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Old 07-14-2003, 02:00 AM   #1 (permalink)
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Teenagers Facing Hard Competition for Summer Jobs

Teenagers Facing Hard Competition for Summer Jobs
By KATE ZERNIKE
July 13, 2003
New York Times


Quote:
BOSTON, July 13 — Teenagers are facing the worst summer job market in years, with the percentage of those holding summer jobs at its lowest in 55 years and the unemployment rate at its highest in a decade.

Governments have cut money that used to help put teenagers in jobs. Retail stores are increasingly favoring older sales clerks. And teenagers are suffering a kind of push-down effect of the bad economy: older workers are returning to the job market, the laid-off are settling for jobs they might once have thought beneath them and college students unable to find better work are hanging onto jobs that used to go to high school students, squeezing out the youngest workers.

It stands in cold contrast to the situation three summers ago, when teenagers were snubbing jobs cleaning parks in favor of air-conditioned clothing boutiques and offices, sometimes bouncing from one job to a better-paying one in the space of a season.

David Solomon, 18, ticks off a list of retail stores he has been badgering for a job. "I stay on CVS, I stay on Toys `R' Us, I stay on Timberland, I stay on the Gap," said David, who had come for help to a job center for teenagers in this city's Roxbury section. "It's not like I'm lying down, letting days go by. I'm actually trying to get a job. But they just say, `We'll call you.' I think they put my application in the garbage."

Here, in a city that has long prided itself on its youth jobs program, City Hall has cut the summer jobs budget from $8 million in 2000 to $3.3 million. Mayor Thomas M. Menino has started a fund-raising drive to help pay for the camp counselors the city usually provides to the Y.M.C.A.'s and the boys' and girls' clubs. The city had to eliminate its Gray Shirts program, which for years has employed about 1,500 14- and 15-year-olds to clean city parks and streets. As Tim McCarthy, the director of the Boston Youth Fund, said: "We're closing firehouses and laying off policemen. It's difficult to hire a kid when you've fired his father."

A private group that typically places upward of 5,000 teenagers with area companies this year said it could manage only 4,000. Big corporations like State Street Bank and Fleet have absorbed 1,400. About 2,600 are still waiting for jobs at smaller employers that have traditionally taken the program's teenagers. But many of those places — stores, restaurants, the concession stands at Fenway Park — say they do not have room.

"Last year there was some residual good will, even in a bad economy," said Chris Smith, a director at the program, run by the Boston Private Industry Council. "This year it's stone cold."

The unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds, at 19.3 percent nationwide in June, is rising particularly fast for black teenagers. But the trouble finding jobs hits across the country, and all demographics.

In Portland, Ore., teachers with years of experience took jobs as playground supervisors in city parks — positions that traditionally went to college students. Knott's, which runs amusement parks and a resort in Southern California, drew three times as many applicants as usual to its annual summer jobs fair in March, prompting the company to cancel the one it usually holds in April. Even last week, the parks got 500 applications. At Valleyfair, a summer amusement park 35 miles south of Minneapolis, 500 applicants, mostly high school students, showed up for an annual recruiting fair in mid-May — twice the usual number.

"We told them they didn't have to wait in line, they could just drop off the application, but they stood in line for two, three hours," said Amy Maikkula, the park marketing manager. "Generally we're not fully staffed until the end of July. This year we were done by early June. We've never been in a situation like this."

Since 2000, the employment rate for teenagers has dropped about 9 percentage points. "If you had a nine-point drop for adults, you'd call it a depression," said Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University here. If the pattern of the past three summers holds steady, July and August will not look any better.

Anita Yip, who just graduated from Boston Latin, the city's most prestigious public high school, has a scholarship to Wellesley College, but no summer job. Last year, her local Starbucks offered her a job, but she had a paid internship at a magazine. "Come back next year," Anita said the manager told her. When she did, the same manager said there were no openings. Last summer's internship was full, the one at the Museum of Science took only college students, and places at the mall said they were not hiring, Anita said.

Now, she has her heart set on a job at Winston's, an upscale florist where she saw a Help Wanted sign when she bought her prom date a boutonniere. Still, she has not heard back about her application.

