Part time jobs

[bigbluebus]

DS will be 16 shortly and I was rather hoping he could apply for a weekend/evening job at a big supermarket that will be opening nearby soon.
However, having looked at their website it says that you need to be '16 and of compulsory school leaving age to apply'. He is just going into Yr 11 and his will be the 1st year where 'compulsory school leaving age' will be 17 - unless he has a ft job/training course .

Has anyone's teenager got a job with a big supermarket? Did they have to wait until end of Yr 11? Does this rule apply to all jobs - including part time ones. Is it not possible now for teenagers in Yr 11 to get employment even when they have their NI card?

Was rather hoping that getting a job would help him lose the sense of entitlement that he seems to have acquired and get him saving up for some of the things he wrongly thinks I will be paying for in future eg driving lessons/car/insurance.

Most big stores won't take them until they have officially left school (June 21st this year I think). I don't know whether they will change their policy with the change in school leaving age.
Smaller firms can hire who they want but there are restrictions on what a young person can do.

My daughter applied for a job in Macdonalds in February, and got the job and completed her training, however she had to wait until she finished her GCSE exams before she could start work.

From her friends' experiences all the supermarkets operate on the same principle as well.

There are just too many wanting jobs at the moment-even if they are the right age it is difficult-the competition is massive-at least it is on our area.

When I was that age I just wandered up the High Street until someone gave me one. Now you need a CV, to fill in forms and to have more than one interview-even then more than 20 people are likely to be chasing one job.

I think he's better in a smaller business, it really is who you know now.

Thanks everyone. It has obviously changed so much since I was his age. It did help that I lived in a seaside resort, so holiday jobs were very easy to come by - and there weren't so many H&S rules then either!
He is not keen to get a job, so is unlikely to go out looking until he wants a car which he mistakenly thinks we will fund

It is who you know and a tourist place helps.

My dd has been washing up a a golf club since age 14.... One evening a week. She contacted them and went on the list... Done wonders for her understanding value if money. ..

My DS washes up at a local pub and my other occasionally works as a waiter with a friend's catering business. With pub/small businesses, it helps if you know someone who works there or they have a friend who is working there as it's more often who you know. Sounds harsh, but they need to make enquiries where friends have jobs, make repeat phone calls/ask if they can be called in during busy periods as an occasional staff.