Can't find entry level job

[JustPloddingOnBy]

My 18yr old is really struggling to find an entry level part time job. They have applied for around 40 different jobs but the majority never respond which is so disheartening. I have helped them tweak CV but still nothing. Some of the applications would have you think they were applying for a senior role, 60 question psychometric assessment just for an 8hr contract at a service station Burger King, argh! They just want a job to earn a bit of money.

Anyone else's teenagers in the same situation?

It’s hard I remember having the same problem.

I would recommend looking for things where they’re hiring a lot of temporary staff at the same time, eg summer is coming up so tourist attractions will start hiring. Stadiums and arenas often let you sign up for ad hoc shifts when they have events.

Then once you have one of those it’s much easier to apply for other jobs since you have experience. I will say that applying for retail jobs is still harder than applying for MI5!

Mine had this problem and we live somewhere with very little seasonal work and certainly no stadiums or similar and nothing with reasonable reach on public transport either. One got a first job in a pub where we knew the landlord by asking, the other got one through an older player in their sports team. Then one got the next job by old fashioned handing in a CV to a local business and put in a word for other DC there so they both worked there. Networking with anyone you or they know who works in retail or hospitality is a good idea. Both mine have done volunteering for experience too.

We live quite rurally and the tiny town nearby had every teen in the town applying for any of the (rare) jobs going, so he passed his driving test and we got him a car, and he applied for a job a few miles out of town at a National Trust (not possible for the local kids to get there by bus) and he got it because he could drive there.

Does your teen have anything that could give him/her a slight edge over the other applicants?

But yes - it's hard. S/he just needs to keep applying for everything going. If not sooner, there's often work available at festivals in summer (my son has done 2 summers where he got about £800 for 6 days work).

It is very difficult. I know they want to earn a bit of money but could be trying to find some sort of charity shop volunteering to start off with which will give them a bit of an edge when applying for paid work.

Also any roles that are looking for multiple people at once are always a little easier to get in to so keep an eye out for that sort of thing.

Mine found a job with a shop who don’t advertise. They just put vacancies on their website. They got very few applicants. Go through all the chains local to you and send in applications. Places like Greggs are always looking for 5am sandwich makers as nobody does it for long. Friends of dd did 4am starts picking online orders at supermarkets or doing all weekend in places like Halfords. Unpopular shifts are the way in. Or rural pubs those without a car can’t get to. Once they have some experience they can move to something more reasonable.

Dd had that nonsense with Costa (very unprofessional recruitment imo) and Asda interview recording her answers. She ended up taking a printed CV and letter and hand delivering it. The first place she went to called her for a trial and she’s been there 2 years. Modern day recruitment is awful ime.

Could they volunteer in a charity shop? That seems to be the way to get jobs round here.

Agree you should look at the individual company websites and don’t bother with indeed etc as they have loads of applicants and lots of competition.

Thanks all for the good advice, makes me feel better that it isn't just them. They are still ploughing on and spent most of today emailing their CV out to various places so fingers crossed for something soon!

How much available time have they - just weekends?

I agree with the above that temporary work is a good shout - mine (18) got work at a weekend festival and then had customer experience when applying for other jobs. It was still really tough and I must have helped him apply for about 40 jobs. He got four interviews and eventually two jobs.

Younger DC (16) is at college and has a free day on Friday, so he got a retail job where he works Fridays and/or Saturdays. He did a paper round aged 13-15 so had something on his CV to get him to interview. He applied for around 20 jobs, got two interviews and got both jobs.

My 19 yr old has been volunteering for 2 years. Has applied for over 300 hundred jobs and apprenticeships, had 4 interviews.

Cv created, attends a charity that helps people find work, they have gone over their cv, done mock interviews.

It is really, really hard at the moment op and I really sympathise with your teen.

Good luck, just keep persevering.

They don't have any whole week days free and the two week timetable at 6th form makes it tricky. They have evenings and weekends available. They are applying for anything at this stage.

They have had two interviews but unsuccessful, they are very introverted so I expect gave limited responses to questions which wouldn't have helped.

Fingers crossed for your teen, it is so hard!

My almost 18 year old is having the same issue.

So many job applications and no replies back, she gets so disheartened. I recently asked on our towns local FB group and had endless replies from people in the same position.

The government needs to consider bringing back something like the YTS scheme back, this is how I and most of my friends got onto the employment ladder and even if no job comes out of it in the long run it does give some good work experience and keeps them busy.

Have they got any experience @JustPloddingOnBy? DC1 got their first job because they had volunteered at a local charity shop once a week and had till and customer experience. The job wasn’t advertised either, only in the shop so it might be worth going around town wirh her CV.

Our local plant Nurseries are currently taking on seasonal staff for April, May and June which would be better than nothing for her

Maybe you should mention what area you’re in op, just the county say, in case anyone has specific ideas.

Poor dc sounds awful atm.

Both my two got jobs at local pubs just by asking, neither were advertising.

My DC both got first jobs working as car park attendants for an event. They fit that applying to an agency.

Join local Facebook groups which advertise jobs. You'll find more independent roles on there like cafes etc...

Look in your local news paper and see if there' plans to open a new McDonald's, Nandos, Costa etc...

Do you have any hotels nearby - kitchen porter and housekeeping are good starter jobs. KP in particular has a high turnover as the work is hard.

This is very depressing, poor kids! My DC did a lifeguarding course & has been able to work at the local leisure centre, is this an option?

My dd went on the dole so she could go on some courses. They also gave her sessions with the national careers service which she days were brilliant. They helped her with her CV and with interview techniques. It also pushed her in to applying for more jobs because you have to log everything. Anyway, it worked because she got a job.

Ask around where their friends work. DS1 got an evening job in the kitchen of a boarding school. He had friends working there and he asked for their bosses email. DS2 now works there (with the younger siblings of DS1 friends).

They have had some progress, after sending off many applications and randomly emailing out CVs at the weekend they have been offered 3 interviews. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed for them.

Oh wow. Don’t underestimate how much prep they might need from you as a parent with interview questions, appearance, where to go and what to say. What got dd her retail job in the end was knowing about upselling.