Discussions

I start drivers this September, of course needing money for gas is an issue, i was wondering if anyone has suggestions of places hiring?

Most restaurants are hiring or a grocery store like sobeys, they are hiring too I think. Look in the classifieds for other options too

I Have a teenage daughter who's 15 (16 in Dec)and a 17 year old son (18 In Oct) Both kids have never been arrested, they're not on drugs or alcohol, they both attend High school full time and have pretty good grades and they both have tried all spring and summer to apply for their first job all over town..And never even got a call back. Are all employers wanting someone with experience to give students a chance these days? They have applied everywhere from Mcdonalds to Tim Hortons and beyond..What do they need to do to get a part time evening or weekend job somewhere? Anybody have some hints or suggestions for my kids..??

Ask to see the manager and hand them their resume? Did they call back a week later to see if they had looked over their resume?

they have a million extracurricular activities listed?  
 
This can be more of a hindrance than a help as employers know that these things will negatively impact your availability, and make the time they spend training essentially wasted when you can only work very limited shifts because of your other commitments.

I agree with what Happy Trails said about extracurricular activities. I have worked in retail and seen how hard it is for managers to schedule around sports especially. It's great that kids want to play sports and work, but it's sometimes asking a lot of an employer to work around every practice and game and tournament and isn't fair to the other workers.  
Another tip I have is to dress appropriately. I can't tell you how many people I have seen come in to apply or for an interview wearing sweat pants, dirty tshirts, crop tops, etc. What kind of impression does it give an employer if you show up in a baggy hoodie and ripped jeans? It amazes me what people will wear sometimes to even apply for jobs. First impressions mean everything.  
BTW, to FullofJoy, I'm not implying that either of these reasons is why your kids didn't hear back from anyone! I'm just offering some suggestions I've seen. I hope your kids can find something soon. They sound like hard workers and I'm sure the right job will come along.

Unfortunately its not easy for them to get their first job in this city. Its not like it use to be. There are some out there who have ruined it for the young ones, and now its by who you know. You can have the best attitude, the right everything, and the managers won't give you the time of day.  
 
Tell them not to give up, but if you happen to have a friend of a friend they can use as a reference, that will definitely help them faster to find something.

FullofJoy said "I Have a teenage daughter who's 15 (16 in Dec)and a 17 year old son (18 In Oct) Both kids have never been arrested, they're not on drugs or alcohol, they both attend High school full time and have pretty good grades and they both have tried all spring and summer to apply for their first job all over town..And never even got a call back. Are all employers wanting someone with experience to give students a chance these days? They have applied everywhere from Mcdonalds to Tim Hortons and beyond..What do they need to do to get a part time evening or weekend job somewhere? Anybody have some hints or suggestions for my kids..?? "

My son is 17, polite, and respectful, and dresses nicely. He doesn't play sports so he did't have a bunch of extracurriculars listed. He also has good references. He looked all summer, put it around 20-30 applications. Even had a couple of interviews, but he had no luck until about a week ago when he finally found something. Don't give up is all I can say.

Newfie101 said "Unfortunately its not easy for them to get their first job in this city. Its not like it use to be. There are some out there who have ruined it for the young ones, and now its by who you know. You can have the best attitude, the right everything, and the managers won't give you the time of day.     Tell them not to give up, but if you happen to have a friend of a friend they can use as a reference, that will definitely help them faster to find something. "

i raised a pile of kids in this city. None of them ever had trouble finding a job.  
 
my advice for young people finding a job...  
 
lay off with the hair dye, facial piercings, stretcher earrings and tattoos that cannot be covered while on duty. i know that it is widely popular and people want to be recognized as individuals but, there are ways to do that without looking like you are desperate for attention.  
 
also, pay careful attention to your clothing and hair. make sure you actually look presentable, rather than looking like you might give the work place a bad reputation. then, you employer will trust that you know to arrive in a clean uniform for every shift. this is especially important for the food industry.  
 
leave your friends behind while dropping off resumés. bringing the whole gang may give an employer the impression that they all be there visiting frequently you and prevent you from working efficiently.  
 
be a good person at school. the kids you go to school with have parents with jobs, possibly in management or business owners. if you act like a jerk at school, you will not be doing yourself any favours. not too many kids would ask their folks to hire the village idiot, after putting up with their crap at school all of the time.  
 
social skills are important. make eye contact, shake hands, hold the door open for people. it only takes about 5 to 10 seconds to be courteous, which will get you a lot of mileage. people enjoy the company of those with good manners.  
 
you need to show potential employers that you will be an asset to their company. that the investment of time and effort that they put in to training you will pay off.

that a teenager cant find a job in this city. My daughter found a job no problem and had lots of outside activities on her resume. And since she normally quits the job once school starts has had no trouble finding work when summer comes around. All in retail. She is very clean cut and likes to dress fashionably plus she has volunteer work on her resume.

Check the resume itself. If the resume looks horrible (and I've seen some horrible resumes) there not even going to bother calling. If it's to hard to read there going to skip it and move to the next resume. If your unable to talk to a manager your resume says a lot about who you are.

I used to be in a job where I did the hiring or preliminary interview and you would be amazed at how many parents are the ones who either pick up a resume or drop it off (almost half). When I was hiring this was an instant NO! If they can't even do this step on their own they are not someone I would hire. My opinion to young people looking for work do it on your own.

There is just a new ad on the ebrandon classifieds that both Pizza Huts are hiring. http://ebrandon.ca/itemview.aspx?item_id=1431989&cat_id=103

I don't agree that there isn't any jobs/people hiring. There's lots of jobs out there.  
What I will say is there are not many "good paying jobs" out there. Most jobs available right now are fast food/food service. Grocery/hardware stores and retail stores are always hiring.  
Minimum wage jobs and often just part time but if you're desperate for something there is work out there.  
Westman cable seem to often have positions open up which are often entry level and the pay is above minimum wage.  
I have friends with high school aged kids that work at superstore/sobeys and Macdonalds and they tell me they're always hiring.