18 year old - how to get first job?

[Anonymous]

My DD is starting college in the fall. She has never had a paid job, though she has had some unpaid internships. She has tried applying to a number of chain stores online (Target, Bed Bath & Bodyworks, grocery stores) the last couple of summers but has never received a positive response. Whenever we have gone into a store in person and she has talked to a manager, they have always said to apply online.

She is attractive and bright and makes a good impression, so I'm not sure what we're doing wrong.

Any ideas about how to help her get that first job?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

My son's in the exact same boat. He's put in numerous applications for retail, food service, etc. but no positive responses. It's the old conundrum of "how is he supposed to get job experience if no one will hire him?"

Back in the day, my first job was a work-study position in the dining hall when I was a college freshman. From what my son tells me, there are no students working in the GMU dining halls - it's all Sodexo employees!

[Anonymous]

Start with local business where they will actually talk to you instead of sending you to the online system. And ask friends with jobs to recommend you. My son's 1st job was at a local bakery where a friend worked. Before that he was sending apps to the online black hole. After that job he had better luck with the big chains. It seems like places don't want to hire someone who hasn't run a cash register before. (so hard to train that, right )

[Anonymous]

Small, local businesses like a bakery or coffee shop, ice cream shop. They need to be looking for summer help. Summer camps( those applications are due soon). Pools-front desk or concession.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your responses. I agree local is probably the way to go.

What is the best way to find local job openings--just drive around and look for signs?

[Anonymous]

My college age kid found a job at a zip line adventure park through Indeed. I think you can search on summer jobs.

[Anonymous]

Consider camp counselor jobs? Lots of stores do not want to hire a kid just for the summer.

[Anonymous]

Hm.. my just turned 18 yr old got a job at Target PT. They had previously had a tutoring job at a center.

Rec centers are always looking for summer camp counselors.

[Anonymous]

I have worked retail in this area (Altar'd State when it was at Tysons). You have to apply online, going in to the store won't help you -- at least this was the case at my store and it is the case at many others that I'm aware of. This is because you have to take a suitability test, and that is part of the online application. We had a terrible time hiring because corporate would only let my manager interview people who got a "most promising" score on the test. I think you could score unsuitable, promising, and most promising. It was a total waste of my manager's time to speak to anyone who came into the store to talk about a job, because the impression they made doing that was irrelevant.

Look on Indeed. And check Macy's -- they are literally always hiring (which tells you something about the job, but that is another issue).

[Anonymous]

A friend putting in a good word for her is helpful. Where are her friends working? If one could talk to the hiring manager about her? That’s how my son got his first job. Of course make sure the friend is a reliable good employee!

[Anonymous]

Amazon warehouses will hire anyone one for the overnight shift. That gives them a first job to list on applications

[Anonymous]

Six closest restaurants to your home. Most will hire her.

[Anonymous]

One of my kids has had a bunch of food service jobs over the years (started with dishwasher, moved up to line cook ), and she found all of those through craigslist. Other kid also found job as line Cook on a food truck through Word of mouth.

[Anonymous]

Is she presenting limited availability?

[Anonymous]

That is surprising because there are so many openings perfect for college students.

My daughter in NYC ballet program went for her first job interview at age 19 at an expensive trendy restaurant. She dressed for the part was so nervous and when she got there they told her the manager had already left. When she got home she got a text to start training Monday. They just wanted to see what she looked like. There was no real skill to greet people.

So dress as professional as you can. A modest dress with neat hair and light makeup or black pants with button down shirt and blazer. It really does make an impression. So many teens just walk in with sweats on. No effort at all.