Job Hunting?

[jbennet]

Anyone here my age (17) and in the UK?

Whats your experience of finding a job been?

I got rejected by Mcdonalds and ASDA :(

[Ancient Dragon]

Rejected by McDonald's :eek: Did they tell you the reason? Do you look like someone that just crawled out from under a rock ? Drug user? Alcholic ? (those are all rhetorical questions that don't need an answer) . Maybe you need to get employment counseling to learn how to dress and act during employment interviews. Employers will not hire anyone who looks and smells like they just vomited all over themselves.

[jbennet]

lol thanks (i think....) :)

asda = walmart by the way

apparently macdonalds have a waiting list? as theres so many people wanting to join.

that just makes me laugh.

I got good qualifications and i presentented myself well. only problem is i have no experience :(

ive applied t six places, all no no no...

[Mushy-pea]

Try to get some voluntary work for a while. It is usually easier to get then paid work and can look pretty good on your CV. I worked in Oxfam bookshops voluntarily several times over the last few years and I think it helped me get my current job in IT. In the interview 75% of the questions were about customer service and 25% were about IT. Also, don't be disappointed you didn't get a job in McDonalds. No matter how well you do, they'll pay you as little as possible for it for as long as they can get away with it.

Believe me, my friend was an shift runner there and still on less than £6 an hour. Keep trying and you'll be OK in the end.

Steven.

lol thanks (i think....) :)

asda = walmart by the way

apparently macdonalds have a waiting list? as theres so many people wanting to join.

that just makes me laugh.

I got good qualifications and i presentented myself well. only problem is i have no experience :(

ive applied t six places, all no no no...

There is a saying, "it is not what you know, but who you know."

Don't feel like a numpty because you got rejected from asda or mickey Dees. Chances are there were probably only two positions, thirty people applied and the two that got the job knew an employee already working there.

If you can somehow mingle your way into a job, from word of mouth or help from a friend do it. And then once you have a little experience other places may look on you more favourably.

Good luck mate.

[jbennet]

:(

may try the charity shop idea. hate the things but meh, it ought to look good on my UCAS form

[ses5909]

I need to ask.... You're a programmer. Why are you looking at McDonalds? I know you're 17 but there must be something you could do with your technical skills.

[jbennet]

well i do have a stake in a shareware site but that makes less than £5 a week:(

[happygeek]

I would consider being turned down by McDonalds and ASDA a compliment...

[RwCC]

I've been working in various places since I was 13. Started in a factory doing odd jobs, then doing summer jobs in the same factory for 2 years, then teaching HTML in a training centre, then working for Tesco (go me - highlight of my career...), working in a sales office of a company, and now I work for a major development company in Southern England.

And I'm only 21; it's all about how you present yourself. My qualifications are not fantastic, but I am a people person. In my current job the original position fell through due to budget cuts, but the guy was so impressed he recommended me to a manager in a different department... and he called me personally to offer me the job :)

So, in summary (I'm not trying to make you feel bad by the way) it's being a really enthusiastic person and where possible knowing people on the 'inside' - which unfortunately for me I didn't have, at the time. And always remember to beef up your CV. Don’t go over the top but you can make jobs seem more important than they are, such as:

Industrial Refuge Disposal Officer could be a binman :)

[Duki]

When I was about that age I applied everywhere, and even got told by the assit. mngr that she would tell the owner about me... And i went back like 6 times asking about the position... every time being told not to worry about it. they hired someone else, a guy who was actually younger than I. I didn't know what to think... i had applied to about 8 places none of which showing interest...

But God had a better plan, and not a month or so later I got an interview doing IT work for $8/hr starting. How much better was that than selling ice cream or clothes? I was truly blessed, but didn't know it until the time had come...

hang out... I'm sure God has something in store for you.

[John A]

DaniWeb should count as volunteer work. Maybe if you ask really nicely Dani will write you a letter of recommendation... :cheesy:

Anyway, I agree with everyone else on this thread. MacDonald's isn't going to be like anything where you actually have to use your brain (or skills)...

I wish you good luck finding a job. I'm sure eventually you will find a job that suits you better than working in some cheap fast-food restraunt.

[mattyd]

I'm sure God has something in store for you.

Yes, so true in my opinion. ;)

And:

"I got rejected by Mcdonalds"

jBennet, from the little I know of you through this site, you seem very knowledgeable for your age. I am not familiar with the part of the UK you live in but I would imagine there are nice tech jobs out there where you may be qualified even if simply entry-level which is a great place to start. :) Age restrictions may play a role in the jobs\ types of jobs you can hold in your nation (I'm not sure how it is there).

Best wishes and you WILL find employment suited to your intellect and passions (especially after University :mrgreen:)... it may just take some time.

Regards,
Matty

[happygeek]

At 17 I was cleaning toilets in a large London hospital, because it was better than being on the dole (unemployed.) Within 6 months I had moved to the warehouse at the hospital, and within another 3 months I was the surgical supplies buyer.

Which just goes to show that if you have the enthusiasm and work ethic, you can start at the bottom and progress upwards pretty quickly.

None of the above was what I wanted to be doing, but seeing as I didn't know what I wanted to be doing at 17 it didn't really matter. At least I was doing something, rather than have a CV with a large 'unemployed' marker on it.

[pty]

Anyone here my age (17) and in the UK?

Whats your experience of finding a job been?

I got rejected by Mcdonalds and ASDA :(

Temping is the easiest way to make money during school/college holidays; just make sure you tell them you want office/clerical work. I found I could often do short stints (1-2 weeks) at places covering for people who were on holiday/ill.

If you are applying for joey retail jobs and you have no experience LIE (or at least exaggerate). They won't check. You aren't putting anyone at risk (its not exactly faking medical qualifications). You need to do it the first couple of times to get your foot in the door.

At the end of the day the most taxing thing you'll probably end up doing there is working a till or cleaning up vommit up in isle 4.

[DimaYasny]

'round here IT people are always wanted, and we're being paid quite well.
considering MD as an option is the one step before suicide, imho :)

[jwenting]

At 17 I was cleaning toilets in a large London hospital, because it was better than being on the dole (unemployed.) Within 6 months I had moved to the warehouse at the hospital, and within another 3 months I was the surgical supplies buyer.

Which just goes to show that if you have the enthusiasm and work ethic, you can start at the bottom and progress upwards pretty quickly.

Sounds like my father, except he worked at a steel plant as an assistant clerk in the filing department (basically dusting filing cabinets all day long) and ended up running the place within a few months.
A few years later he was office manager of a medium size company, with several dozen people under him and a budget of (in today's currency) millions.

But that was over 50 years ago, today such a rise is impossible.
You now need a degree to even be considered for even menial labour...

[Mushy-pea]

At 17 I was cleaning toilets in a large London hospital, because it was better than being on the dole (unemployed.)

If you think that's bad Davey; prepare to cringe;) . In my work today we were asked to take part in a game about questioning (related to questioning customers). The object was for each team to pick an occupation and get asked questions about it by the other team (3 open, 3 probing, 3 closed). Anyway, we got talking about jobs we'd actually done. This guy called Mark tells us how he worked in a hospital laundry for a few hours. We're talking dealing with surgical gowns with blood and the occasional bits of organs on them (respirators provided). Oh and the constant bits of skin floating around in the air and sticking to him.

McDonalds, ASDA? Luxury, man :) .

Steven.

[jbennet]

lol well ive applied to some more places, well see :)