Part time job Saturday

Hey guys

So since Summer 2012 i have been looking for a part time job (preferably Saturday + max 2 nights during week as i am at school)

I have handed my CV (checked out TSR) out to all over the local towns' businesses. No success.

Searching on Indeed for jobs on a daily basis and applying regularly and have no luck.

Just getting slightly pissed off as i need money for gap year travelling

Bump

Entertainment Forum Helper

Original post by cdude

Try mcdonalds.
You can work there evenings and weekends. They are very flexible and the hourly rate isnt too bad. People from all walks of life work there, but they do take on a lot of students. You have to apply online.

Reply 3

JosephNV

Original post by cdude

When I was 16 I was in the same position as you, and then I lowered my sights a bit and started volunteering at my local St Oswalds charity shop. It was fun, I met loads of lovely people and gained some really useful experience like front-line customer service and cash handling.

After that, I easily got a job at a city centre KFC (not just any city centre, Newcastle Bigg Market, no less). It was the absolute pits, the phrase "of course I can look back and laugh now" doesn't apply at all, but I stuck in there for a year and a half.

Armed with that experience, I've managed to land several interviews and jobs, including a fixed-term contract with Boots, which has been the best time of my life. I'm on the job hunt again now, but since I have all that experience I'm getting a positive response to most applications.

Competition is fierce, with literally hundreds of applications for even the most menial jobs. I would try fast food first, and if you're unsuccessful there (which is entirely possible given the number of skilled people who are having to turn to that kind of work), give volunteering a go. I'd imagine any charity shop would be grateful for your help, and once you prove yourself to be competent they'll let you use the till and price items et cetera.

Then you'll have some solid experience to put on that CV of yours, and finding an unskilled paid position will become much easier.

Your mileage may vary, you might get lucky and land a good, paid job straight away, but if it's not looking good there are alternatives (such as volunteering and work experience) to help you get your footing on the job ladder.

I hope there was something useful in there for you :smile:

Joseph.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 4

cdude

Original post by JosephNV

Joseph.

Hi there thanks for the detailed reply.

I have been volunteering at my local charity shop now since the summer and applying for jobs throughout this period.

I am now looking ways to make money online, through surveys (very time consuming and little pay) but finding a job in the real world is just so hard

Reply 5

JosephNV

Original post by cdude

I also tried the online survey route in my desperation for work. To give some perspective, it took me around 2 weeks of putting in 2 hours a night just to make £25. I'm not confident that they're a realistic way of earning money, even if you were really quick at filling out forms et cetera.

Don't give up in your job applications though, adjusting your CV and personalising a covering letter for each application will be of more use to you than the measly amount you get for doing surveys.

You've definitely got enough hours of experience at the charity shop now to be able to apply for something paid - as long as you're selling yourself effectively in your CV and covering letters.

You mentioned Indeed.co.uk, I also find Reed.co.uk and the Universal Jobmatch website very useful. Where I live we have a big "intu" shopping centre, and every few days I go on their A-Z of retailers and visit their websites to see if they have any vacancies.

It might not apply to you, but if you do have easy access to an airport, they tend to start hiring at this time of year (my local airport is after lots of sales assistants) to be ready for the summer season. They're usually all fixed-term contracts until the autumn, but autumn is in the retail Christmas temp hiring season so it should fit together nicely.

The main point is...don't give up! For every vacancy there are hundreds of applicants, so at the end of the day there is an element of luck in whether you get the job or not. I've been in a position of reading through applicants and sorting out who should be shortlisted for interview, and it's so difficult when everyone has pretty much the same skills. I found I was drawn to the people who had written a grammatically-accurate and quirky (but not cheesy) covering letter especially for the position.

Since (I presume) you only have the charity shop as experience, make sure you sell it really well in your CV. For example, "I helped the customers" could become:

"I strived to create a friendly and comfortable atmosphere for all my customers by greeting them with a genuine smile, eye contact and a friendly comment. By matching my personality to theirs, I established common ground with customers and gained their trust, which became an effective platform for cross-selling".

(Cross-selling is where you suggest other products to the customer where appropriate to maximise sales. Retailer management love to see an understanding of this in applications)

This shows you are confident in your behaviour around customers, and also have an understanding of the importance of meeting and exceeding sales targets. That was only one point though, there is plenty more to say about your work!

Apologies for the long read (once I start I can't stop!), and best of luck in the job hunt. :smile:

Joseph.

PS. I've just realised I've written 800 words in this thread alone this evening...if only I had this motivation to write this week's English Language essay :rolleyes: