Would you do a 3 day unpaid trial in a shop?

Original post by abc:)

many others - most others in fact - are the same. It's sad but true.

Can you defend that with evidence? Or is it just your opinion?

Reply 41

Original post by SuperWolfPaws

yup, i'm job seeking, got an interview, interview went ok , and then the lady said, 'the next stage of the recruitment process is to work unpaid trail for a few days'

Would you do it? is it legal?

Oh wow,how has my life come to this :rofl:

This is normal. For a young person (assumption due to student forum) they want to see if you are polite, punctual etc. They will therefore give you a trial rather than pay you and then have to sack you (paperwork). A CV can easily be lies, or at the very least be lenient with the truth.

You should also see it as a chance to get to know them-did they oversell the job description and in reality it is boring? Do you not like the people?

Honestly, I don't see your point. You will get a job that can pay for years potentially and you aren't even prepared to put in three free days? I mean this is a controversial view, but I stand by it;
If you aren't even prepared to put in just a few free days work experience and then find out soon enough how it turns out you really are not that committed. And don't be if you have other opportunities to go do-but the way jobs are now if you reject them you will need weeks or months to get another interview, they will just need to pick up a phone and get another person who will be more willing to do as they want.

Reply 42

Original post by thecatwithnohat

Usually trial shifts last for like 1-2 hours. But three days? They're making use of free labour :lol:

Two of my employers did this for me-they said prove you are good and we will keep you on. They said the trial will be up to a week, but they offered me the job after a few days.

I really think people are being too difficult about this. Employers who do this aren't exploiting people, they are just making sure they don't make the effort to get you on the payroll, issue you company equipment (e.g laptops), sort out all the HR paperwork and then get rid of you.

I really think that people should be prepared to work for free for a few days if it may well lead to a job. I mean are they really going to be exploiting if the trial is only three days? Unlikely in my view. I just think people need to be more ambitious and willing to make themselves employable in this case. I mean compared to staying on JSA and then having to go on to workfare this is a better chance.

Sorry to be harsh, but I just think that someone who takes such an attitude to work needs to pull themselves together and really show they want to work. As much as I criticise EU immigration, they want to work hard much more than some in the UK evidently. I mean three days work can lead to a job? The OP will really be making things difficult for themselves by taking such a lackadaisical attitude in my view.

I like you, but I respectully disagree with you here :smile:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 43

Original post by i<3milkshake

Two of my employers did this for me-they said prove you are good and we will keep you on. They said the trial will be up to a week, but they offered me the job after a few days.

I really think people are being too difficult about this. Employers who do this aren't exploiting people, they are just making sure they don't make the effort to get you on the payroll, issue you company equipment (e.g laptops), sort out all the HR paperwork and then get rid of you.

I really think that people should be prepared to work for free for a few days if it may well lead to a job. I mean are they really going to be exploiting if the trial is only three days? Unlikely in my view. I just think people need to be more ambitious and willing to make themselves employable in this case. I mean compared to staying on JSA and then having to go on to workfare this is a better chance.

Sorry to be harsh, but I just think that someone who takes such an attitude to work needs to pull themselves together and really show they want to work.

Completely agree! Students seem to think getting a few A levels and a degree means employers will be falling over themselves to employ you - not true. Employers in retail don't care about your grades and stuff, they care about if you're going to be a good employee and that you're not going to scarper after they go through the long and tedious process of getting you on payroll. Working a couple of days if it means you get a job is really not a big deal :s-smilie:

Reply 44

e aí rapaz

Original post by i<3milkshake

This is normal. For a young person (assumption due to student forum) they want to see if you are polite, punctual etc. They will therefore give you a trial rather than pay you and then have to sack you (paperwork). A CV can easily be lies, or at the very least be lenient with the truth.

You should also see it as a chance to get to know them-did they oversell the job description and in reality it is boring? Do you not like the people?

Honestly, I don't see your point. You will get a job that can pay for years potentially and you aren't even prepared to put in three free days? I mean this is a controversial view, but I stand by it;
If you aren't even prepared to put in just a few free days work experience and then find out soon enough how it turns out you really are not that committed. And don't be if you have other opportunities to go do-but the way jobs are now if you reject them you will need weeks or months to get another interview, they will just need to pick up a phone and get another person who will be more willing to do as they want.