"Every week I say, `I'm going to be working next week,' " Anita said. "This week I'm still saying the same thing."

Traditionally, most teenagers have found summer jobs in retail. But increasingly, retail stores, including big chains like Home Depot, are refusing to hire anyone under 18.

Renee Ward, president of an Internet job board called Teens4Hire.org, said most of the 1,300 retailers who have posted jobs in the past few years said they were not hiring teenagers under 18 this summer.

Some are pushing her to start Seniors4Hire: they are more experienced, often more reliable and willing to accept the same money.

This has made the squeeze particularly hard on younger teenagers.

In Fayetteville, N.C., Shari Dillard, 16, heard nothing about her applications to the stores at the mall, restaurants or telemarketers. She finally got her first interview last week, at a movie theater.

"I've been trying to prepare myself for what questions they might ask," she said. "The question I'm worried about is, Why do I want this job? The only reason I want the job is because I really want to start working."

In part, the low rate of teenagers with jobs simply reflects fewer teenagers entering the work force. The teenage participation rate dropped from 51 percent in June 1993 to 45 percent this June, and has generally declined since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began keeping records in 1948.

The bureau says the lower employment rate partly reflects more students staying in summer school.

But sometimes, students volunteer for summer school simply because they cannot find jobs — the choice Ricardo Santiago, a 17-year-old high school senior in Chicago, made after hearing "We'll call you" one too many times.

"You wear baggy clothes, they think you're a gang-banger," he said. "I cleaned up my appearance, I threw on some khakis and a nice shirt. I was hoping it would work, but they just tell me they're going to call me. I wait and I hear from nobody."
I see this as a slap of reality to our youth who think they can get their dream job (let alone ANY job) with nothing but a high school degree. And they're also seeing how important appearance is for some of these jobs. No one cares what you look like as you pick up their garbage, but when you're in the service industry, looking like a gangster isn't cool.

Your thoughts?
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Old 07-14-2003, 03:01 AM   #2 (permalink)
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Re: Teenagers Facing Hard Competition for Summer Jobs

Quote:
Originally posted by JadziaDax
I see this as a slap of reality to our youth who think they can get their dream job (let alone ANY job) with nothing but a high school degree. And they're also seeing how important appearance is for some of these jobs. No one cares what you look like as you pick up their garbage, but when you're in the service industry, looking like a gangster isn't cool.

Your thoughts?

i see it as alot more than that. i find it incredibly disturbing that displaced and desparate adults are taking jobs they are grossly overqualified for simply because it's the only thing out there. i see this story more as a reminder of the sad state of our economy. we're in the shitter... good jobs are near impossible to find without experience, and when you have alread-experienced people in the entry-level positions (only because they have no other choice), where does it leave those who need entry level positions to gain the experience needed to advance within a career? it leaves them jumping from one job to another, desparate that they'll find their niche in an ever-shrinking mire of garbage that is the american job market.
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Old 07-14-2003, 03:22 AM   #3 (permalink)
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I've never had any trouble finding a job. I live in a small town where you don't fill out applications and go to interviews though. All you do is hangout at the counter long enough they say you might as well get payed for it. Sure it might not be the dream job, but it's money in the bank, and any job looks better on a resume than no job. Anyways, you don't have to get a job in your preferred industry in or right after high school. Summer jobs are to give you a little cash, and learn about the skills that almost all jobs require.
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Old 07-14-2003, 04:28 AM   #4 (permalink)
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Re: Teenagers Facing Hard Competition for Summer Jobs

Quote:
Originally posted by JadziaDax
And they're also seeing how important appearance is for some of these jobs. No one cares what you look like as you pick up their garbage, but when you're in the service industry, looking like a gangster isn't cool.
I think this is a major factor. When you walk into a place wearing a wifebeater, with your pants around your knees, three bolts in your eyebrows, a tattoo on your neck, and get turned down for the job, then whose fault is it?

