I need a job.

LegacyUser

I'm in desperate need of a job. I'm 19, I'm only in college for 29 hours a week, and I'm sick of not working and earning money.

I have tried. I send applications every day. It's souls destroying. I have sent off applications for Christmas jobs to various company's 3 weeks ago and I have got no response.

I am not willing to try volunteer work. I'm not going to work for free. This isn't about filling up time, it's about earning money.

I have previously worked in my uncles hardware shop for free to gain work experience. I did this 1/2 days a week for a year.

Even with this on my CV, I can't get even an interview. I have friends who have got work, with no experience and more importantly not through nepotism.

Does anyone have any advice, this is really getting me down. I have a really good CV, a really good cover letter, but here I am, an unemployed student.

brumaio

Where are you applying to work at? perhaps that experience in your uncle's shop isn't interesting for those hiring managers out there.
In any case, I'd suggest that you ask for recommendations from your friends to work with them when there are job openings. You could also try working for free in a hotel/restaurant e that would also count as an experience to put in your CV (only work for a week though).

Starokan

Bit harsh of your uncle not to pay you for a year to be honest, you would have picked up the necessary skills in a month or two at most.

Working for free is only a good idea when its giving you a set of skills you do not already have so for example if you are 29 hours a week in college then you need either evening or weekend work which in my experience means

- Bar/Night club
- Restaurant - waiting tables or kitchen work
- Retail - serving on saturday mainly
- Security

I think factory work would be out unless you can do some weekdays

Your uncles hardware store will give you retail only so if your going to do any more free work maybe consider the above as options

The only other advice I can give is to stop sending in unsolicited applications and perhaps load up some CV's and basically canvass your locality by walking into each business and seeing if you strike lucky and get talking to someone who can let you know the lie of the land

There are so many people looking for work at the moment that its a hiring market. Most places receive so many applications the majority do not even get looked at.

The main thing is to plug away, its admirable that you are so eager to work, the break will come your way so keep at it and don't let the hunt break your resolve

fluffybiscuits

nixers.ie is not bad

Argos, HMV and Marks all take on part time retail staff so contact their HR

magicmushroom

Where are you based?
And what are you studying in college.

If you tell us more about what you're looking for, we might be able to point you in the right direction.

Heard an interesting story only this morning from a colleague of mine - her young nephew sent in lots of CV's to local hotels last month for part time bar/restaurant service work. Heard nothing back.

Was in one of the hotels at the weekend with his Dad for golf and lunch.
Whilst there, the Dad called over the assistant manager and asked if he could check if the CV had been rec'd as they'd heard nothing back.
The assistant manager said they get quite a lot of them and to be honest, they're not all looked at due to the volume they receive.
But he offered him a trial in the restaurant there on the spot - he done a few hours, done great and was offered a part time job at €9.50 an hour.

So maybe sending your CV around isn't the best thing to do anymore - get out there and talk to people, put some smart clothes on, get into the places you're applying to and ask to speak to the manager in person.
Hand them your CV in person, tell them why you are great and that you are willing give them a free trial for a day to show them how good you are.

There's LOADS of people looking for work out there, you need to stand out from the crowd.

LegacyUser

needajob2015 wrote: »

I'm in desperate need of a job. I'm 19, I'm only in college for 29 hours a week, and I'm sick of not working and earning money.

I have tried. I send applications every day. It's souls destroying. I have sent off applications for Christmas jobs to various company's 3 weeks ago and I have got no response.

I am not willing to try volunteer work. I'm not going to work for free. This isn't about filling up time, it's about earning money.

I have previously worked in my uncles hardware shop for free to gain work experience. I did this 1/2 days a week for a year.

Even with this on my CV, I can't get even an interview. I have friends who have got work, with no experience and more importantly not through nepotism.

Does anyone have any advice, this is really getting me down. I have a really good CV, a really good cover letter, but here I am, an unemployed student.

When you say you've applied how have you done that? Did you email or actually go in and hand your CV to someone? I worked in a cinema when I was your age and we never looked at emailed applications, we always went with someone who'd walked in and spoken to a memeber of staff and handed over a cv. Same thing when a few years late I was working at book store chain, we hired people who came in person with their CV. I also can't stress how important presenting a good cv is. I do this as part of my job now, looking over applications and it drives me mad how badly people present themselves. I got a friend a good job but he nearly lost it when I saw the state of his CV, lucky I was able to fix it before it went before HR. Each cover letter should be geared towards the job rather then just a cookie cutter one fits all job.

You say you have a good cv and a good cover letter. I don't doubt you, but if you're not getting any jobs it's worth trying to improve.

How are you sending in the applications (online/paper)?
Have you been randomly handing them in or specifically looking for openings?
Are they tailored to each particular job?
If you're going in in person, how are you presenting yourself?
How many pages is the CV?
How much research into the role/company are you doing before applying?

Go through each single application as though it's the one job you really really want. Even if your output goes from sending applications every day to just one a week - it's worth it if it means you're spending the time that a good application really demands.

Show a sample C.V. to a few people (not just one, as people differ on what they like to see). Get opinions. There's always room to improve. No one would blame you for not finding a job - it's tough out there and there's always an element of luck - but you can certainly try to tip the scales in your favour.

Rubberchikken

i agree with others who say go to the places. dress well, bring cvs. ask to speak to the manager. some places get so many cvs and letters that they don't have the time or energy to go through them.
it's a good time now with christmas ahead and you'd never know.

fingers crossed for you.

Does your college have a disability service? Ask if they need any note takers, I get payed for this in my college (€10 an hour, 2/3 hours a week). It's not much but it's a start, basically you go to your class as normal, take your notes, then email your notes to the disability service within 24 hours so they can pass them to someone in your module who, due to a disability, cannot write notes or cannot attend class.

Do the students union need anyone? Sometimes people get a few hours working at reception, sorting stock, etc. Might not be paid in every college though.

On campus shops, bars, restaurants, cafes?

Local takeaways near campus? Someone to answer phones, take the orders, deliver etc.

Online surveys? A bit unreliable but I've made the odd euro or got the odd freebie sent out to me.

I hope you find something OP, I know how hard it is. Only in college 15 hours a week myself and haven't been able to find anything yet.