The trials and tribulations of trying to find a job

Hello people! Hope you are all doing well. I’ve been racking my brains on what I could possibly write for this week (lets be real, my uploads are more once every 2-3 weeks than the weekly you signed up for) and I thought I would keep it at something I know fairly well. 

I have recently been on the hunt for a weekend job. I know, completely insane and totally unique to every other teenager in the country who needs money to survive. 

I’ve been searching on and off for around six months now and have applied to a few bobs here and there, but to be honest none of it really interests me that much and no employers have gotten back to me, which I have taken as a flat NO. 

Also employers don’t really want a completely inexperienced seventeen year old who has no interest in going into the sector for a long term career so I’ve kind of shot myself in the foot there if I’m honest.

In case you didn’t realise, I am a born writer, so would love to do something related to that but alas, the above still applies. Having said that I am also a people person, who could probably hold my own in interacting with a customer (or even taking a complaint!) but I’m not sure I’d be so good at taking sales, which is the biggest part of most jobs available to someone my tender age.

The easy thing would be to look into the retail sector, which I have, constantly refreshing the local shopping centre’s job site, but to no prevail. I also thought that with Christmas coming up I would be able to find a temporary job through that, but the hours are usually pretty awkward, and with college and other commitments I would only be available on the weekend (prime time for retail I am aware, but as I have no flexibility through the week I am not the ideal candidate). 

Having said this, last week I applied for an Xmas temp job at The Body Shop and a job at Asda, unsurprisingly I haven't heard back from Asda, and The Body Shop told me that after 'our discussion' (that didn't actually happen!) they decided I wasn't right for the job- if they are gonna let me down, at least speak the truth! So it continues...

The issue is, as the old saying goes, ‘money makes the world go round’, and if I want to go back to my driving lessons, or even be in with the chance of going away next summer, it would all come to one common denominator, money. 

Through all this, my parents have put no pressure on me going out to work- they understand how much pressure I'm under and don't want me to boil over- but the same cannot be said for my grandmother. She is a blunt and stubborn old woman, with a tendency to say what's on her mind (sound familiar?) but with an uncaring attitude and a mind that doesn't even want to understand (hopefully not familiar in the slightest). I was told that I was being 'too picky' and 'reliant on my savings' (like she knows what I spend and has seen my bank account) and told me to get any old job. This coming from the woman who emigrated across the world with her young family, with no plans for how she was going to earn money, and ended up moving back a year or so later as she couldn't find a job. I know she only wants the best for me, but still, leave me alone!

I don’t want this to be a particularly moany, oh I’m so hard done by post, as I am in no way moaning (it’s an issue that all of us will face at some point or another), so I've tried to just keep it a description of my experience job hunting. 

I seem to be very good at getting unpaid work experience and voluntary jobs, but when it comes to getting that paycheck, I still have a long way to go! I might apply to a couple more jobs this week (though it is pretty disheartening and mind numbingly boring) but then again, I might not- I could just drown my sorrows in a huge tub of ice cream and watch Muppets Christmas Carol with Herbie?!

And so, I am going to leave this one here. More posts are in the pipeline! Lets see if this lasts until 2020!!

Have a good one xx