-Mikey
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Old 07-14-2003, 04:31 AM   #5 (permalink)
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it like that up here in canada too, only worst. with min wage being $8/hr in this area, even places like mcdickies are looking for more experience people
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Old 07-14-2003, 05:11 AM   #6 (permalink)
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Y'know...<b>my</b> first job was working at McDonald's, some 24 years ago. (back when we still wore the little paper hats) At that time, I was happy just to have a job and to be working. I also recall having a lot of fun doing it. It's all about attitude. I am of the opinion that too many of todays youth think that serving "fries with that" is beneath them. I guess it's better to just whine about it. I see, with some notable exceptions, a total lack of any work ethic in todays youth.
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Old 07-14-2003, 05:36 AM   #7 (permalink)
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I know it's easy to say "kids these days" all apply for jobs dressed badly, etc, etc, but I think I should point out that in my experience this isn't really true.

I'm one of 9 people who interview applicants where I work and 99% of our applicants are college-aged. Sure, not everyone is wearing a tie necessarily when they come in for their interview, and sure, some of them have pierced eyebrows, lips, whatever, but for the most part out of the hundreds of people we've interviewed so far this summer I can say with confidence that nearly all of them were dressed at least close to appropriately and that none of them were dressed inappropriately. The worst I've seen is someone wearing Jeans and a button-down shirt.
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Old 07-14-2003, 05:44 AM   #8 (permalink)
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I saw a political cartoon the other day, that showed Osama and Saddam with the title, "Bush's Most Wanted." In the next panel was a guy holding up a sign that says "Need Work" and the caption, "America's Most Wanted."

I'm very surprised that some of the posters above jumped on youth supposedly unwilling to take certain jobs. Youth makes a very easy target. I'm not sure where all of you live, but where I live kids still have worse jobs than people in their twenties. The article did a very good job of pointing out the real factors involved here: People are retiring and taking other jobs, people are employing people way overqualified, and people are accepting positions they normally wouldn't.

Unemployment is at a NINE year high.

My thoughts? It's a shame that teenagers that are actively seeking employment cannot find it. Jobs are good for teaching them about the value of the dollar, about other people in their community, and even good for college applications. Until we as Americans get our collective heads out of the sand and demand that our elected officials do something about our economic state, instead of our military state, we will continue to see these type of articles.

Last edited by gov135; 07-14-2003 at 05:47 AM..
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Old 07-14-2003, 06:02 AM   #9 (permalink)
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At last.

A subject that is not bogged down yet.

Most of the guys that work WITH me are young and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Embrace the enthusiasm and learn to accept that they will move on one day.
Never be afraid that they will one day take your role off you.

Strength is enthusiasm.

Leadership is the key.
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Old 07-14-2003, 06:46 AM   #10 (permalink)
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Re: Re: Teenagers Facing Hard Competition for Summer Jobs

Quote:
Originally posted by MikeyChalupa
I think this is a major factor. When you walk into a place wearing a wifebeater, with your pants around your knees, three bolts in your eyebrows, a tattoo on your neck, and get turned down for the job, then whose fault is it?

-Mikey
that's lookism!!!! just because they don't look like you doesn't meen you should discriminate against them.
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Old 07-14-2003, 07:15 AM   #11 (permalink)
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Re: Re: Re: Teenagers Facing Hard Competition for Summer Jobs

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Originally posted by Cynthetiq
that's lookism!!!! just because they don't look like you doesn't meen you should discriminate against them.
I guess I'm a lookist then.

They don't have to look like me. For the record, I'm military, and as such, have to adhere to much higher standards of grooming, dress (even when not in uniform) and comport. Not everyone is military; our society is free, your appearance is your own choice.

I'm all for freedom of expression. I myself have a tattoo, although it's a small one and it's usually covered in normal attire. I also have an ear conservatively pierced, it's been that way for over 10 years now. But I know I can't wear it certain places or in uniform and I'm fine with that.

Understand though, that there are accepted norms in our society, and until multiple facial piercings, tattoos, and other very visible body modifications become that norm, there will be people who don't want the first person their customers see to be outside that norm. As an employer, that's their right, as it is something the potential employee has (or had) control over. It is NOT their right to discriminate against a potential employee based on things that employee has no control over (gender, race, so on) but when you choose to modify yourself in a conspicuous way, you trade whatever it gains for among certain group for the equal and opposite amount of social standing in another. Many young people unfortunately lack the foresight to consider the effects on their employability when making a huge decision like major visible body mods.

