Encouraging a teen to be flexible

[paulkal]

I have a niece who has just finished her A Levels and she has been applying for jobs in clothes shops, so far without success. Her mother and I have advised her to apply for similar work in retail so that she can at least get some initial experience but she doesn't see the advantage of this. What can we say to encourage her to be more open to this idea?

[AuntieStella]

Is she job huntun for start of career, to cover the summer, or to fund a gap year?

[Schoolchauffeur]

There is a very good point to getting a similar job in any retail store as it will be simply good experience. She will most likely be till trained, learn something about stock control, how the shop is laid out/ goods displayed. She will gain in confidence, get used to dealing with the public, complaints and getting on with work colleagues.

If she does this well, she will then have in a few months time, a good reference and a few months experience under her belt, making her more attractive to future employers who will see someone who is already trained, proved trustworthy and reliable and who will be able to hit the ground running in their store. The fact that she will have been selling books/toys/other stuff is irrelevant. Job specs I have seen just ask for " retail experience".

[ChillySundays]

Will she be going away to uni? If so, I would be looking at a company where she can transfer to uni town and come home and work in holidays.

[paulkal]

Hi, Thanks for all your replies. The job is the start of her career.

[paulkal]

You make some good points so thanks for that. I will certainly relay your observations to her mother.

[paulkal]

She will not be going away to uni as she wants to start work now.

[ChillySundays]

Much easier to get a job when you have experience - go for anything vaguely related. My daughter was interviewed for an apprenticeship at a bank. Got the interview because she had customer facing experience. This experience was facing customers in a well known fast food company!