Would you accept part-time employment?

[Carole]

Hi folks

I was having a discussion with a colleague this afternoon about what kind of employment her son will accept.

He's currenly unemployed and looking for work that will allow him to use his history degree but that's proving difficult.

My colleague has tried to persuade him to take other employment in the meantime and try to find something else while he's working but he says that will ruin his chances because he won't be able to have time off to get to job interviews, etc.

I then suggested he perhaps looked for part-time work but my colleague insists that if you have part-time work on your CV, you won't be taken as seriously.

Surely it's better to show that you've had some kind of work than to have been unemployed for a long period of time?

If you were looking for a job within a specific sector but was unable to find anything, would you take a part-time job in another branch rather than be unemployed?

I'm curious.

Carole

[TINA]

Part Time job is better than no job. Any job is better than no job.
Just don't put down that the job is a part time job on the next job application form, unless of course it is requested. In a resume, don't put down that it was a part time or a casual job. Just state that they worked there, etc.

Tell your friend's kid to get a job and go find something to do. If he has a fit and says he only wants a job using his big shot degree in history, then tell him fine, you can get a job using your big shot history degree later. For now though, tell him that he needs to work to get some references and some training in finding, getting, and keeping a job. Tell him to find a job that he can find and one that he can do. If he complains that he only wants a job that he worked to get his degree, then tell him he should have come up with a degree that actually had job possibilities in when he graduated. OR, tell him to go contact that school job recruiter and have that college FIND HIM a job in that field that he spent his money and time at THEIR college learning.

[Camilla]

I take it this woman paid for her son's degree? I can't imagine he would have worked his way through Uni with an attitude like his.

I'm afraid that had that been my son I'd have asked him to leave. If he's finished Uni then he's obviously over 20 and an adult. How long does he expect to live off his parents?

I agree with Tina. Any job is better than no job at all. If future employers wonder why he worked at Tesco (the Uk equivalent of Walmart for our US friends), then he can tell them that he believes in hard work and when nothing more suitable was available, Tesco was better than nothing.

As a HR manager, I can assure you that I would never turn down a job applicant simply because they'd had a PT job in an unsuitable branch. If anything, that just shows that he's willing to get out there and get his hands dirty rather than sitting back waiting for things to fall into his lap.

~Camilla

[Carole]

It seems like nothing she says is going to change his attitude. I guess some people are just born lazy!

I shall suggest she gives him a bill for what it cost her to put him through Uni. What a complete and utter waste that was!

Carole