Teens struggle to find jobs
Nyasia Arradondo
Some teens have turned to alternatives such as volunteering or even crime, many have gone to job fairs to seek summer work and many haven’t found work despite a lot of persistence.
Like most teens, Cecelia Leatherman, 17, knew she needed a job to pay for school and other expenses. But it wasn’t easy finding one.
“When I was looking for jobs a year ago, I applied to almost every place in this area and I still couldn’t get one,” Leatherman said.
Finally, Leatherman got a job at a movie theatre in St. Paul through connections. The owner of the Highland Theatre owed her friend Emily’s dad a favor.
Leatherman’s struggles are very common. The employment rate for teens last summer was the lowest ever since World War II, according to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. From what some people say, it may be worse this summer.
Unemployment among youth increased by 1.2 million between April and July 2008; this was more than twice the increase in youth unemployment during the same period in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Some teens have turned to alternatives such as volunteering or even crime, many have gone to job fairs to seek summer work and many haven’t found work despite a lot of persistence.
Unlike Leatherman, Zach Woltjer, 16, of New Prague is still unhappily unemployed. He says he needs money to buy a car but he’s had no luck in the past six months with finding a job. “No one is going to hire some 16-year old kid,” he said.
But there are people who are trying to find jobs for teens.
Pat Behrend is special projects coordinator of the Teen Job Fair, an annual gathering of employers and job-searching teens. The fair has been going on for three years and has usually been held in the end of winter or early spring. The first one, three years ago, drew about 400 teens. The most recent fair in April drew about 1,200 teens but only about 30 employers had jobs to offer, Berhrend said.
“Adults have been taking jobs that teens have always held,” she said.
Tammy Dickinson, director of STEP-UP, which helps youth ages 14-21 to get jobs, says that 3,200 people applied to the program but only 1,300, or about 40 percent, got jobs. There is more of a demand for jobs than STEP-UP can supply.
For teens who cannot find or don’t want a job with a business or corporation, there are jobs like baby-sitting, mowing lawns, or helping family.
Another option for teens who want to keep busy is volunteering. Annicia McLellan, 15, wanted to work and looked for a job for two months and couldn’t find a job so she decided to volunteer at a day care center. “I kind of looked for jobs but I already knew the day care center was an option, so I just chose that,” McLellan said.
McLellan said she’ll benefit from volunteering because it is good work experience and will look great on a college application.
Other jobless teens may turn to crime. “If young people do not have some sort of structured activity in their lives — whether it be employment, school, organized sports or some activity — they are not doing anything with their time. I believe that can lead some people down the road of trouble,” said Lt. Medaria Arradondo of the Minneapolis Police Department.
Bestcareerlinks.com focuses on three key points when it comes to teens finding jobs. First, build a resume that shows your strengths by emphasizing work experience and highlighting achievements. Secondly, the site suggests brushing up on your interviewing skills, which includes appropriate dress and eye contact, before you meet with a potential employer. The site also recommends asking family and friends about information on potential job openings.
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