Puzzle about whether 17 yo got a job or not . . . . need advice

[Faithr]

So weeks ago my 17 yo saw a sign in a local ice cream place that said now hiring.  He actually knows another homeschooling girl who worked there last summer.  So he went in and said he was interested in working there.  They took his name and number and said they'd get back to him.  Days went by and nothing but then he got a text asking if he could come in at 12 noon on Sunday.  So he did.  He waited 15 minutes until a guy showed up.  They had a very brief conversation and the guy gave him the tax exemption forms, etc that you get, you know, when you've been hired.  17 yo was very excited.  The guy said he'd be in touch with him in a couple weeks.  So 17 yo filled out the papers and delivered them back to the place, handing them over to the person behind the counter.  Days went by, two weeks and he heard nothing.  He started to worry that maybe the papers never made it to somebody in charge.  So he texted the guy who had originally texted him but never heard back.  A few days later, he went in to the place and talked to the manager there who had never heard of him and knew nothing about it.  He took my son's number and email again and said he'd get back to him.  That was on Mother's Day.  We have yet to hear anything. 

 

This place seems very casual.  17 yo talked to the girl who worked there last summer and she said yeah it was a couple of weeks before they got back to her but everyone was nice it was a great summer job.  So what should my 17 yo now do?  Should I or his father step in and ask what's up?  Should 17 yo make one last stab at it.  It feels like pestering at this point sort of.  What happened to the papers my son handed in?  I have been trying to let him do this job thing on his own, but I can see he has not executed the best judgment during the course of all this.  He should have followed up right away.  He doesn't even have the actual names of the people working there, so he can't say I spoke with so and so.  Bah.

 

What would you do?  Should he just start looking for another job?  He's bummed because he really liked the idea of working there; lots of kids his age, plus he's a vegetarian so he liked not having to work at a fast food place selling meat....  He's sorta bummed.

 

Any advice?  

[Harriet Vane]

I think he should start looking for another job, but in the meanwhile, he should go talk to the manager again. He can be forthright with the manager--"I'd really like to work here, but I need you to be honest with me about whether or not that is going to happen as I am following up on other job possibilities."

[SparklyUnicorn]

I'd probably ask once more and if nothing just look for another job.  They seem pretty disorganized.

 

 

[TammyS]

My son has had this experience with his job, too.  I would definitely not step in.  That would be the kiss of death, IMO.  But I would give your son coaching on how to handle things properly.  IMO, he needs a pocket sized notebook to record his interactions with people and to remind him to ask for names and numbers.  I would definitely have him go in again and talk to someone about it (and this time write down the 5Ws of the conversation).  Unfortunately, they don't treat these kids all that well, especially in the hiring process.  I wouldn't just drop it because you'll probably never hear from them again.  What you are seeing is not a reflection on your son, it's a reflection on how they (very loosely) run their business.  If he doesn't follow up, someone else will get the job, not because they are better liked, but because they are the on in front of the person doing the hiring at the moment they get desperate.

[Guest]

This is a slight off topic, but assuming those forms had his social security number on them I would really want to know what happened to them. The manager obviously doesn't seem to have received them. You might run a credit report here in a month or two.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I would want to know what kind of information he gave on the forms.  Banking information?  Social security number? 

[bettyandbob]

Don't step in.

 

Do suggest looking elsewhere.

[EKS]

This is a slight off topic, but assuming those forms had his social security number on them I would really want to know what happened to them. The manager obviously doesn't seem to have received them. You might run a credit report here in a month or two.

 

This was the first thing I thought of as well.

[Noreen Claire]

This is a slight off topic, but assuming those forms had his social security number on them I would really want to know what happened to them. The manager obviously doesn't seem to have received them. You might run a credit report here in a month or two.

:iagree:

[SparklyUnicorn]

Yeah I wouldn't step in.  If he were a lot younger maybe, but no not now.

 

 

[zoobie]

This is a slight off topic, but assuming those forms had his social security number on them I would really want to know what happened to them. The manager obviously doesn't seem to have received them. You might run a credit report here in a month or two.

This. He could follow up with the manager and ask if the guy he met with actually works for them and to please shred the paperwork if they've hired someone else.

[Anne]

I would do some role-playing with him on how these kinds of conversations might go.

 

Anne

[Janeway]

I would worry your son has been a victim of identity theft. He just filled out forms that included all his ID information and handed them over. Then the manager of the store this someone represents knows nothing about it. I would seriously want to find the guy your son handed the information over to. This is very concerning.

[Kim in Appalachia]

This is a slight off topic, but assuming those forms had his social security number on them I would really want to know what happened to them. The manager obviously doesn't seem to have received them. You might run a credit report here in a month or two.

 

 

So this sort of happened to my son. He did get the job, but they lost all of the original forms and he had to do it all over again. 

 

I am not a helicopter parent, and I know that I should not get involved in my kids jobs, but losing info with my son's SS number on it made me concerned.  I went in and talked with the manager, who assured me that no one else could have got them.  I'm not so convinced, but I do know that he (the manger) was disorganized and could have misfiled them or tossed them.  I still plan on keeping a watch on my son's credit just to make sure.

 

I would be concerned  that something fishy was going on.  Go check on it.  Go with your son and make sure there is a clear conversation with the manager or whoever is in charge of payroll/hiring.  

[Faithr]

Thanks all.  

 

I think it is probably just a case of the store being disorganized rather than out and out identity theft.  He gave the forms to a girl behind the counter and asked her to give them to the manager, so it wasn't like he met with a strange man and handed them over to him.  Anyway, I read an article about the opening of this ice cream shop a couple years ago.  The guy is retired and this is his retirement thing.  I think I read his daughter and son in law run another store in this little shopping plaza (it is very cute - it looks like a village square.  A big gathering spot in the summer for people).  

