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Sniper Ash6

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As many know im 17, i had a job over Chirstmas at Toys R Us in the multimedia section and i thoroughly enjoyed it as it was brilliant fun - demoing games, helping customers etc.
After it looking very promising of being kept on i got sent my P45 in the post (with no explanation or anything just the P45), i was not at all happy with this and found it very rude

At the time i had 2 choices, Next (clothes shop) or Toys R Us, i chose Toys R Us over Next as it was closer, with better pay and looked more enjoyable. My best friend got me the interview at Next but was fine that i turned it down, i let another friend know that Next had a job and he got it and is still there. I still beat myself up about this that i chose the wrong option and that its my fault.

Due to the current climate there is nothing around and my list of places looked at is as follows:
Maplin, PC World, Currys, Screwfix, Comet, Wickes, GAME

Other nearby shops are Sainsburys and B & Q, i am being told to stop beating myself up over what happened and stop being stubborn and go for either of the two.

I know B & Q have a vacancy but its on tills. I did two hours till training at Toys R Us though knew i would never be on them but found it incredibly boring and not for me. I want to be out helping people not doing the same task over and over.

So im jobless and dont know what to do, if i knew how to do it i would happily set up a little computer business of helping people to get a new computer (eg i build it for them), fixing or upgrading.
Any advice on what i should do please?

Thanks, just needed to get it all out :)

SA6
 
Ash unfortunately you fall into the 17 year old bracket where although your cheap to employ there are 70 other going for the job due to the economic climate they might have a mortgage and other Ties I know thats not fair but its how things are working out at the moment.

What about your course at the moment what are you doing, is Computers the way forward for you i know your passionate about it but sometimes when people use their Hobbies as jobs they get fed up with that particular Hobby doing it for a living.

Hows about doing some sort of apprenticeships what you doing your course on

Si
 
the year im just finishing i have studied maths, further maths, chemistry, electronics and computing

next year im doing the same but dropping chemistry and am looking at computer science for uni

im very into computers as you know and enjoy building them, fixing them etc

Im into computers as that is what dad did, he could do anything hardware or software and even when made redundant set up his own company fixing computers and making database for businesses etc.
I loved watching and learning from him and i wish to carry that on as its what i really enjoy
 
Fair enough good to see you have a will to learn and are motivated something i wasnt at your age to busy getting smashed and getting laid:devil:

But dont grow up to quick kind of thing
You coould start by sending your cv off for some summer work experience at the Big boys see if you can get some goverment funding and work for them for free and learn???
I dont know about this with all the IT boffins on here i cant believe no one else has posted :thumbsup:

Come on guys its hard work being 17:rolleyes::rolleyes::D:smashin:
 
i can believe you andthe getting smashed - the getting laid im not so sure about :D

i thought there would have been more answers

its looking like a long summer with my 360 and computer and no money
im not sure about apprenticeships and the like
 
Go for something different to shop work, i regret not doing so.

Recently went go karting and saw a few kids that used to be in the lower years at school working there, try somewhere like that, you get to kart for free too :D

BTW i worked in the link which was ace, currys which was crap, no commission and crap par, never work there, and tesco which was a laugh.
 
theres nothing like that around though

i dont want to do repetitive shop work ideally - in the ideal world that we all dream about id love to work in PC World/comet/currys and be a truthful advisor and help people not go for selfish sales

i nearly had an arguement in currys as a guy that worked there was trying to sell an oblivious women a £100 HDMI cable that she could get for a tenner or less that would do the same job (they had normal ones for a tenner not brand ones at the front) but the person i was with wouldnt let me - anyway, i digress, i would love to work there but be truthful as i could not lie about it whether i knew them or not. i was always honest at Toys R Us and that never hindered me and the managers loved me
 
theres nothing like that around though

i dont want to do repetitive shop work ideally - in the ideal world that we all dream about id love to work in PC World/comet/currys and be a truthful advisor and help people not go for selfish sales

i nearly had an arguement in currys as a guy that worked there was trying to sell an oblivious women a £100 HDMI cable that she could get for a tenner or less that would do the same job (they had normal ones for a tenner not brand ones at the front) but the person i was with wouldnt let me - anyway, i digress, i would love to work there but be truthful as i could not lie about it whether i knew them or not. i was always honest at Toys R Us and that never hindered me and the managers loved me
I was always honest at currys, still got good sales figures.

Its like the rip off finance, in the year i worked there i only sold it once to a woman who insisted she wanted it.

When colleagues asked me why i never sold the finance i just said its a rip off and instead tell customers to get a 0% credit card or low rate bank loan instead. I even told my manager this and he didn't argue with it, he just said fair enough, its your £8 to lose.

I was like you though wanting to work at pcworld/currys but it really is crap, and the commission is now non existent.

