17 year old daughter trying to find work

cherylbushell

hi my daughter who is 17 is finding it hard to find a job.the problem is she became ill in 2002 and had to leave school because of it so she missed the two most important years of school. she was tutored at home by a home tutor and still took 3 gcse exams and got c's in all three.the thing is she didnt want to go to college instead she just wanted to get a full time job.shes been applying to different jobs for the last year now and hasnt had any luck as they keep turning her down.why is this, do you think its because she hasnt got many qualifications or because she hasnt had any work experience. shes been living of pocket money for the last year and really wants to work but no one seems to want to give her a chance. i would be grateful for any help or advise you could give me. :j

margaretclare

You say she wants to get a full-time job - as what?

Without qualifications she is going to be stuck at the bottom for ever.

Her best best would be to go along to the local Further Education college and see if she can get on to a BTEC course. More practical than school, and at least it would give her a grounding in some kind of field of work. She needs to decide just what she'd like to do! Otherwise, she could try going back to school to make up what she's missed?

You can just imagine the conversation:

'I want a full-time job'.

'As what?'

'I don't know - anything.'

Not much good, I'm afraid!

BTW my youngest granddaughter has just done disastrously-badly in languages at AS level in sixth-form. She's just enrolled on a BTEC course for travel and tourism at a local college. This includes languages but is much more career-orientated rather than exam-orientated. A week ago we had no idea what she might do. But she did have to think it out for herself and come up with her own ideas.

Failing all that, I hear that B&Q are recruiting...my other granddaughter works there and loves it.

Aunty Margaret

crystal_clear

Hi has your daughter not tried temp agencies they would offer work experience to her if she could do that or what about connextions they are career advice. Also has she not considered going back to college to improve her grades. My eldest neice went to college and actually got training grants from them so she was paid to study... Also my eldest boy did at a totally different placement his was more a project scheme than college ie: it was called **** project not *****college but funded by the council my son obtained NVQ 1 /2 and 3 in his field by the time he was 17 he was more qualified than most 21 year olds and he has ADHD so not the brightest when it came to learning and writing but give him out door practical he was fab
Hope this is of some help

rchddap1

margaretclare wrote:

You can just imagine the conversation:

'I want a full-time job'.

'As what?'

'I don't know - anything.'

Not much good, I'm afraid!

Hey...I know that conversation. Except its with a 16 year old who has just got her GCSE's and 'wants to work with animals'. Doesn't know what, doesn't care what. As long as they're not cleaning out the poo all the time.

Katgoddess

Maybe a job in retail somewhere for a year until she turns 18. Then she can put her "customer service skills" etc to good use elsewhere?

WHA

I can understand that she doesn't want to return to full time education, but as others have said, she does need qualifications. A decent grade in GCSE English and Maths is virtually essential for any job these days. If she really can't bring herself to study full time, why doesn't she take evening classes at the local college to do a couple of GCSEs, and then she is still free to take a job if something comes along, even if it is shelf stacking. Then after a year, she should have better qualifications and a bit of experience and should be able to get a better job. What about "new deal" or whatever it may be called? Has she checked what schemes the local job centre can put her on? Unfortunately, few qualifications plus little experience equals a life on the dole or in the lowest jobs.

margaretclare

rchddap1 wrote:

Hey...I know that conversation. Except its with a 16 year old who has just got her GCSE's and 'wants to work with animals'. Doesn't know what, doesn't care what. As long as they're not cleaning out the poo all the time.

LOL! I thought that working with animals did involve a lot of cleaning out poo for a large part of the time!!

Aunty Margaret

frepol

She really needs to go back and do some form of learning.

Local college should run GNVQ Intermediate courses in subjects such as Health and Social Care, Business, Hospitality and Catering etc.) Work experience/shadowing is normally a key component of these qualifications. A GNVQ Intermediate qualification is also equivalent to 5 GCSE passes A - C. She will also be able to do Keyskills qualifications which will provide nationally recognised qualifications in Communication, Numeracy and ICT. Don't forget to remind her that she may qualify for £30 a week as Education Maintenance Allowance.

Local Jobs and Benefits Office should also have access to a Jobskills training database which will allow training on the job as well as attending college to get formal qualifications. Don't expect much more than £40 - 50 per week for the first year anyway.

College is just not about A - Levels anymore and a visit before the start of term could be very beneficial for the long term.

ManAtHome

margaretclare wrote:

LOL! I thought that working with animals did involve a lot of cleaning out poo for a large part of the time!!

Not if you're a chef... (sorry, just couldn't resist it)

MACacd

As much as it pains me to say this but has your daughter tried an agency? (im not going to start ranting about agencies now)

Reed.co.uk and Hays.com are two of the major ones.

Reed are a fav of the banking sector lloyds/ Barclays/ HSBC all use reed for agency staff. As long as your daughter can use a keyboard confidently she shouldn't have a problem getting a job as a data entry clerk. I know its not a great job but she will be paid a decent hourly rate, when i worked in lloyds it was around £6 and this was a few years back.

lush_walrus

cherylbushell wrote:

hi my daughter who is 17 is finding it hard to find a job.the problem is she became ill in 2002 and had to leave school because of it so she missed the two most important years of school. she was tutored at home by a home tutor and still took 3 gcse exams and got c's in all three.the thing is she didnt want to go to college instead she just wanted to get a full time job.shes been applying to different jobs for the last year now and hasnt had any luck as they keep turning her down.why is this, do you think its because she hasnt got many qualifications or because she hasnt had any work experience. shes been living of pocket money for the last year and really wants to work but no one seems to want to give her a chance. i would be grateful for any help or advise you could give me. :j

If she is livnig at the moment on pocket money, then the first thing I would say she needs to do is get a part time job, preferably in something she will enjoy and a rough general direction to where she wants to end up.

Then, if she knows roughly what area she is heading for, I would get her to find out all of the local companies that opporate in that field, then call them speculatively to ask if they would be interested in having her there for no pay for work experience. Phrasing it in a way such as to express thefact that she adores the company but realises she has no experience and therefore iswilling to work for x amount of time for free. In the meantime she will be earning a little money from a part time job, and getting her confidence and experience up.