighbours. it'll all help build his confidence. last summer i employed my 16 yr old neice to do cleaning for me. her boyfriend got a cushy job in an indoor football place, doing the kids football parties. might be worth looking for something like that near you? leisure centres?

what's he into?

Hotels, restaurants, pubs (he can do anything if not behind the bar) larger shops which might have big store rooms...

If he's too shy to ask could he type up his CV with a covering letter and just go into a few of these type of places and ask it to be passed on to the manager?

you look on direct jobs - they place adverts for jobs here now - as it is free, the paper charges for job adverts

go around local pubs asking if they need a glass collector or kitchen porter

sue52 I think that may be the way to go, he said he'd like Oxfam bookshop and they always seem to have student types working there. Library too so the CV is going there tomorrow.

We looked at the internet (gumtree)and I found it rather intimidating. The adverts were all very unspecific and I didn't want him emailing his name address and age into the ether without knowing where it was going.

Into music (jazz, blues and old fashioned stuff) philosophy and politics. Seems happy to shove leaflets through doors so looks like that might have the most success

Thanks for all the suggestions

Only just seen this so apologies for replying so long after everyone else but in case it's still of any use....

I've just been through this with one of mine and we found that most retail chains like M&S, Boots, New Look, etc only take applications via the internet even for local stores so it is worth checking the websites of any companies that have stores near you. All of these companies take on youngsters from the age of 16 for Saturday jobs but there are not many vacancies around.