I'd hand in application forms (not cv's) to the local supermarkets, especially tesco's, as they pay decent. I was on nearly £10 an hour for a sunday when i left last year after only being there a year. Plus they'll be lots of other young people, rather than middle-aged salespeople worried about targets and you'll have a laugh! The only bad point about working at tescos is that 99% of customers are annoying, arrogant and definitely wrong :D
 
i suggest you take the job on the tills and keep looking for another more suitable job

as well as giving you money, it adds to your CV, shows you have previously been able to get a job and hold it down, and you can learn knew skills whilst there. whilst doing the till job you may find out about other vacancies you may prefer, that are only advertised internally. if a till job then came up in another shop you liked, you would then have experience in doing that and may be more likely to be picked for the job, and then from there you may find out about other vacancies when they arise, and start ladder climbing

it does seem to be easier to get a job when you already have one and aren't so desperate. to employers it sometimes looks better particularly for young people as they know you aren't a lazy layabout and have made an effort to get a job and turn up and work, even if it's a crap job

also, at 17, you never know what you might be doing in a years time, nevermind when you are 20. you have a long time to move into an area you like, and then when you get older you will realise most people are stuck in jobs they hate and only do it for the money

regarding what you said about being an "honest" salesperson. i wouldn't count on that too much, as once you are an employee you are required to do what your employer requests from you, so you may have procedures to follow, such as a scripted sales pitch, as well as targets, and if you don't do what they say then you won't be around long. as long as what you are asked to do is legal, if you are contractually required to do so, you are best to do as you are told, or find another job
 
when at Toys R Us i was totally honest but was convincing at the same time and when given target sheets i kept up with them and the managers were happy

a headstart i have ahead of a fair amount is that i have the experience from being at Toys R Us and its a job that i held and stayed for the whole contract was not fired or quit

i think ijust got lucky that i found a job that paid well and i enjoyed
my friend who i was talking to yesterday works at a garden centre and because he is in full time education gets paid £3.60 per hour or something horrible likethat - at Toys R Us i got £5 per hour and was paid every week into my bank account

i might do some ringing round later and see whats about - try B and Q see what they say. The thing i really hate is the majority of apps are online and they are about 10 pages of questionaire of pressing radio buttons.

regarding truthful sales, to some extent i would do as managers said to keep with sales but theres a limit and if it came to it i would quit rather than have them hassling me to lie and be untruthful. Swings and roundabouts though
 
i suggest you take the job on the tills and keep looking for another more suitable job

as well as giving you money, it adds to your CV, shows you have previously been able to get a job and hold it down, and you can learn knew skills whilst there. whilst doing the till job you may find out about other vacancies you may prefer, that are only advertised internally. if a till job then came up in another shop you liked, you would then have experience in doing that and may be more likely to be picked for the job, and then from there you may find out about other vacancies when they arise, and start ladder climbing

it does seem to be easier to get a job when you already have one and aren't so desperate. to employers it sometimes looks better particularly for young people as they know you aren't a lazy layabout and have made an effort to get a job and turn up and work, even if it's a crap job

also, at 17, you never know what you might be doing in a years time, nevermind when you are 20. you have a long time to move into an area you like, and then when you get older you will realise most people are stuck in jobs they hate and only do it for the money

regarding what you said about being an "honest" salesperson. i wouldn't count on that too much, as once you are an employee you are required to do what your employer requests from you, so you may have procedures to follow, such as a scripted sales pitch, as well as targets, and if you don't do what they say then you won't be around long. as long as what you are asked to do is legal, if you are contractually required to do so, you are best to do as you are told, or find another job

Couldn't agree more with everything here, take a look at local agencies even take on some temp work while looking for a fulltime job, I took some dreadful temp work with an agency I was with but they also found me a brilliant position at a company I was with for over a year before finding a new job.

The temp agency I was with was always on the look out for jobs in the IT industry for me and the one I had for a year was Refurbs and Repairs, was a great job both fun and gave me plenty to add to the CV.
Well worth the time spent doing warehouse work, cable bashing, and electrical assembly while waiting for it as I now have a lot more for my CV and was still earning at the same time :thumbsup:
 
the place i live isnt so much industrial though, there are some industrial complexes (though not close to my house)

im not after much justa few hours (maybe 10 a week) and possibly some more over summer - i did 13 and a half per week at TRU

where was it you went is it just a job centre?
 
the place i live isnt so much industrial though, there are some industrial complexes (though not close to my house)

im not after much justa few hours (maybe 10 a week) and possibly some more over summer - i did 13 and a half per week at TRU

where was it you went is it just a job centre?