I've had many jobs and have never been asked to do a free trial. Seeing whether you're polite, friendly, etc. is the point of an interview.

Reply 45

e aí rapaz

Original post by infairverona

Completely agree! Students seem to think getting a few A levels and a degree means employers will be falling over themselves to employ you - not true. Employers in retail don't care about your grades and stuff, they care about if you're going to be a good employee and that you're not going to scarper after they go through the long and tedious process of getting you on payroll. Working a couple of days if it means you get a job is really not a big deal :s-smilie:

Even before I got a degree I worked plenty of menial jobs (including retail) and never did a trial.

Anyone willing to do it is a mug.

Reply 46

Original post by e aí rapaz

Even before I got a degree I worked plenty of menial jobs (including retail) and never did a trial.

Anyone willing to do it is a mug.

I've worked since I was 16 and if I really needed a job I would do it. Costume shops tend to be small and not a chain so they possibly want to make sure they've got the right type of person. Also, I didn't take this job but I was asked by a top city law firm to do a trial once. It happens. If you need a job, do it. If you don't want the job don't do it but don't sit and whine about not having a job afterwards! Anyone willing to do it will probably end up with the job.

[e] also your above post about the interview - anyone can fake being polite and friendly for a 30 min - hour long interview. But for a small shop that doesn't want to keep recruiting a trial is the best way to see how you interact with customers especially in quite a niche market. Lots of companies use work trials as well as interviews, almost all beauty counter jobs for example still come under retail but you won't get a job anywhere without doing a couple of hours' trial first. Interview isn't always enough if you're looking for a very specific type of person

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 47

Original post by Jenx301

If I really wanted or needed a job then yes, I would. It sucks sometimes but you have to show them what skills and qualities you have. If you aren't willing to, someone else will!

Original post by SuperWolfPaws

yup, i'm job seeking, got an interview, interview went ok , and then the lady said, 'the next stage of the recruitment process is to work unpaid trail for a few days'

Would you do it? is it legal?

Oh wow,how has my life come to this :rofl:

record her. report her for national minimum wage violation. and tell her that you're going to report her.

she shouldn't take advantage. tell her where to go.

Reply 48

Original post by i<3milkshake

This is normal. For a young person (assumption due to student forum) they want to see if you are polite, punctual etc. They will therefore give you a trial rather than pay you and then have to sack you (paperwork). A CV can easily be lies, or at the very least be lenient with the truth.

You should also see it as a chance to get to know them-did they oversell the job description and in reality it is boring? Do you not like the people?

Honestly, I don't see your point. You will get a job that can pay for years potentially and you aren't even prepared to put in three free days? I mean this is a controversial view, but I stand by it;
If you aren't even prepared to put in just a few free days work experience and then find out soon enough how it turns out you really are not that committed. And don't be if you have other opportunities to go do-but the way jobs are now if you reject them you will need weeks or months to get another interview, they will just need to pick up a phone and get another person who will be more willing to do as they want.

yes it's controversial. I would not do even an hour of unpaid labour.

people like you is ruining it for everyone else, willing to take this sort of **** from ****ty employers.

Reply 49

e aí rapaz

Original post by infairverona

I've worked since I was 16 and if I really needed a job I would do it. Costume shops tend to be small and not a chain so they possibly want to make sure they've got the right type of person. Also, I didn't take this job but I was asked by a top city law firm to do a trial once. It happens. If you need a job, do it. If you don't want the job don't do it but don't sit and whine about not having a job afterwards! Anyone willing to do it will probably end up with the job.

Right. So you're one of the people who don't value yourself highly enough to turn it down. You're a part of the problem - you encourage large firms to continue exploiting people by accepting this crap.

Reply 50

Original post by abc:)

Because we're still living in a time where it's very difficult to get work. I have a degree and a fair amount of employment history, I struggled to get a job this year and have only just been offered one. If someone had offered me a 3 day unpaid trial, I would have jumped at it, and many others - most others in fact - are the same. It's sad but true.

you're a girl. if I was a girl, I would rather prostitute myself than to give 3 days of unpaid labour.

Reply 51

hideNfreak

3

no way, how am I gonna feed the kids? :afraid:

Reply 52

Original post by e aí rapaz

Right. So you're one of the people who don't value yourself highly enough to turn it down. You're a part of the problem - you encourage large firms to continue exploiting people by accepting this crap.

