Could the job search be over? Hastings teenager scores interview

A 16-year-old's spirits have finally been lifted after countless job applications and rejection letters.

Hastings teen Hineawe Crawford has lost count of how many jobs she's applied for and was rejected for the same reason many youths are - inexperience.

But how can you gain experience if no one will hire you?

The teen finally made a breakthrough and has since had her first interview at the weekend, a possible job opportunity with Countdown which would slot in perfectly with her school schedule.

"It was just really good to get an interview, I've had a few other people get in touch with me too [since an article went into HB Today last week]," she said.

The reason for the job hunt was so she could fundraise for a trip to California to play softball in September this year. To show how serious she was about getting work, she even approached employers directly, introducing herself and handing them her CV personally... but she never heard back.

"They never got back to me, it was pretty stink."

To increase her chances of work, the teenager even undertook a 10 week barista course in the hope of embedding herself in the Hawke's Bay's coffee culture.

"There were about four other people on the course with me and our manager who taught us was really cool as well."

Crawford said she's also had expressions of interest from a Hastings Bakery and a Maori trust and said she was hoping to hear about the Countdown job this week.

Her mother Kerri Thompson said the job application process was getting "quite ridiculous".

"She was just applying for all these jobs and no one was getting back to her. She was even taking her CV into different places and not even those people could acknowledge the face-to-face greeting and the fact she had made an effort to come in and meet them personally. None of them have rung her back at all.

"The Countdown job would be the best for her at the moment because she would get holiday work as well and the late shift after school, so we're really hoping that comes though and she gets that one."

A 2017 article in Forbes Magazine outlined highlights why employers should hire people with little to no experience rather than those who have such experience.

One was that new people are naturally curious and will question procedures in order to absorb and learn them faster.

The article also highlighted that it was a good opportunity for managers themselves to think outside the box, as with inexperienced employees comes plenty of questions as well as fresh and innovative ideas that they wouldn't get from someone who had worked in the same industry.