Are there any jobs for 15 year olds?

Work experience is one of the most valuable assets that job seekers can have and it would appear that young people are noticing the importance of this from a young age.

With youth unemployment at a record high, students as young as 15 are looking for part time or temporary work to fill their summer and their CV. Unfortunately a desire to work is one thing but finding a job is not as simple, so students are turning to The Student Room to get help from their peers.

You don’t have to be in the Careers and Employment forum long to realise that students aren’t all playing on their Playstation and watching day time TV. There are many pro-actively looking for jobs at all levels, whether it be an apprenticeship, graduate scheme or -for many still studying- a summer job.

These motivated students are looking to get some vital work experience as early as possible but for many 15-year olds there is often a lack of options clearly available to them. As a result they have turned to The Student Room where students are providing each other with advice based on their own experiences, including:

• How to get reasonable pay
• Talk to small independent businesses over high street chains
• Offer to volunteer for work experience with the hope of being employed later on
• Babysitting, paper rounds and kitchen porter are the most accessible jobs
• Others have worked for BHS, McDonalds, Pizza Hut and John Lewis at 15

It’s great that young people can get advice from others through sites like The Student Room but as we’ve found before, in our careers survey, students would welcome official representatives from top companies to help them find the right job for them.