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getting a job at 16

hi! i was hoping someone might be able to give advice on getting a job at 16 without much experience. i’ve applied to a lot of my big local retailers and supermarkets, without much luck.

i’ve tried to make my cv good and emphasise my soft skills because i don’t have loads of qualifications yet.

any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you! :smile:

Reply 1

Loosee667829

Original post by celestial07

hi! i was hoping someone might be able to give advice on getting a job at 16 without much experience. i’ve applied to a lot of my big local retailers and supermarkets, without much luck.
i’ve tried to make my cv good and emphasise my soft skills because i don’t have loads of qualifications yet.
any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you! :smile:

Hiya! I was in the same boat - it really depends on your location, places with lots of opportunities are of course going to be better! Do you use indeed to apply for jobs? If not, I really recommend, I thought I could only work in supermarkets but on indeed there's so much more!
In terms of your CV, it doesn't matter that much if you haven't got any experience! I recommend talking about your best traits - it seems hard to 'show yourself off' but it's honestly how they will notice you! You could talk about how you are (examples!) hardworking, a good team player, dedicated, enthusiastic, things like that! Honestly watching videos on how to write a good CV really helped.

In general, just keep going. Apply to lots of things - you can always say no! Even if the jobs don't specify an age you need to be, apply for as many as possible!

Hope this helped, and wish you the best of luck!!

Reply 2

brookel

Original post by celestial07

hi! i was hoping someone might be able to give advice on getting a job at 16 without much experience. i’ve applied to a lot of my big local retailers and supermarkets, without much luck.
i’ve tried to make my cv good and emphasise my soft skills because i don’t have loads of qualifications yet.
any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you! :smile:

hey, same here on your cv you could just put your predicted grades for now and you could also add any extra curriculars along with any roles you have held within/out of school such as a head student, you can also add any volunteering in/out of school so helping with a year 7 transition organising a bakesale etc. Aswell as adding on personal skills.

If no volunteering done you could always try and do some before holidays hit.

Hope this helps, I understand the struggle but it is possible i managed to get a job at 13 and now am looking for a second job for the summer. Aswell you would probably struggle with big brands and retailers due to them mostly looking for 17yos and older so try small buisnesses, pubs, chippys and cafes potentially. Good Luck!

Reply 3

hayleyp--

Original post by celestial07

hi! i was hoping someone might be able to give advice on getting a job at 16 without much experience. i’ve applied to a lot of my big local retailers and supermarkets, without much luck.
i’ve tried to make my cv good and emphasise my soft skills because i don’t have loads of qualifications yet.
any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you! :smile:

It honestly can also depend on your area, if you live in a busy area then there's likely to be lots of applicants and if so I would recommend trying to reach out somewhere a bit quieter, even if you might have to do a short commute. Getting a first job is difficult, a lot of employers like the experience of already having a job so putting your foot in the door is a pain to do. Just apply to as many as possible and don't be disheartened if it falls through, I spent a year trying to find myself a job at 16!

Reply 4

Emma:-)

Entertainment Forum Helper, Careers Forum Helper

Original post by celestial07

As well as supermarkets, try all shops, fast food places (they employ a lot of students), cafes, restaurants, cinemas, local attractions, touristy type places etc etc.

Reply 5

bluegray

Original post by celestial07

hi! i was hoping someone might be able to give advice on getting a job at 16 without much experience. i’ve applied to a lot of my big local retailers and supermarkets, without much luck.
i’ve tried to make my cv good and emphasise my soft skills because i don’t have loads of qualifications yet.
any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you! :smile:

try local businesses eg small shops/cafes/restaurants and also fast food chains as they both tend to take on a lot of low experience staff. the key to getting a first job is mass applying, apply to everything you can. It take a while to get a first job i'm afraid. If you can't find anything it might be worth looking into volunteering to get something on your cv. Good luck btw

This doesn't really help with summer but you could do tutoring if you're confident in your knowledge and get pretty good grades, you could ask you school to advertise for you aswell as teachers can recommend you to younger students that may be struggling

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 6

isypails

Original post by celestial07

hi! i was hoping someone might be able to give advice on getting a job at 16 without much experience. i’ve applied to a lot of my big local retailers and supermarkets, without much luck.
i’ve tried to make my cv good and emphasise my soft skills because i don’t have loads of qualifications yet.
any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you! :smile:

it's always a good idea to email/message on FB local businesses like cafes if they're in need of anyone + mentioning when you're willing to work. good luck!! :smile: