Advice re Job Application for my 18 year old son

booklover

Hello everyone

I would really appreciate some advice. My 18 year old son has been ill for the last 4.5 years with chronic headaches, nausea, and depression. This meant he missed most of his education and has not been involved in many extra-circulatory activities

He is a little better at the moment and is in college full-time doing an Art and Design Course with English language also. He is very keen to find a part-time job. Maybe 12 hours per week. He feels that he could hopefully manage that ok.

Well I have been helping him complete his application forms for for the positions, sales assistant etc, and he has about 25 rejections and only 3 interview where he failed to get the job.

2 years ago he was offered a 12 week contract with Sainsburys and he did well. (only missing 2 days due to illness). Now he cant seem to back there....

Questions.

1. Qualifications: These are very limited 1 GCSE First Aid and Princes Trust Team Building Course


2. References Who will he use? As he has not been in education for longer than 3 months at a time and the last course the tutor told him that he was not prepared to give my son a reference as his attendance and punctuality was poor. I acknowledge that the tutor has a point BUT, mu son does have a genuine illness and is currently attending a range of medical profs, who can verify this.

3.Number of days absent in last 2 years? Ok, he hasn't been in college much nor has he worked, so what should he write to enable him to have the best chance of securing an interview at least?

4. In support of your application, please detail ant relevant skills, qualifications or personal qualities which you believe are relevant to the position you are applying for?

Any advice please..

Thanks so much in advance. :T


Fiona


I am getting so stressed and wonder will he ever get a job?


Ps. Sorry this so long.. :embarasse

fengirl_2

I think you can see that there is not much to offer an employer here, but my son had similar problems some years ago and is now happily settled in his career with a good job.
The only suggestion I can make is that he tries some voluntary work. Volunteering is a recognised route into employment and if he sticks at it, the org he volunteers at will give him a reference. Volunteering is not all about making cups of tea for old ladies or mucking out kennels. There are lots of charities which would love someone with graphic design skills to design flyers, posters, etc for them - either for one off events or for general info about their services.
If he took on one-off assignments in this area, he would also be able to work at his own pace and take a day's rest if he didn't feel like working on a particular day.
He can go to www.do-it.org.uk or go to his local Volunteer Centre to discuss what he could offer. Even if they have no charities actually wanting his skills at this moment, they should be able to send an e mail round to their members giving details of what he has to offer.

greenspark

Hi booklover

I'd agree with fengirl - get him to carry on applying for paid jobs but meanwhile look at voluntary work. Charity shops can be nice places to work - they have to be really or they wouldn't get volunteers! He'd get a lot of good skills for his cv even just by doing a couple of shifts a week in a charity shop - serving customers, teamwork, people skills, handling cash, display work etc, and would probably meet some really nice people.

There's a lot of other voluntary opportunities around too - I've volunteered at one-off events for charities and done longer-term things. You really can gain a lot of valuable experience that will turn your job applications into something that will impress employers. You say he's missed out on some extra curricular activities - volunteering could help fill in that gap.

Best of luck to him.