I used a local job agency - it's a small one called "Queensway Personnel", but there are many large job agencies and small agencies dotted around the country, it might be worth looking online for local ones near you - make sure that they do not spam your CV around to companies though, you want one that companies advertise with, i've heard some horror stories about people being told they were blacklisted from positions because certain agencies spam their CV around to companies.

Not sure how good this site is but it might be of some use:
Recruitment agencies & job sites directory - Agency Central

and googling about should help you find more, specific to your area etc :thumbsup:
 
cheers am having a brief look now
 
Agree with iccz, go temping. You get a generally higher wage, most places pay weekly (which can be a good and bad thing :smashin:), you can take or leave a job if you don't like it, and there's always loads of work - even in this climate.

I did it on and off for 3 years, got tons of experience and great references.
 
had a look on that site and it says theres nothing within 20 miles of my house in any sector of trade
 
had a look on that site and it says theres nothing within 20 miles of my house in any sector of trade

call up every single recruitment agency in your area and make an appointment to register with them. Put on a shirt and tie, walk in there and do the 10 minute interview/informal chat to let them see what type of person you are and what you're interested in looking for.

Then just sit back and wait for the phone to ring, I was signed up with 6 agencies and generally got around 3-4 calls a day with offers. Some placements you don't even need to go to an interview for, they'll just say turn up to the office/whatever on monday and fill in your timesheet on a friday, pay you the following friday.
 
hmm, im not sure i could i could go with a company like that - it just would feel right not having a huge amount of structure

it looks as though theres nothing much round from the look so far
 
hmm, im not sure i could i could go with a company like that - it just would feel right not having a huge amount of structure

it looks as though theres nothing much round from the look so far

I'd not worry about fitting in a structure of a company at 17, I was temping til I was about 21, I picked up some brilliant temp jobs that increased my skills and got me positions I would have never have got without.

I got a job as a "network technician" though it was more of a cable basher than anything, installing network cables, projectors, server cabinets etc at schools and offices. The Refurb and Repairs position, a repairs job at a company that worked with computer contracts for offices and also repaired gaming machines - mostly slot machines etc (though I didn't touch these apart from cleaning), electronic assembly which included soldering etc.

I got quite a few jobs that were only a few weeks in length but got me to learn things and put skills to use that i'd never needed to use in a job before. Temping is certainly good for widening your skills and adding things to the CV, especially if you can prove yourself in all the jobs you do.
I'd much rather do that again than work the tills, but if the till job was all that I could find i'd take it til something else came along.

You're still a young lad and have got plenty of time to find a good structured job to get really settled into, IMO right now you should be looking for something enjoyable, pays well and will help your prospects. Obviously if you can get the ideal job like your previous one that you really enjoyed, it's worth taking.
 
hmm, im not sure i could i could go with a company like that - it just would feel right not having a huge amount of structure

it looks as though theres nothing much round from the look so far

the bonus with these places is that most of them also recruit for permanant placements, so they might send you for an interview for your next perm job - worked for me! :thumbsup:

the big names are brook street, hays, reed, office angels, kellys. They have branches all over the uk.

Good luck with your search in whatever you end up doing, if I was that age again there's no way i'd do shop work, absolutely loathed it!
 
thanks i have never heard of those companies and so guess there isnt one where i live

as above id love to do something techy but there just isnt anything around

im gonna ring B & Q later as well as Staples but im not very hopeful - will report back later
 
It's incredibly tough getting even a half-decent job at the moment. I have a degree and almost seven years of good work experience but that hasn't helped me one bit in escaping from the drudgeries of retail work. I'd go to an agency but I absolutely refuse to quit my current job for temp work because, if that dries up, I'll be even worse off than before.

What's more annoying is that I know people who have managed to get decent jobs in the past year or so despite having a chaotic work history, an average academic background and, in one or two cases, an atrocious attendance record. Needless to say, their performance in these jobs isn't great (and they'll admit that) but that doesn't matter when the manager is lazy too. Unfortunately, when jobs are scarce it's not what you know, but who you know that counts.

The system has failed us all!
 
i agree with that

there was someone that was taken on at Toys R Us who apparently had a criminal record and everything but she was taken on over one of my friends who doesnt have a criminal record and is smarter etc

he didnt even get the interview - i didnt find her that nasty though she was quite nice
 
I reckon that you go for something like sainsbury's, it gets the money in and you can always looks for something else that you would prefer more while working there.

I had loads of mates who worked in sainsury's when I was doing my a levels (i worked in a warehouse or on a farm!)and all of them loved it because there was a good crowd of similar aged people. More recently a friend of mine managed to keep getting summer jobs there while in uni and then managed to get a transfer to a manchester store when he moved there while looking for a job he wants better.
 
as above ill give staples and B & Q a call and see what they say if they have anything
 

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