 

Although, if the shop did lose his papers, they could fall into someone's hands.  So I am a bit concerned.  Really people shouldn't be so cavalier about this stuff, especially in this day and age.

 

I think he'll just go in this weekend and explain the situation and ask them to tell him whether he has a job or not.  

 

Thanks again.  

[HSmomof2]

I'd probably ask once more and if nothing just look for another job. They seem pretty disorganized.

^^^ This.

[teachermom2834]

I would have your son continue to call and pursue this while aggressively looking for something else.

 

Part time jobs are odd. Seems everyone is hiring but tough to break through. If he had a nibble like the ice cream shop I would continue to follow up but I would not count on it at all. We live in an area with low unemployment and my 16 yo ds applied for about 30 jobs before one came through. It just seems hard to connect. So, I wouldn't give up on the ice cream shop but I would be looking hard for something else.

 

I would not get involved at all at 17 other than to advise your child. Would not occur to me to call or go in myself.

[OneStepAtATime]

Definitely have him follow up and also see if they can find the missing forms.  Agree with others, identity theft could be an issue even if the loss of the papers was completely unintentional.

[happi duck]

I think he should just show up and go behind the counter and start scooping! We can start a pool on how long it takes if anyone ever asks if he works there.

 

It's like crashing a wedding...confidence is key. Oh, and in the case of a wedding, confidence *and* bring a card!

 

;)

 

.

Edited May 21, 2016 by happi duck

[Pippen]

If it was in my neck of the woods, an ice cream store wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to pick up an extra employee right now because of the unseasonably cool weather. 

 

Last year my son applied for a bunch of jobs in late spring and started hearing back a few weeks after school was out. We encouraged him to keep applying until he was scheduled to start. 

 

 

[Tsuga]

I think he should just show up and go behind the counter and start scooping! We can start a pool on how long it takes if anyone ever asks if he works there.

 

It's like crashing a wedding...confidence is key. Oh, and in the case of a wedding, confidence *and* bring a card!

 

;)

 

.

 

Given that he filled in the forms, I'm tempted to agree.

 

Seriously, though--they have his tax information! What the heck? He should ask when he starts as he filled in that information. If they don't know, then he should ask for the forms back.

 

Parents don't get involved. He's 17.

 

Sorry he's having such a bad experience. That is too bad. :( I hope he finds a better job soon.

[marbel]

OP, I hope you'll update after he goes in and asks.  I hope he has the job.  But I also hope he can ask for the W-4 back if he has not been hired.  What an odd happenstance.

 

 

[livetoread]

My son had a similar experience with a local ice cream shop too, though he didn't get as far as filling out forms. It was all just very fuzzy about whether they had actually hired him or not. He finally got a different job.

[mamiof5]

I really hope he gets his forms back (if not getting the job). Also hope he gets a job soon. If he doesn't want to do fast food, how about retail? The local grocery store? Or, are there any jamba juice nearby? What about a coffee place? Or a kids' place... bounceu? Skateland? Hope everything works out for the best ðŸ‘

[heartlikealion]

I vote for follow up again, deal directly with manager and explain that he inquired about the job on day X and now it's day Y so he's trying to figure out what's going on. If he's not going anywhere with that place he should at least inquire about the paperwork with personal info.

 

I think in the future he should call (not text although that has the advantage of a paper trail. Just seems too casual to me) and ask when the manager will be in. Then go in person to speak with the manager or call back during that time. That way if he has to hand over forms or anything he's always dealing with someone in charge. They seem really disorganized and I'd be worried about where the forms ended up. I'd also make sure he learns the names of every person he interacts with and keep a pad of paper to write down their names/titles immediately. You may have already advised him of this.

 

Can he work retail? Not food? That way he wouldn't be dealing with meat. Clothing store, sporting goods, electronics, music store, etc.

[SKL]

Sounds like they are just not in a big hurry, because it's not summer yet.  It's fine for your son (not you) to follow up after a couple of weeks, but more often than that may seem annoying.  Definitely record the name of whoever talked to him / accepted his forms next time, "so I know who to follow up with."  And I'd advise your son that he doesn't hand over employment forms to just any employee.

 

I would also keep looking for another job, in case this doesn't pan out (like maybe they "hired" too many kids).  It would be nice to have more than one option.

[marbel]

Sounds like they are just not in a big hurry, because it's not summer yet.  It's fine for your son (not you) to follow up after a couple of weeks, but more often than that may seem annoying.  Definitely record the name of whoever talked to him / accepted his forms next time, "so I know who to follow up with."  And I'd advise your son that he doesn't hand over employment forms to just any employee.

 

I would also keep looking for another job, in case this doesn't pan out (like maybe they "hired" too many kids).  It would be nice to have more than one option.

 

Not exactly related to the OP but to the bolded - when our daughter applied for a job, the application included a place for her SSN.  We told her to leave it blank and that if she had an interview with a manage, she could write it down then.  She was worried that they wouldn't bother to call her, but they did and she got the job. They didn't ask for it till her first day on the job, when they filled out W4s, checked her work permit, etc.

 

My son got a job this summer after a casual 15-minute interview.  He was a little sketchy on details until his first day; about the only thing he was clear on was his start date. The whole thing happened really fast.  But anyway, he wasn't asked for SSN till later either, and that was by his manager. 

 

 

 

[JessReplanted]

I would think that he would want to be persistent and come across as being someone who really wants the job. If it was my son I would tell him to call back every few days until he got an answer.

[PrairieSong]

I would not step in. Let him handle it. I would encourage him to look for other job opportunities just in case but also follow up with the ice cream store. Tell him to make sure he gets the name of anyone he talks to, whether in person or by phone, and make a note of what day he talked to them.