16 Year Old and a Job - any job ...

[Stan Solo]

I work in retail and we now only take online applications it saves me so much time. We get about 50-60 applications a month and everyone wants to talk to me when they drop off thier application. The sad part is we only hire when someone quits so we only hire about 1-3 people every other month I have about 80 employees working for me. What was nice about getting the applications in person is after a short chat I would put a post-it note on the applications about my first impressions.

If your son is dropping off applications I would say its best to go in when it's not busy usually first thing in the morning nothing worse then having a line up of customers at 5:00 PM and someone wants to talk to you about a job. Try and give it to the manager even if it's on the sales floor. Be sure to dress nice remember my post-it note that's the type of thing I would put down along with if they are friendly, shy, well spoken, how much they smile. It's also a good idea to bring your own pen when dropping off an application if you have fill out a store form it shows that you came prepared. I've often handed out an application then they will ask me for a pen to which I reply "I guess you didn't come prepared did you". I can then tell from the look on their face if they learnt something from this or not. Once I hired someone because on thier way out after drooping off an application they picked up a piece of paper that was on the floor and threw it in the garbage. Don't think a manager does not see these things.

Now that we only take applications on line the first thing I look at is the availability. Can they work weekends and evenings what time can they start. If they can't work Sundays I move on to the next one but every store is different in my store Sunday help is starting to become an issue.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

walmart is usually always hiring. on top of that, they need for the summer rush and the xmas rush. has he applied at any home building places, rona, home hardware, etc? i worked at kent(east coast) and they always hired a large amount of students over the spring/summer as its their busy season, esp with the garden centres.

 

[Disneyof3]

My son just got his first job, he won't be 16 until December. I was told by friends that alot of places won't hire before 16 due to insurance. He had applied to a bunch of places in May and heard nothing. He turned around in the middle of June and reapplied again to those same places. He has had a job now for 2 weeks at a grocery store. He is available all summer and is willing to take shifts during his school year in September. There is also a bunch of people leaving for Univ/Coll at the end of August, so by the time they leave the new ones will know what they are doing. Also most places understand about hrs when they are still in school. They will use them for weekend work (especially Sunday) and after 4pm. Tell him to keep applying, especially near the end of August when those school kids head back.

 

[encinc]

I was just at Staples picking up some office supplies for work. They had a sign in the door seeking resumes for the back to school rush. That might be a good job for a high school student, especially since they seem to think the rush will start next week. No sign of back to school sales yet, but the displays were certainly all over the store. The kids have only been on vacation a week, yet "back to school season" is about to begin.

 

[who's ur daddy?]

Lots of students looking it seems:

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1222777--summer-jobs-are-getting-harder-to-come-by

 

[justjulie]

Well he's still looking - the college-bound kids who will be leaving at the end of August have spoken for him and still nothing. He's well prepared when he goes in - covering letter, resume and store application fully completed and in an envelope. He's willing to work after school and all weekend - still nothing ... I have no idea how he's going to pay for school is something doesn't come up ...

Oh, and Home Depot and Rona have a strict "no one under 18" rule - I'm guessing for liability reasons - oiiii ....

 

[c&m]

My DD 16 found her summer job before the Christmas season. She works at Aeropostale. They were hiring to cover the Christmas rush, and she made it through the round of interviews. She worked hard and they noticed her diligence, so lucky for her, they kept her beyond the Christmas season.

For retail, I've been told countless times here in Vancouver that for summer jobs, the placements are usually made anytime from January to May. Interviews and training happen, and the positions are already in place for summer. We found that out the hard way last year, when my DD was very unsuccessful finding a job after she got out of school for the summer. She was told that placements were already made, that they'd call her back...but she got nothing. Hopefully, things will turn out differently for your son. Good luck to him!

 

[justjulie]

He's actually looking for permanent part-time work, I guess the timing just collided with summer - he's going to keep handing in resumes and applying on-line on a regular basis - maybe someone will get tired of seeing him and just hire him since he's in the store all the time anyway LOL ...