Teens and jobs

[MichelleC69]

Am just curious as to how many of your 16+ yr olds have part time jobs, and what they do? My daughter has just turned 16 and is really keen to get part time job however she hasn't done anything about it yet as she's away for a lot of the summer, but I'm really keen to help her with it come September.

My stepson on the other hand is 18 and has no inclination to get a job, says he doesn't know where to start. This worries me for when he's at Uni as we can't afford to 100% support him through it financially.

Where is the best place to start looking? I thought of asking in our local pub to see if they need part time waitresses.

My ds walked down our high street looking for job vacancies in shop windows. He found a Saturday job as a white goods delivery assistant.

He’s now back from his first year at uni and finding it hard finding a steady summer job. He is on the books for a bar/waiting agency but hours are sporadic. Perseverance is needed.

DD has just applied for a job at Costa. Minimum age is 16. DS childminded a friend's child after school two days a week throughout sixth form. DSD1 was paid to help out at a dance class that she had attended herself when younger. But they do need to be motivated. DSD2 is currently 19 at home from uni for the holidays and doing bugger all.

For pubs and cafes and hotels I think the best approach is just to call in and ask if they want staff. Chain shops all advertise online.

Dd has worked at primark for a year now. She does a half day every Saturday but picks up extra shifts most weeks.
She was initially a bit miffed as all her friends got jobs at 'cooler' shops eg top shop but primark seem great to work for, she is treated really well and she would recommend it to anyone. Ironically some of her friends have been treated appalling in other high street stores and dd seems way happier with her part time job than her peers.

Ds works in in a shop at our local shopping centre. Company is a chain who advertises online.

dd16 has asked in a number of ‘handpicked’ high street shops, and been advised to apply online (which she has done, nothing coming up). She now needs to start asking in smaller shops but it’s work-in-progress as she doesn’t really want to. She wants a job to fall into her lap thanks. Grrrr. Plus she is under confident about going in cold. However I refuse to get her a job!

We tend to have terse words when it comes up, and she is away twice over the hols she is worried nobody will employ her. We also have terse words over her penchant for expensive hair and beauty products! My hope is this will realise the writing is on the wall. For now I have stopped her allowance to help apply pressure (I am a cow) although exH is prone to bunging her cash.

It’s work in progress here!

My daughter got a Saturday job in a hairdressing salon at 16. She can also pick up extra shifts of 4 hours after school for extra cash.
She welcomes clients, gowns them up, washes hair, gets drinks, tidies up and generally helps the hairdressers. She works hard and has now learned to do blow drys, stock taking, banking and is doing well. It's been great for her confidence. The salon is young and trendy and lots of the hairdressers do photo shoots so she's offering to be a helper for free to get some experience.
She's been working since last September and is now on a 3 week holiday travelling around Europe all paid for with her money she has earned with no expectation of anything from me.
I'm so proud, when she gets back I'm going to tell her I'll pay for the holiday. She'll be chuffed.

My 17 year old has a job washing up in a restaurant

If you want to work
You will find it, especially in the summer.
During school and holidays throughout school all through to finishing uni I worked at Supermarket check outs (really crap pay for under 18s though was like £3.85 ish but sundays was time and a half - good easy job for when hungover!), cleaned holiday homes, newspaper delivery, horse riding stables, kitchen work, bar work, waitressing. For the people that want to work you really can! I didn't have financial support or eligible for grants so had to find it.
Just go out and talk to people, doesn't have to be an advert but offer your services

My 17 year old works as a lifeguard - We live in Cornwall and he works for Haven holidays in the summer. Last year he cleared tables and washed up in a local cafe.

DS1 is 16, he's just started in the kitchen at a local pub chain. Thought he'd be washing up, but they've got him prepping food and playing up after a week and he loves it (so far!). Did two shifts last week and four this week. Will continue when starts college in September hopefully.

Plating up, hope he's not playing up!

