Not sure where to post but working in a jewellers'

[DiamondTiara]

My daughter will finish school this September and wants to take a year out before applying to university and she wants to work during the year. Naturally, I suggested local shops but she wants to work in a jewellery store. Living in London, there is an abundance of jewellery stores so vacancies will not be a problem but I have explained to her that due to her age and lack of experience, it is highly unlikely that any high-end jewellery store will hire her. However, she steadfastly refuses to change her mind and says she doesn't mind the outcome and that it doesn't hurt to try. She will be 18 1/2 in September when she would start working, if she were to be offered a place which I think is very young, especially given the type of customers that she would potentially be dealing with. I feel that her time would be a lot better spent chasing after realistic job opportunities. I will admit, she has got a lot of knowledge about gems and also of the stores that she wants to apply to (like mother, like daughter ) and I have no doubt that she would be very good as a sales rep; she is polite, charming and hard working and honestly, when I have taken her out gem shopping/spotting with me, she seems to know more than even the sales reps! The kind of stores she has in mind are very high end, in central London, eg: CARTIER, VC&A, Graff. As you can see, I think it's pretty futile since these stores are so upmarket.
Anyway, I still want to gather some more opinions and I will be showing this thread to my daughter later so could if you reply could you either say; 'Yes, she should apply' or 'No, she shouldn't' and explain a bit please/give reasons... If you are a jeweller: would you hire an 18 1/2 year old girl?
Thank you all so much

 

[two_little_birds]

Hi DiamondTiara,

I worked in a high-end jewellery store from the age of about 19 to 22, while I was attending college (many moons ago). To this day, it was certainly one of my most memorable positions (in terms of being fun and stress free).

I say "why not", what does she have to loose? It could be a great entry-level job for her, and she could gain some valuable experience.

Good luck to your daughter!

 

[hawk25]

I say she should apply, and try to find a way to express her knowledge of stones/jewellery to the stores. It must have crossed her mind of the certain prejudices she'll have to overcome (age, no experience, etc), and if it hasn't, then she'll learn a great life lesson. It sure took a lot of job rejections to realize the value of a job.

Being quite young myself, I've been in the same position of applying for jobs that I have no real experience in. But I've learned not to shut doors before even trying. Without that, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to work with great people at my last job (a retail position), since I wouldn't have even bothered applying.

Putting myself in the jewellers position, I can see the reasons against hiring someone so young. Especially if she only intends on staying there for a year before university. I guess I would see it why put up with the effort of taking a chance on someone and teaching her all about jewellery (especially the higher end stores), only for her to leave in a year. Regarding her age, I'm sure there'll be prejudices against her there. Think of it this way, if anyone (especially a PSer) were to walk into a high end store like Cartier, would you have the same level of confidence dealing with an 18 year old vs an older sales person? I was browsing through Cartier the other day and was confident in the sales rep. I'm sure the hiring manager will have that same thought. That makes the older more experienced candidates (and if it's a higher end store, there will be other candidates), more attractive, especially at stores like Cartier. In the end, it puts that much more importance to show her passion and interest to the employer, which will be difficult to do if she's only staying a year (although they might not ask that question).

I know I sound a bit critical, but in the end, I would encourage her to apply everywhere, at all levels of jewellery stores. Like what two_little_birds said, what does she have to lose? If she realizes how hard it'll be, and she gets the job, she'll appreciate it that much more. If she doesn't get the job, then it'll provide insight into job searching. I believe showing genuine passion and interest is the key.

 

[denverappraiser]

Go for it. It's a big world and 18 year olds have a lot of time to try out different things. Retail jewelry is usually very cooperative with college type schedules, it's stress free, it's not particularly difficult work, and if she's any good at it even pays decently well. I think you're correct that the 'high end' sorts of stores are likely to have a problem with her age, at least for jobs on the sales floor, but it definitely doesn't hurt to try and there are plenty of stores other than Cartier that need enthusiastic workers. It's also worth noting that the company has a fair number of emplolyees other than who you see on the sales floor and she may be able to start somewhere else and then move into that position.

It's amazing what you learn when you're working while your young (and old too) and how it affects your future career. I spent a season roofing, for example, and although it certainly didn't define my career path, it defined a part of it. One thing I learned is that I HATE roofing but I also learned about my coworkers, my bosses and even my customers and the suppliers. I learned to show up on time and work hard at a job that I didn't particularly like. I learned to see the bright side of a crappy job (you get to work outdoors, it's good exercise, it's no stress, it comes with great pride of accomplishment, etc.). It didn't pay very well but the experience I gained was tremendously valuable.

 

[DiamondTiara]

Thank you all so much for your replies! My daughter has decided to take the suggestions on this thread on board and she is applying for vacancies in slightly smaller local jewellers as well as the 'big' places. I'll update on how she gets on