-Mikey
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Old 07-14-2003, 07:26 AM   #12 (permalink)
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Teenagers Facing Hard Competition for Summer Jobs

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Originally posted by MikeyChalupa
I guess I'm a lookist then.

Many young people unfortunately lack the foresight to consider the effects on their employability when making a huge decision like major visible body mods.

-Mikey

What happens if they make it anyway and then interview you for a job?

I would employ both.
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Old 07-14-2003, 07:36 AM   #13 (permalink)
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Teenagers Facing Hard Competition for Summer Jobs

Quote:
Originally posted by MikeyChalupa
I guess I'm a lookist then.

They don't have to look like me. For the record, I'm military, and as such, have to adhere to much higher standards of grooming, dress (even when not in uniform) and comport. Not everyone is military; our society is free, your appearance is your own choice.

I'm all for freedom of expression. I myself have a tattoo, although it's a small one and it's usually covered in normal attire. I also have an ear conservatively pierced, it's been that way for over 10 years now. But I know I can't wear it certain places or in uniform and I'm fine with that.

Understand though, that there are accepted norms in our society, and until multiple facial piercings, tattoos, and other very visible body modifications become that norm, there will be people who don't want the first person their customers see to be outside that norm. As an employer, that's their right, as it is something the potential employee has (or had) control over. It is NOT their right to discriminate against a potential employee based on things that employee has no control over (gender, race, so on) but when you choose to modify yourself in a conspicuous way, you trade whatever it gains for among certain group for the equal and opposite amount of social standing in another. Many young people unfortunately lack the foresight to consider the effects on their employability when making a huge decision like major visible body mods.

-Mikey
very true about the military.. nothing below the sleeves to work get embassy duty.

I think that you have to sometimes look the look that they want you to look or expect one to look. It may not be what I want.. but I want something more than my look, and that's $$$.
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Old 07-14-2003, 07:46 AM   #14 (permalink)
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In Toronto, with the effects of everything that has gone on, the numbers of entry level jobs that exist in the job market places aren't there anymore. What used to pay $30,000 per year in October/November 2002 has dramatically reduced to about $8 to $10 an hour for a full-time job.

I have put off applying for a job since summer hiring are over and part time/full time work don't usually occur until late July/early August.

As for my appearance in interviews, I like to wear dress shirt, dress pants, and a tie plus a portfolio with my resume and references.
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Old 07-14-2003, 08:36 AM   #15 (permalink)
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As someone who is looking for a job myself i can see this having a negative effect on teenagers and new grads alike. When i go to interviews i get the same thing. "We'll have HR call if something develops" I'm not applying only for "career" positions, we're talking about everything from workingat Target, to site content directors.. The market isn't really out there anymore. I also get a lot of " can you work late hours after school starts?" Lady.. im almost 25.. don't pass judgement on me before you read my resume because i look young. I feel that a lot of employers make snap judgements on you when they see you, regardless of what your skillset is. One place i applied for said "we sell alcohol here so that might be a problem" without even looking at the fact that i graduated college already. A lot of places just dont want to hire teenagers and younger people because statisticly they are more likely to leave a job sooner than a 30 year old who needs the cash.
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Old 07-14-2003, 08:49 AM   #16 (permalink)
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Y'know...<b>my</b> first job was working at McDonald's, some 24 years ago. (back when we still wore the little paper hats) At that time, I was happy just to have a job and to be working. I also recall having a lot of fun doing it. It's all about attitude. I am of the opinion that too many of todays youth think that serving "fries with that" is beneath them. I guess it's better to just whine about it. I see, with some notable exceptions, a total lack of any work ethic in todays youth.

