P/T job for a 16 yr old . Help !!

smartpicture

When my daughter needed a job 2 years ago, all her friends said they'd already tried but there weren't any jobs out there. So she drew up a one-page CV/letter, and she spend a Saturday afternoon going round every establishment in town asking if they had any vacancies. If they said no, she politely asked if she could leave her CV/letter in case anything turned up. She was offered 2 jobs straightaway, and a third rang up later to offer her a job.

I think they liked her initiative, and the things she said about taking work seriously and putting it before nights out with friends. Also, being there in person makes it much easier to sell yourself than just sending in a letter.

She did find that most of the foodie places said you had to be 17 to work in a kitchen because of the knives (although in fact one of them offered her a job anyway).

kr15snw

Lokolo wrote: »

When I was 16 I worked at my local football club selling programmes. They also had ticket people at the gates working.

Yep I also got a job when I was younger at my local football club. They need staff for the box office, shop, turnstiles and programme / food sellers. And obviously they need lots of extras on match days!

Where do you live?

santacruz_2

CliffWalker wrote: »

Hello,

Thought I'd chuck in my two pence worth...

When my son was 15 he wanted to try and get a job in a motorcycle shop as he wanted to work with motorbikes when he left school, ideally as a mechanic.
I suggested he write a letter and we'd send it to all the local bike shops.
He wasn't the greatest letter writer in the world (still isn't) but I insisted that I wasn't going to write it, it had to be him. (To show he was serious - but I promised I'd tidy it up for him)
Well, he wrote a lovely long letter that took him most of an evening and presented it to me with pride.
It mentioned his age, his keenness in motorbikes, the fact that he had his own off roader, the fact that his dad had bikes and that he helped me maintain them, etc etc.
I gave it him back and asked,
"Where does it ask if there are any Saturday jobs going?"
He stomped off in a huff for letter number two!
The end result was that a local shop took him on as Saturday lad, gave him a job when he left school, sent him to college, etc etc.
In fact his boss even sold him his mothers detached bungalow (when she went into warden aided flats) at a HUGE discount as my son was now part of the family (even upped my son's wages to the point he could afford a mortgage)
So the morale of the story is...?

(Its quite hard now to get my son to appreciate that not all bosses are like this...)

I'd suggest that your son tries to get into something he's interested in rather than just looking at the dead ends options, maybe something he'd like to do when he leaves school. Its all good experience and you never know what it may lead to. For the sake of a few letters sent on spec...?
All it takes is for one letter to fall onto someone's desk at the right time.
Bosses love initiative.

People like enthusiasm and a lot of independent shops can always do with an extra pair of hands at weekends/after school, and they don't have to pay that much. So i agree completely with what CliffWalker says. Great way to get in to something you're interested in at a young age!

DCFC79

Id try the supermarkets like iceland, tesco, sainsburys,

mummiedearest

It tough out there but i would advise anyone to go somewhere and offer to work for free for a short while. i did this myself twice whilst at college on holiday and then rang up to askif they had any vacancies when id finished. talked myself straight into a job and wasthere for 3 yrs. Daughters OH (18) also volunteered to help out in the local computer shop on his days off and is now there 2 days a week being rewarded by bits of scrap PCs etc. seems to suit him. Thing is most peole love a freebie so once they see that your good you got a chance to get in there. if not then at least u get a reference out of it. What about helping out in a farm shop. they tend to get busier at weekends, as do garden centres.

mandi

Thank you all for your replies . He is going into town , CV in hand tomorrow , Fingers crossed :j

slightlyconfused1

I would advise trying supermarkets also. My DS went in to Tesco on spec last summer when he was 16 and landed a summer job that has turned into a weekend job. The pay is OK and now has a 10% discount card. The best thing is that he is hoping for a transfer to a different branch when he goes to UNI in September.

They can be quite flexible too re extra shifts and time off around exam time.

Sucker_for_sweeties

My neighbours 16 year old works in the local cinema, is that an option?

I feel for kids now, when I was wee we could work from 13, I worked in the chippy first (still can't stand the smell of fat), moved onto a milk round the follwing year, and loved that. Then waitressing at a local functions type hotel.

I've enjoyed all the jobs I've done, and lots of the PT ones came with a great 'team' mentality where we had great fun.

Hope he gets something, and really enjoys it, and makes some new friends too.

Sucker_for_sweeties

slightlyconfused1 wrote: »

I would advise trying supermarkets also. My DS went in to Tesco on spec last summer when he was 16 and landed a summer job that has turned into a weekend job. The pay is OK and now has a 10% discount card. The best thing is that he is hoping for a transfer to a different branch when he goes to UNI in September.

They can be quite flexible too re extra shifts and time off around exam time.

This worked great for my friends two sons, with Tesco too. They were both in great demand in the halls after a late shift, big bags of whoopsies.:D

Barneysmom

I wish he lived by me, I've got stuff I need help with at home at the moment after an illness there is so much to catch up on like cleaning windows/ironing etc.
would he be able to find housework by you? There must be loads of people like us who need a bit of help?