I value myself highly enough that if I really needed a job I would do it, did you actually read the first sentence of my post? I didn't do the trial at the law firm because I didn't want the job. I did a trial in a bakery for my first ever job and I then got the job, which helped me get my first retail job at Waitrose.

I have not said anywhere that I agree with large firms doing this. I agree with small one off shops or independent businesses doing this because they need a certain type of person, they don't want to keep recruiting and doing all the HR side of recruiting and interviewing isn't enough. Anyone too up themselves to outright say they would never do a trial doesn't deserve a job.

Reply 53

Original post by infairverona

Completely agree! Students seem to think getting a few A levels and a degree means employers will be falling over themselves to employ you - not true. Employers in retail don't care about your grades and stuff, they care about if you're going to be a good employee and that you're not going to scarper after they go through the long and tedious process of getting you on payroll. Working a couple of days if it means you get a job is really not a big deal :s-smilie:

To me this just shows someone who;
1) Things they are worth more than they are-they are a young person and still have a lot to prove to potential employers, and three days of proving themselves is hardly unreasonable. A teenager thinking they have proved themselves is really something.

2) Has this attitude that employers are looking to exploit them. Some will, yes. But if a three day trial is your idea of exploitation then you really are delusional.

3) Is in a position to be turning down jobs. I cannot comment on their personal circumstances, but this may well be a silly stance if they are on benefits (since JSA workfare I have heard is worse) or if just looking for a uni job a perfectly valid position.

Reply 54

Original post by i<3milkshake

To me this just shows someone who;
1) Things they are worth more than they are-they are a young person and still have a lot to prove to potential employers, and three days of proving themselves is hardly unreasonable. A teenager thinking they have proved themselves is really something.

2) Has this attitude that employers are looking to exploit them. Some will, yes. But if a three day trial is your idea of exploitation then you really are delusional.

3) Is in a position to be turning down jobs. I cannot comment on their personal circumstances, but this may well be a silly stance if they are on benefits (since JSA workfare I have heard is worse) or if just looking for a uni job a perfectly valid position.

Completely. The way the market for recruitment is now is that there are adults with years of experience needing a job so working in retail, and teenagers with absolutely 0 experience seem to be arrogant enough to think they're a good match for these kinds of people without proving themselves at all - nope.

Attitude - you can just tell the people even who have posted here who would be an HR nightmare. Again it's just arrogance.

Exactly! I have good grades, a degree, I've worked since i was 16 and am nearly 23. But if the time came when I needed a job and couldn't afford not to have one, I would do an unpaid trial if it meant I would get a job. If you have no money and you need any job to pay the bills that's what you do? It's such an immature teenagery attitude :/

Reply 55

Original post by e aí rapaz

Even before I got a degree I worked plenty of menial jobs (including retail) and never did a trial.

Anyone willing to do it is a mug.

Anyone who turns down a job opportunity because they couldn't commit to three days is a mug. What where they doing in that time anyway? Watching TV? Applying for other jobs? Having to jump through JSA hoops? Getting closer and closer to being forced onto workfare and other JSA schemes which are MUCH worse?

Honestly, I would say anyone who doesn't do it is the one being a mug. I am did it, I am in a good job. Proving yourself is not something that a teenager should think they are above. I mean this in the nicest way possible-if people take your view good luck getting jobs even in roles like accounting (me). Work experience is on the CV of all ambitious people-not "mugs".

Original post by e aí rapaz

Right. So you're one of the people who don't value yourself highly enough to turn it down. You're a part of the problem - you encourage large firms to continue exploiting people by accepting this crap.

Three. Days. Three days of effort. Oh the slavery.
When you buy a car worth £20,000 you test drive it over a weekend.

If an employer will eventually pay you this amount or more they want to be sure they are getting the right person. Not unreasonable. If it was my business I would do the same.

You are one of those people who value yourselves so highly that you get offended when someone just wants to see if you are how your CV describes despite being a young person. You are part of the problem-people have this idea that they can simply waltz in to paid positions without experience, without proving themselves, and employers will simply choose them over other people who are willing to see from their point of view (which I mentioned above).

The entitlement culture that some people have is astounding. They vastly overate the value they bring to an organisation. Rather than moaning about three days of work experience, see it as an opportunity; perform well for three days and have a job that pays more than any benefits.