I agree, so many kids have been spolied by their parents that they believe things will just come to them. Kids, I should say some kids, don't have any work ethic and will never learn a good work ethic. My Dad put my to work for hiim when I was 14 in the summer, hand riveting peices of sheet metal together, it sucked but it was money.
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Old 07-14-2003, 09:03 AM   #17 (permalink)
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When I was a senior in high school and through college I was always able to find a decent paying IT job that helped me through schook. Now that I have graduated college, I can't find jack shit. It's very discouraging. When the fuck is President Bush going to get off his ass and do something about this shitty economy?
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Old 07-14-2003, 09:31 AM   #18 (permalink)
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Originally posted by Jesus Pimp
When the fuck is President Bush going to get off his ass and do something about this shitty economy?
The administration would have to admit there is a problem first. It's like everyone learns in elementary school: the first step is to recognize a problem exists.

Instead, the administration seems focused on selling the idea that cutting taxes will get Jesus Pimp a job. Or the economy isn't hot, cause the former administration is at fault. Until someone from the administration steps up to the plate, and talks about creative solutions for improving the economy, we will continue to suffer.
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Old 07-14-2003, 09:40 AM   #19 (permalink)
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High Schools do not grant "degrees." They grant diplomas.

I feel for the poor kids who need to work to supplament the family's income. That is sucky.

However, if this simply means that millions of teens won't have their OWN car, their OWN cell, their OWN designer clothes, I'm going to fall seriously short of sympathy.
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Old 07-14-2003, 11:21 AM   #20 (permalink)
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Another thing is looking at where teenagers are applying at. There must be an abundant amount of applications for retail or restaurant work, but no one wants to do hard labour...not hard...but labour. If anything tht's where there must be openings now. Summer season is popular for renovations, construction etc., and there is [well at least in Canada] a shortage for labourers all year round. It probably pays better than the 8$/hr Mc. Donalds is offering too...so...anyway, its a matter of how badly you want the money and how hard you want to work.
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Old 07-14-2003, 11:32 AM   #21 (permalink)
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well the economy was so good for so many years, a slow down was inevitable and now it is here
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Old 07-14-2003, 11:50 AM   #22 (permalink)
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"sorry we dont hire for the summer." oh cause u could have told me that before i filled out the fuckin application! UH lol
ok think i found a job, gonna check it out hopefully ill have some work and $$
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Old 07-14-2003, 11:50 AM   #23 (permalink)
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the day laborers seem to find places to work... and they seem to be the also the ones that do deliveries and washing dishes here in Manhattan...
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Old 07-14-2003, 05:57 PM   #24 (permalink)
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I haven't noticed a really big slow down for my friends and I, but then again maybe that's because we are all 19 and sophmores in college now.

Personally, I've been lucky, I started working in computers when I was in the 9th grade, so now I've got a solid 3 summers worth of experience (paid) and I'm currently working for small computer consulting business. Experience got me the job. Hell, I was able to turn down a job working for the state because the pay wasn't competitive.

My friends don't seem to be having trouble either though. Here a couple of jobs they have:

camp counselor for a local church or school
hostess
grease monkey at a tire shop/oil change place
Best Buy
manual labor in car parts warehouse
network/system administrator
webhosting
ymca
valet

That's just the stuff I could think off the top of my head. Maybe its my location (Raleigh, NC we've got an overflow of computer/IT people though) but I haven't noticed it too much. Sure the 15 and 16 year old kids can't get that job at Best Buy or EBgames that they wanted but tough luck, gotta keep looking for anything and everything. Before I got the computer job my Dad suggested getting my CDL and doing parts delivery for Napa or Carquest or some place like that.

As far as the economy goes, yes its down but the president and congress have very little control over that. They can't make immediate changes to the economy. Any kind of change that congress wants to do takes years to have an effect. Come on guys, that's just basic econ
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Old 07-14-2003, 07:51 PM   #25 (permalink)
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Just wanted to respond to those above who complained about the work ethic of today's youths... that's bullshit.

People don't change; there are bad apples in every generation, as well as those who work their ass off. I work at a major retail department store, and many of the laziest workers we have are adults, ages 30 and up.

Individuals of all ages have the capability to be lazy bums, just as people of all ages have the ability to be dedicated, hard-working employees.
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Old 07-15-2003, 05:26 AM   #26 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally posted by Zar
Just wanted to respond to those above who complained about the work ethic of today's youths... that's bullshit.

