A long, hot summer ahead for job-seeking youths

When it comes to hiring, it could be a long, hot summer for teens and college-age students. With employers cutting back and older job seekers horning in on traditional teen-age standbys, it's no picnic looking for seasonal work this year.
Take 21-year-old Amanda Poag, whose job search is not only constant -- but a constant worry.
The Sacramento City College student is luckier than most. Federal financial aid, thanks to her parents' military service, takes care of books and some expenses. But it's the money she earns from seasonal and part-time jobs that keeps the journalism major afloat and in school.
"The economy's horrible," said Poag, "I'm always looking for a job. ... It's not so much seasonal; it's more, 'How am I going to pay for next semester?' "
A recent survey by SnagAJob.com, an hourly-job Web site, found that 46 percent of hiring managers who recruit hourly summer employees will not do so this year, citing the weakened economy as the culprit.
The site lists local hourly jobs by city and ZIP code along with summer hiring tips for teens. Among its picks for best summer jobs are retail cashiers, arts and craft stores, camp counselors and pizza-delivery drivers.
In a California economy where employers are shedding jobs monthly and the jobless rate hangs at 10.5 percent, Poag and other teen and college-age students are wondering where -- or whether -- they will find work this summer.
"They will have more of a challenging time," said Jay Jurschak, president of Pacific Staffing, a Sacramento-based employment agency.
Students need to jump-start their summer-job hunt now but temper their expectations.
"It'll be advisable to start their job search earlier and be flexible with what jobs they get and what wages they'll expect," Jurschak said.
Economic tough times have meant a run on job applications at the student-employment offices of the University of California-Davis and California State University-Sacramento.
UCD officials expect this year's spring internship and career fair on April 30 will draw more than the 2,000 students who attended last year.
At Sacramento State, job applications for on-campus and other positions are up 20 percent from a year ago, said Celexsy Adame, marketing-services director for CSUS' University Enterprises Inc., which hosts a job site, www.ueijobs.com, for both employees and employers.
She advises students to attend career fairs; watch for on-campus recruiting events; and get help with resumes and cover letters at campus career centers.
Another factor complicating the search among young job hunters is the presence of more older adults competing in a bruising economy for jobs that once were the province of high-schoolers.
"It's a shame because you've got youths who are eager to work and get the experience they need to grow, but they're competing with people looking to help maintain their families," said Sara Calleros, a youth-employment specialist. "You can't blame either. It's the times right now."
At Sacramento's Southgate Recreation and Parks District, adults are standing in line with their younger counterparts for part-time cashier and landscaping jobs ranging from $8 to $9.75 an hour. Ward Winchell, the district's general manager, said competition for jobs in after-school programs has been especially fierce.
"We're seeing people who have been through college but now have lost their careers," Winchell said. "We've got more quality people applying for those jobs than in the past. It's hard to make a decision on who to hire."
Another squeeze for young job seekers is that student-friendly reliables -- especially fast-food outlets and restaurants -- are downscaling their summer hiring to weather the slump in eating out.

(E-mail Darrell Smith at dvsmith(at)sacbee.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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