There are two kinds of people; those that are willing to put in the effort and work hard, do what is needed and they will with a bit of luck get a job. The kind who speculatively offer their CV out to nearby firms and are willing to prove themselves before getting a paid position.

Then there are those who just make things difficult for themselves by trying to do the bare minimum and making mountains out of molehills. Rather than see the chance to be earning in a few days if they do as their CV says they can they think people are exploiting them. They refuse to see the employers side. They have an entitlement culture that EU migrants, credit to them, don't have.

How many years have you spent getting an education and paying many thousands at uni for it with no guaranteed job at the end of it? Did people whine about the time they spent or the money they lost/could have gained by not doing that?

Reply 56

Original post by thisistheend

yes it's controversial. I would not do even an hour of unpaid labour.

people like you is ruining it for everyone else, willing to take this sort of **** from ****ty employers.

Original post by infairverona

I value myself highly enough that if I really needed a job I would do it, did you actually read the first sentence of my post? I didn't do the trial at the law firm because I didn't want the job. I did a trial in a bakery for my first ever job and I then got the job, which helped me get my first retail job at Waitrose.

I have not said anywhere that I agree with large firms doing this. I agree with small one off shops or independent businesses doing this because they need a certain type of person, they don't want to keep recruiting and doing all the HR side of recruiting and interviewing isn't enough. Anyone too up themselves to outright say they would never do a trial doesn't deserve a job.

I work as an accountant. I did a couple of days work experience. You work as a law firm. You did the same. Even people in good professions have to do this.

As for not even doing an hour of unpaid labour; that is why I like the Tories. "People like me ruining it for everyone else". Absolute bull. People like me are paying the taxes that keep people like you in the position to be lazy and refuse to do what even educated professionals had to.

People like you. If three days of proving yourself is too much to ask then the employer is right not to take you on. You obviously don't want toe job enough and are obviously so stuck up that you think a teenager/some in their early twenties has nothing to prove to anyone.

Reply 57

Original post by infairverona

Completely. The way the market for recruitment is now is that there are adults with years of experience needing a job so working in retail, and teenagers with absolutely 0 experience seem to be arrogant enough to think they're a good match for these kinds of people without proving themselves at all - nope.
Exactly. People think they are better than they are. Well when JSA runs dry or the bank of mummy and daddy gets tired of you then good luck.

Attitude - you can just tell the people even who have posted here who would be an HR nightmare. Again it's just arrogance.

Completely agree.
Exactly! I have good grades, a degree, I've worked since i was 16 and am nearly 23. But if the time came when I needed a job and couldn't afford not to have one, I would do an unpaid trial if it meant I would get a job. If you have no money and you need any job to pay the bills that's what you do? It's such an immature teenagery attitude :/

There are two kinds of people on this thread;
Me and you-willing to work hard and prove themselves. They have a good work ethic and have good professions now. We both value jobs very highly and are therefore very committed. A good attitude.

Those that think a three day trial is some kind of great injustice. If that is their attitude good luck getting a job in law or accounting or something similar. They may well be bright, brighter than me, but if that is their attitude good luck because they will really need it.

Reply 58

Original post by i<3milkshake

There are two kinds of people on this thread;
Me and you-willing to work hard and prove themselves. They have a good work ethic and have good professions now. We both value jobs very highly and are therefore very committed. A good attitude.

Those that think a three day trial is some kind of great injustice. If that is their attitude good luck getting a job in law or accounting or something similar. They may well be bright, brighter than me, but if that is their attitude good luck because they will really need it.

I don't know if it comes with age or something but I really don't remember feeling as entitled as people on here when I was a teenager? I did an unpaid trial in a bakery and was so grateful because all I had was GCSEs and that was it. I got the job, after that I got a job at Waitrose, Waitrose got me John Lewis, John Lewis got me my first job out of uni and now a year later I have a great job for the Department of Health. It opens so many doors if you are willing to get a foot in the door, listen, learn, take criticism and develop from it - but people on here think having a few GCSEs or AS levels makes you employee of the year? It's ridiculous. No wonder there are so many young people on JSA now. Their attitude stinks, I wouldn't hire someone like that. Can you imagine if you had to performance manage someone with that kind of attitude? Not worth it!

Reply 59