People don't change; there are bad apples in every generation, as well as those who work their ass off. I work at a major retail department store, and many of the laziest workers we have are adults, ages 30 and up.

Individuals of all ages have the capability to be lazy bums, just as people of all ages have the ability to be dedicated, hard-working employees.
Whoa...back the truck up there, Zar. I was <b>very</b> careful not to make too much of a generalization. You will notice that I said <i>"with some notable exceptions"</i>. My statements come from personal experience, and I stand behind them. I have a 15 year old daughter that has some friends that are 3 or 4 years older than herself. These girls graduated High School last year, or the year before. They sit and whine that there are no jobs for teenagers so they will not go look. Never mind that both the Arby's and the McDonald's, up the street from them, both have had "Help Wanted" plastered on their marqui billboards for well over a year. The problem is that these companies need evening and night workers. These girls are not willing to do that. They want an 8 to 5 desk job. Ain't gonna happen, Sweetcheeks. So they sit around all day, lamenting their situations in life. This is only <b>one</b> example, of plenty, that I have.

As far as the "lazy" over 30 crowd...Hell yeah...I'm not gonna argue with you about that. There are some damnably lazy people in my generation. (I'll be 41 next month [shudder]) On the other hand...bear in mind that a lot of people my age feel that they have paid their dues in life. They've already done the grunt work and the heavy manual labor thing. They feel that it's time to let some stronger backs and younger legs take over.
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Old 07-15-2003, 05:44 PM   #27 (permalink)
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I admit when I was 16 it was a pain finding a job, but when I turned 18 anyone would hire me. Mostly becuase they could work me any hours and do anything they wanted with me. And Once I got my foot in the door, I had references which praised how good of a worker i was. And everyone wanted me. But if you really have a problem finding a job move to Delaware, that place will hire ANYONE, that place is a tourist trap, with no one to run the stores. Every store had a now hiring sign.
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Old 07-15-2003, 06:11 PM   #28 (permalink)
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Location: Deep South Texas
It really breaks my heart to see these kids trying to find
a job this summer....and they just finished their tests
and tell you about all of their plans to go to Baylor next
year,,,BUT they need to make some money to take care
of the part that the grants won't cover.

We have so many illegals here in the valley that any job is
hard to find---and if you don't want to work, there are four
more right behind you that will.

Our church has started a service to cut grass, wash windows,
got to the store, etc...and the kids will do it---any money that
is made would be used to help these kids in their future..
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Old 07-15-2003, 06:33 PM   #29 (permalink)
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Location: Lovely City #1
JadziaDax I see your comments as more derogatory than needed. Granted it is a slap of reality that many teens do need but there is also an underlying problem in that article that I for one know is going on. I recall my grandparents and even parents say how they not only had a part time job but in other instaces were able to get summer jobs as well. The truth is...places do hire teenagers but a lot of the time there is a lot of BS that goes on. I can't tell you how many "We'll call you when there is an opening/we'll keep your application on file/we'll call you soon" Pretty much though teenagers do like jobs.

I realize also that it is true that there are plenty of lazy asses as well as people who want a cushy job...well that won't always happen. Truthfully though I remember when I was applying for jobs and I would put I can work anytime and start today. I was clean dressed and eager but they basically can take a shit in your face and laugh. As a teen I had jobs washing dishes, bussing tables, even working retail outlets. The fact is though I know even in the city I live in Teens who really want a job are having a hard time finding them. Even fast food is not really hiring.
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Old 07-15-2003, 10:48 PM   #30 (permalink)
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Location: Vol Country
I am one of these teenagers. I'm an eighteen year old, and I've been searching for a job in my small ass town for this summer, and I've come up totally empty, and thats just sad. I dress totally normal, and I have no piercings or tattoos of any kind, and in my tiny town, most people know me as the local child genius(I'm not bragging, they really do, because of my overly proud grandparents, I'm actually not that smart.) yet I STILL can't get a job. WTF?
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Old 07-16-2003, 04:51 AM   #31 (permalink)
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Location: In the dust of the archives
Quote:
Originally posted by Soggybagel
The truth is...places do hire teenagers but a lot of the time there is a lot of BS that goes on. I can't tell you how many "We'll call you when there is an opening/we'll keep your application on file/we'll call you soon" ...when I was applying for jobs and I would put I can work anytime and start today. I was clean dressed and eager but they basically can take a shit in your face and laugh. Even fast food is not really hiring.
O.K., I know it sucks to look for work in a sour economy. The sad fact is that companies can afford to be very picky when they <b>do</b> have an opening. The "BS", that you describe, goes for adults, as well. I can't remember how many times I heard the same thing over the years. It's all part of the job search process. I know that it sucks, but it's all part of the game. In so far as fast food not really hiring...*sigh* I'm really having a hard time buying that. But, then again, odds are, I'm not in your area. Just keep your options open.
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Old 07-16-2003, 05:06 AM   #32 (permalink)
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hmmm... i live in a suburb of NYC right now...

