Jobs: The acquiring thereof.

QuarterMaster

I'm 16, male, and really need some income. I recently purchased a car from a family friend, and she's letting me pay for it in monthly installments. The price comes to $900 total, or $75 per month for a year. I also will have to pay for insurance and gas. All of these together will come out to around $200 per month. That's where my problem is.

I've applied to more places than I care to list..just about everywhere I can think of that hires 16-year-olds. However, nobody seems to be hiring (or at least hiring me). I've got a couple more applications to turn in to places like Aeropostale (yes, I am that desperate), but I'm starting to get a little worried. The payments aren't a huge deal at this point; I've made my first, which will cover the first month. But I'll need to start producing some income eventually, and so far the prospects aren't looking very good. So basically, I'm just wondering if any of you have any tips or ideas for me. Anything you've got would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

brandotheninjamaster

Well it is around the holiday season. See if you can get some temp work at a retail store. This will at least last you through this month.

QuarterMaster

Yeah, I've been trying that. Unfortunately, it seems that most stores have already hired for their temporary positions. But I'll definitely keep looking.

tracertong

I'd try to work at a hotel if I were you. It's boring but you'll get a lot of hours and free meals if it has a restaurant.

Local H Jay

It will suck, but apply to some fast food places.
They are almsot always hiring and can put you on probably immediately.

QuarterMaster

tracer: I hadn't thought of applying to hotels. We have a few in my area, so I might try that. I'd imagine they're pretty exclusive though, assuming they even hire 16-year-olds.

Jay: I've applied to Burgerville (local burger chain), Orange Julius and Taco Del Mar so far. I had an interview for OJ, but that didn't go anywhere. Guess I'll start branching out a little.

HalberdBlue

Working in fast food isn't nearly as bad as some people make it out to be. I worked at McDonald's for about a year, and I actually enjoyed it at some points. Working the grill is almost like a video game where you are constantly weighing what needs to be done next, constantly changing your priorities based on what appears on the screen, etc. The register can be boring as hell though.

BlochWave

Yah, at 16 you don't have many illustrious options. Fast food, restaurants in general, and retail are fine, and is lame as it is to say, character building! You'll develop all the important job skills like dealing with assholes, jerkoffs, meanies, buttfaces, unreasonable bosses, stupid bosses, stupid coworkers, and scary coworkers that are probably serial killers, in a low pressure environment(well, those jobs can have stressful moments when it's busy, by low pressure I mean it's like "oh noez I got fired from my dead end job oh well")

QuarterMaster

Hmm..guess I'll be stopping by all the local fast food chains. We'll see where that goes.

VisionOfClarity

Apply at restaurants as a busser. It's a good way to get the experience needed to eventually move into waiting where you'll make a ton of money.

EDIT: Also, make sure when you're applying places you're doing it right. Dressed nicely, resume handy if you have any experience (even babysitting) as well as a list of references. Ask everywhere even if they don't have a help wanted sign up. Ask if a manager's on shift too, you might find yourself able to be interviewed on the spot. If you have any friends with jobs, find out if they can get you in where they work.

Rend

Local H Jay wrote: »

It will suck, but apply to some fast food places.
They are almsot always hiring and can put you on probably immediately.

Fast food, ie, McDonalds, Burger king, the big chains. The ones you think: omigod bottom of teh barr3l! Not really though, they are actually pretty fun. I worked at a McDonalds for a year, and just as has been said it was like a video game. You have to prepare the bags and... well, you get the idea. Not as horrible as people make it out to be.

The big chains are different than the upper chains (orange julius, starbucks, etc), in that people WANT jobs at them. The lower chains, different story. I went in to apply for McDonalds and I was hired on the spot, working two days later. It might not happen THAT fast for you, but piece of advice for the fast food option: apply when the big manager is working.