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So, where's my summer job?

Local students find the job market is tight out there as they search for summer employment

By Christina Cooke

The Times, Jun 25, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

ON THE HUNT — Audree Nethercott,18, who just graduated from Tualatin High, has been unsuccessful in finding a summer job, even though she has been searching diligently. She applied at P.F. Chang’s in Bridgeport Village last week with no luck.

Jaime Valdez / The Times

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Audree Nethercott has never had trouble finding work until this summer.

The 18-year-old graduate of Tualatin High recently spent a day and a half wandering Bridgeport Village, collecting applications from places that sell everything from running shorts to wedge heels to to noodle dishes.

“I go in to so many stores and restaurants and they’re like, ‘No, we’re not hiring,’” she said. “I’ve never had to spend so much time trying to find a job, ever. The last jobs I’ve had have been really simple to get.”

No longer are ice cream parlors, swimming pools, movie theaters and clothing stores easy fallbacks for job-seeking teens. High schoolers across the area report that getting jobs this summer is harder than ever.

“It’s disheartening and discouraging,” said MacKenzie LeBrun, a rising senior at Tigard High, who scored four job interviews last summer but none so far this year.

“I’m a great student, and I want to go to college, but how am I going to pay for it?” she said. “It’s frustrating not to be given a chance.”

The teenage unemployment rate, which accounts for 16- to 19-year-olds actively seeking work without success, was 17 percent in Oregon in 2008.

Oregon Employment Economist Art Ayre suspects the rate has grown to 22 or 23 percent this year, though the final numbers won’t be available until early next year.

“Judging from the unemployment rate and the substantial reduction in the available number of jobs in Oregon over the last year, including in industries that most commonly employ teens, I think the outlook has got to be rather difficult this summer,” he said.

The Personnel Department, a Tigard-based company that matches job seekers with employers, is seeing more teenagers than usual coming to its Greenburg Road offices for help, according to Marsha Trotter, vice president of operations.

She attributes the teens’ crummy employment prospects to the high region- and country-wide unemployment rate.

“Our job market is flooded right now with highly-qualified professionals who don’t have work,” Trotter said. “Right now, it’s a lot harder for teenagers.”

Michael Kim, who attends Southridge High in Beaverton, has applied for work at several coffee and smoothie shops, but has heard nothing back. Aside from a lucky few, many of the people he knows are in the same situation.

“Usually, a lot of my friends have jobs,” he said. “This summer, no one does.”

Raising standards

The saturated job-seeker market means business owners are being especially picky when sorting through the resume pile.

“We took the word ‘hiring’ out of our vocabulary and now say we’re ‘selecting,’” said Steve Foltz, vice president of Cinnamon Bums Inc., a company that operates 10 Jamba Juices, Cinnabons, Ranier Roasters and Good Dog/Bad Dogs in Washington County and 25 in Oregon.

Foltz received 328 applications in the first 48 hours of advertising jobs on Craigslist a couple of weeks ago. About half his staff is 16 or 17 years old.

“This is my 20th year in business, and I’ve never seen this many applications,” he said.

Cinnamon Bums managers have started conducting two interviews with each applicant under consideration.

“We don’t even respond to the applicants who don’t put a period at the end of each sentence, and if they aren’t dressed up or bring friends in to apply, we don’t look at them anymore,” Foltz said. “We’re being much more selective about who we’re bringing on.”

Jade Kiosse, the food and beverage manager at the Tualatin Country Club, said he has 50 applications sitting on his desk right now — more than twice the number he had last year.

“It’s good for me as an employer, because I get my pick,” Kiosse said.

A positive attitude, he said, is the No. 1 attribute he looks for in potential employees of the club’s snack stand, beverage cart, dining room and lifeguard chair.

“Standards are a little higher so we can up the level of service we’re able to provide our members,” Kiosse said.

Ayre said finding work during a recession is not impossible if teens are willing to do a little digging.

He encouraged job seekers to talk with business managers about employment opportunities, even if they don’t see a ‘Help Wanted’ sign in the window.

“Those situations will get you further than looking in the newspaper or online and hoping something will come up,” he said.

With the tables turned in favor of employers, teen job seekers with limited work experience can stand out by being on time and demonstrating a strong work ethic, Trotter said.

They should approach potential employers with confidence and a good attitude and show that they are flexible and willing to work hard, she said. They should show up to interviews prepared to talk about their experience volunteering or working.