McD, Taco Bell, BK... all have hiring now signs.. must work weekends listed...

as I drive around I see the same thing... so I'm with Bill here.. I don't beleive the Fast Food industry is not hiring... but that's my area
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Old 07-16-2003, 11:17 AM   #33 (permalink)
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Location: Lovely City #1
Again I have a job and I guess my rambling wasn't that clear . Bill...I totally agree that thats just part of life but it is particularly sad when many places aren't really hiring teenagers that would typically be teen heavy. I was out earlier today and out of every fastfood place I managed to see I think 2 Mcdonalds were hiring and that is all.
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Old 07-16-2003, 11:28 AM   #34 (permalink)
rat
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Location: College Station, TX
Well, this isn't anything new. Back in march I'd left my job over a dispute with a manager concerning working a 15 hour day without a break. For two weeks I hit every restaurant in town (seeing as I was a waiter) and the four weeks following that, my job search was damped by a severe sinus infection. Little hard to get a job in a food oriented business when you're coughing, sneezing and sniffling during an interview. I came close to get a sales rep job with Helzberg Diamonds, but they hired someone ten years older than me. So the General Manager from my old job asked me to come back at the end of that six weeks for the third time, and I agreed--the same day I'd been hired at the local Foley's as a suit salesman. Now I've been suspended from my job as a waiter by the same manager that I had trouble with the last time, and haven't been able to get ahold of the GM for three days. So now I sit and wait for a call to find out whether I'm unemployed again. And I return to school in the fall, and have been denied on campus housing. Which means I now have to find a place to stay without the ability to have loans cover the cost. The real world fucking sucks at time. I may not be able to make money for the next four weeks until I move, so I may have to move now rather than then and hope to find a job in College Station before the fall influx of students comes. I'm 20 and I can't even find a job, it's not just limited to high school students and teenagers--it's the highest rates of unemployment in a decade or more nationwide. At least Clinton's administration and the Fed kept that under control unlike the current administration and Federal Reserve policies.
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Old 07-16-2003, 12:03 PM   #35 (permalink)
Post-modernism meets Individualism AKA the Clash
 
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Location: oregon
Quote:
And teenagers are suffering a kind of push-down effect of the bad economy: older workers are returning to the job market, the laid-off are settling for jobs they might once have thought beneath them and college students unable to find better work are hanging onto jobs that used to go to high school students, squeezing out the youngest workers.
heh. i just got my fiiirst ever job. i'm a 20 year old college student... working at dairy queen. so that definately applies to me. i'm hoping the economy will pick up in 2 years when i graduate.. i wanted to be a graphic designer mainly to put my art in a practical job field and i heard that it was in high demand, but very competitive... and it may still be competitive, but only bcos there are more graphic designers than there are jobs.. some alumni came into one of my classes last term and said she was laid off and unemployed. and she seemed like she was one of the goood students. and that's encouraging....
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Old 07-16-2003, 02:26 PM   #36 (permalink)
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As a college student getting ready to graduate in December I know I feel the full effect of this.

I have a very solid resume, good experience, a solid portfolio (I'm a digital artist), and even with all that I couldn't even get a job at the local Meijers or Wal-Mart.

The job market is crap right now, experience or not. I'm lucky enough to have parents concerned for my welfare or I'd be living in the street and eating garbage.
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