Applying for part time work with little/no experience

Gramisaur

I guess people are going to think badly of me but I have never had a full time job. I am 21 and have done minor volunteer work in between studying at college. I am about to go to university to study to become a teacher and I'd really like to get a part time job between now and the end of my three year degree before I do my Postgrad teacher qualification. This job will be done alongside any experience I'll need for that postgrad course.

Thing is I suffered from depression in my late teens and became withdrawn from everything thus the reason I didn't work. I've made this thread because I'm trying to redo my CV and I don't know how to present it in a way that will make it attractive to employers as my written English is great as are my qualifications but I have no full time experience so are there any suggestions as to how I could make a good CV or perform well at interviews?

Thank you in advance

alwaysonthego_2

To become a teacher, you need to get some work experience working in a school. PGCEs are very competive and it will be unlikely that you will get a place on the course if you do not have the relevant experience. You may find that you don't want to be a teacher in the first place.

Oldernotwiser

Not everybody has worked when a student; employers will think that your family was well off and you didn't need to!

You're unlikely to need a CV for bar work/McDonalds and other student jobs. As you're returning to study and need to get substantial voluntary work experience behind you for the PGCE, I'd be careful not to take on too much and risk your health. Take things slowly.

studentbear

Hiya,

You could be talking about me, I got my first ever job in October of last year at the beginning of my first year at uni! I had to go for a fast food chain, but to be honest money is money. It was minimum wage but I was quickly promoted.

You will soon get a feel for how many hours you can work without it being detrimental to your studies. I take the opinion that, I probably wouldn't have been using the hours I worked for studying even if I had them free, so I just made the most of my time really. There's a great saying "jobs have a habit of expanding to fit the time allocated to them" and I think that's really true in this case.

Good Luck!

Char_pdc

Hi,

The voluntary work will still be really useful - you would have gained some workplace skills through doing that. It also offers something different to just doing paid jobs

Linda_w_2

Is there a problem , a real problem to be ashamed of?? I think no there isn't.... I got my first part-time at 20 and went to full time on 21,, Just Never Give up!!Get Up and Try!! start now ,,,no to regret in your 22,23,25,27,,,

DCodd

I see no potential problems with you creating a good C.V. having been subject to trawling through no end of C.Vs in my time I can honesly say that presentation of the C.V. is the first thing you notice.

Do not make it too long, Idealy 2 pages, a 20 page "biography" will almost certainly end up in the bin (unless it has been asked for) and a 1 page "note" will go the same way.

Try and not leave a gap between dates, put something even if it is "looking for work", as employers may make their own mind up as to what you were doing!

definately include you voluntary work, it shows a willingness to do something, no matter what it was. It also shows that you can keep to a routine and be reliable.

One final thing - check your e-mail address! I have seen some very strange e-mail address that can easily put you off!! and before any one shouts descrimination I can tell you that some have been Sexist, racist, offensive and some even down right pornographic!!!!!

Good luck and be confident - If you like yourself then it is more likely they will like you too;) Edit - Sorry that sounds odd - it's more like if you don't think you can do the job or want the job then they will feel the same way!

hunken

Coming to the end of my degree this July before starting a PGCE this September, I honestly think you should do something called "Student Associate Scheme", I don't know if it is avaiable at your uni or other uni around the area. It is a bit late to apply for this year, but you can do it next year. Basicly you come into classroom, helping pupils do their work, working with the teachers, you get paid for it, really well for the amount of hours you actually work.

I did it last year and absolutely love it, it also confirmed that I actually like teaching. You might go in there and find out that you dont like the job, then there isn't any point of doing a PGCE. Also from the contacts I had last year, I got a tutor job this year as well. It went well with my PGCE application when they were asking about previous experience.

In the mean time, go and find a parttime job, but bear in mind, if you actually want to work then put your effort into it. I have been a manager at McDonalds during my degree, doing the hiring for my store, and I could tell you that I could easily "identify" any people who just want to get a job for a coupe of months, get some money then disappear. I received about 6-10 applications per day (that's how tough the job market is nowaday) and I bin 90% of them straight away. Imagine you have 10 applications to look at and you could pick any of them, would you go for anything that fill with mistakes, stupid emails, big gap in their education of previous work, unsuitable, unflexible avaiability to work?

That's even before they get to to actual interview stage. Get to that stage and if you turn up for interview with some "badboy, rude girl, gangster" attitude, wearing unsuitable clothes, don't smile, don't have a clue about what to expect, then your interview will only last 3 minutes (actual guide line is at least 15m).

So be ready and well prepared.