My DS had a Saturday job in WH Smith from the age of 16. He was there for about 2 years and really enjoyed it but the hourly rate was awful and he was very rarely able to get extra hours in the school holidays. . He then got a job with Tesco which fits around Uni. He is only contracted for 10 hours per week but the hourly pay is double what he got at WH Smith’s and he is now virtually working full time during the summer break.

You'll hate me... nothing new on MN for me, there

19yo is financially independent and planning how to buy a house. He joined the Army at 17. Paper round and leisure centre cleaning before that.

17yo does data extraction thru DH's work; this job fell in her lap, tbf. Before that she worked in a newsagent (counter) for 1 yr. She phoned up care homes to get volunteer work experience, recently. From age 18 she could work as supply/bank nursing assistant.

15yo has Sunday paper-round & angling to get work in shops or garden centre.

... Just thinking I've met a fair few students who work in Lidl; they pick up hours wherever they are in the country.

DD worked in a care home from age 17. It’s a reasonable pay rate and, sad as it is, they are so short of reliable, caring staff they are happy to find her suitable hours to fit round uni holidays as well. It is the sort of job that not every teen could do but DD loves it.

My dd tried everything - applying online to anything remotely suitable, fb local groups for jobs, looking for wanted ads in windows.
What eventually worked was asking local businesses if they knew of anyone with jobs going.
So word of mouth basically.
That meant she got a retail job which gave her work on the days she wasn't in college.

DS works Saturday in the family wine bar. Will pick up extra shifts if kitchen staff on holiday, but he isn’t old enough to serve alcohol.

He will also pick up shifts in the family restaurant if there is a sports event on.

My eldest is 18, off to uni and has no job, lazy. I have let him until reality hits at uni when he has no other option but to get a job to survive. I think your DD sounds motivated, best of luck to her.

My daughter (15) just got a job as a swim instructor at the place she learnt when she was wee

Friends 16yr old just got a job at the swimming pool cafe on a Saturday. Might be extra hours in the holidays. She found it advertised on indeed. Most supermarkets don't take under 18's now due to change in alcohol licensing.

My two DSs have just done their GCSEs and are 16. They are both employed by our scaffolding company as yard helpers, loading and unloading the lorries, sorting the fittings, painting tubes etc.

If you have any boys that are physically strong, you could phone local scaffolding firms and ask them if they need any help in the yard over summer. Its bloody hard work, like being at the gym for 8 hours, but its good experience and there is lots of banter going on.

I am in the US, last summer my 17 year worked at our local large supermarket on the till, collecting shopping carts etc. This summer she is working at a mall at Victoria 's Secret in their "Pink" store which is aimed at younger women selling lingerie and casual clothes. She starts uni at the end of Sept and she has already spoken to the local VS store at the mall next to uni. She will probably work there part time during the school year. She drives herself to work and also does grocery shopping for me or other errands if I need them.

My 16 yr old does a lot of babysitting jobs and applied to lots of summer jobs in local stores. She was offered a few but was disappointed not to be offered her favorite so still trying to figure that out. She is taking driving lessons each morning and also applying to volunteer at our local hospital.

So I would say they are both self-motivated.

Sorry OP forgot to mention that all their jobs and volunteering was just found looking online on sites such as Indeed, searching with simple terms such as "jobs for 16 year old" etc. Or contacting retail businesses asking if they are hiring. Babysitting is word of mouth.

My 13 year old son is 5' 10" was offered hours by a groundsman to help clear a local trail. The guy knows our family and asked if DS would like some regular hours. My son was really excited and then the guy called back apologizing that DS was too young to be covered by their insurance (it was private property). But gardening/landscaping type work is very accessible as a first job. He could contact local businesses or gardening centers/hardware stores and see if they need anyone.

Get her on Indeed etc

Both mine had/ have jobs. Macdonalds, KP in a pub to start, and now in national chains.
Both were motivated by wanting things that cost money ( clothes/ driving lessons/ car) and me not having enough extra, or the inclination to give it to them.